WHO OWNS THE WORD 'SUPERHERO?'
SciFi.com's Sci-Fi Wire is today reporting a story that appeared on Newsarama more than two years ago. According to the article, GeekPunk, makers of an independent comic-book series called Super Hero Happy Hour, received a letter from the counsel of DC and Marvel which says that they (DC and Marvel) own the trademark for the term "'super hero' and variations thereof." In response, GeekPunk changed the name of their series to Hero Happy Hour.
The GeekPunk site features a letter from the creators dated February 23, 2005, indicating that "for now" Hero Happy Hour is no longer being published. This hiatus, as they call it, has nothing to do with DC and Marvel.
When I first read the Newsarama article, I was elated at the possibility that DC or Marvel might send their lawyers after me. There's no better kind of free press than being on the receiving end of a law suit or the threat thereof. But after poking around, I realized that DC and Marvel don't have much of a case and, at least in 2004, were selectively exercising their authority.
The term "superhero" appeared in the Springmaid ad shown here. This is an ad I clipped from a magazine in 2000, one of many images that I'd pin to the wall while I was writing The Superhero's Closet. Like "thermos," the term's common use can be defended on a number of fronts, with a little preparation and common sense. Try the Compact Oxford English Dictionary, or Merriam-Webster, or the card catalog at your local library. There's no attribution to DC or Marvel in any of these examples. Let's not forget the screenplay for Brad Bird's The Incredibles, which happily uses "superhero" 11 times.
Poor little GeekPunk got noticed, but Pixar and Springmaid didn't? Actually, I don't know that Pixar and Springmaid escaped DC and Marvel's grip. Perhaps they, too, received letters from litigious little worker bees. If so, it wasn't news, and it doesn't matter, because "superhero" is one of those words that belongs to people, not corporate offices.
The GeekPunk site features a letter from the creators dated February 23, 2005, indicating that "for now" Hero Happy Hour is no longer being published. This hiatus, as they call it, has nothing to do with DC and Marvel.When I first read the Newsarama article, I was elated at the possibility that DC or Marvel might send their lawyers after me. There's no better kind of free press than being on the receiving end of a law suit or the threat thereof. But after poking around, I realized that DC and Marvel don't have much of a case and, at least in 2004, were selectively exercising their authority.
The term "superhero" appeared in the Springmaid ad shown here. This is an ad I clipped from a magazine in 2000, one of many images that I'd pin to the wall while I was writing The Superhero's Closet. Like "thermos," the term's common use can be defended on a number of fronts, with a little preparation and common sense. Try the Compact Oxford English Dictionary, or Merriam-Webster, or the card catalog at your local library. There's no attribution to DC or Marvel in any of these examples. Let's not forget the screenplay for Brad Bird's The Incredibles, which happily uses "superhero" 11 times.
Poor little GeekPunk got noticed, but Pixar and Springmaid didn't? Actually, I don't know that Pixar and Springmaid escaped DC and Marvel's grip. Perhaps they, too, received letters from litigious little worker bees. If so, it wasn't news, and it doesn't matter, because "superhero" is one of those words that belongs to people, not corporate offices.
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