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Imagine the ultimate crime: Kidnapping all of the princesses of the world in broad daylight, holding them hostage into perpetuity and being celebrated for the act!

Why stop at princesses? How about targeting every other beloved character that has freely belonged to the cultures of the world?

Finally, for the pièce de résistance, orchestrate a bold, premeditated assault on the greatest superheroes of all time!

The weapon used to perpetrate such a dastardly scheme? Two letters: TM that stand for the term Trademark, a declaration that stakes an exclusive claim to the rights of a character design or symbol for as long as it is declared, registered and successfully defended.

The mastermind and perfecter of this nefarious practice is the all powerful Disney Corporation who has successfully shanghaied at least 93 characters that supposedly enjoy public domain status, 11 of which are princesses that they have so rigidly  redefined in the global public perception that it is nearly impossible to convincingly present them without infringing on Disney’s trademark claim.

But, just in case one may try, Disney has also cleverly created multiple variations of each in animated, live action, and toy incarnations of  every shape and size, all trademarked so it is nearly impossible to create an acceptable variation that could safely and successfully compete in the open market.

The tactics required to commandeer public domain properties have not been lost on others, especially the two major comic book publishers, Marvel and DC, who have had the foresight to navigate their properties so as never to be lost to public domain. Extensions in copyright duration have preserved their copyright ownership of most properties created after 1929 for at least another twenty years. But even if single stories should lapse it would be impossible to  promote the story or character without infringing on trademark.

DC has proven that it intends to cover every base by having created so many variations of every character to the point of establishing an infinite universe where any variation is a conceivable infringement. They have found more ways just to present the simple Bat Symbol that it is now virtually impossible to illustrate a two dimensional bat without infringing. Likewise, the Shield with the S that represents Superman also has so many variations that its defense is impregnable.

Like Disney, DC merchandises their characters in every shape size and color to further protect their trademark.

Marvel of course is now owned by Disney and the merchandizing bonanza has not even begun to ferment.

Make no mistake about it, all these recent reboots in origin stories of major superheroes are merely an attempt to protect characters whose original story is bordering on public domain. A few tweaks for a modern audience and the original material becomes passé and will defy current appreciation for the character.

Attempting to market the product wouldn’t matter anyway because no one could package the story using the trademarked name or image of the main characters attached to the story. How much would you pay for a comic whose cover is not much more ambiguous than a brown paper bag?

TM holds our cultural heritage hostage. Where copyright was intended to prevent monopolies by limiting the time one could exclusively control a creation, trademark hands corporations the keys to the vault.

Soon all our mythology, all our fairy tales, all of our fantasy and fiction will be dictated by a limited, powerful and controlling forces that appear innocuous like the one hiding behind the cute mouse ears. We need to be reminded that usually a big mouse is actually a rat.

Making Comics Because  We Want to

Gerry Giovinco