词条 | Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc. |
释义 |
|Litigants=Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc. |Court=United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit |CourtSeal= |ArgueDate= |ArgueYear= |DecideDate=April 29, |DecideYear=1940 |FullName=Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc., et al |Citations=111 F.2d 432 |Prior= |Subsequent= |Holding= |Judges=Learned Hand, Augustus N. Hand, Harrie B. Chase |Majority=Augustus N. Hand |JoinMajority=a unanimous court |LawsApplied= }} Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc., 111 F.2d 432 (2d Cir. 1940)[1], the case of Superman v. Wonderman,[2] is a 1940 decision of the Second Circuit in which the court held that the archetype of a comic book hero, in this case a cape-wearing benevolent-Hercules figure (Superman), is an idea, which the copyright in the comic strips does not protect against copying; only the specific details of the strips, their particular expression, enjoy legal protection. The author of the court's opinion was Judge Augustus N. Hand and the panel of Second Circuit judges included Judge Learned Hand. BackgroundThe defendant Bruns Publications, Inc. published a comic strip magazine that featured an action hero called "Wonder Man". The plaintiff Detective Comics, Inc. published a comic strip magazine called "Action Comics" that featured Superman. Bruns published strips resembling Superman strips. The court described the strips in these terms: Each publication portrays a man of miraculous strength and speed called "Superman" in "Action Comics" and "Wonderman" in the magazine of Bruns. The attributes and antics of "Superman" and "Wonderman" are closely similar. Each at times conceals his strength beneath ordinary clothing but after removing his cloak stands revealed in full panoply in a skintight acrobatic costume. The only real difference between them is that "Superman" wears a blue uniform and "Wonderman" a red one. Each is termed the champion of the oppressed. Each is shown running toward a full moon "off into the night", and each is shown crushing a gun in his powerful hands. "Superman" is pictured as stopping a bullet with his person and "Wonderman" as arresting and throwing back shells. Each is depicted as shot at by three men, yet as wholly impervious to the missiles that strike him. "Superman" is shown as leaping over a twenty story building, and "Wonderman" as leaping from building to building. "Superman" and "Wonderman" are each endowed with sufficient strength to rip open a steel door. Each is described as being the strongest man in the world and each as battling against "evil and injustice."[3] A side-by-side comparison of Detective's Superman and Bruns's Wonderman strips is provided in Superman v. Wonderman, along with corresponding passages from the preceding excerpt from the Second Circuit's opinion. Detective prevailed in the district court, which found Bruns guilty of copyright infringement. Bruns appealed the judgment to the Second Circuit. Opinion of the Second CircuitThe court acknowledged the accuracy of Bruns's contention that the "various attributes of Superman find prototypes or analogues among the heroes of literature and mythology . . . a comic Hercules . . ."[3] Nonetheless, to the extent that the Superman strips contained any expression, they were protected by copyright:
The court then explained this holding in clarifying language that deprived Detective of much of its apparent victory:
Accordingly, the court held, the district court's injunction against Bruns was too broad, because it swept up noninfringing conduct. Detective was entitled to relief only against cartoons "portraying any of the feats of strength or powers performed by `Superman' or closely imitating his costume or appearance in any feat whatever."[5] Subsequent developmentsAfter losing, Wonderman folded and publication ceased.[6] The Wonderman decision became a precedent and influenced the outcomes in subsequent Superman infringement suits, such as Superman v. Captain Marvel. See also
References1. ^{{cite court |litigants=Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc. |vol=111 |reporter=F.2d |opinion=432 |pinpoint= |court=2d Cir. |date=1940 |url=http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/111/432/1503080/ |accessdate=2017-10-07 |quote=}} 2. ^The court refers to the defendant's character throughout its opinion as "Wonderman," not "Wonder Man." 3. ^1 2 {{cite court |litigants=Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc. |vol=111 |reporter=F.2d |opinion=432 |pinpoint=433 |court=2d Cir. |date=1940 |url=http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/111/432/1503080/ |accessdate=2017-10-07 |quote=}} 4. ^{{cite court |litigants=Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc. |vol=111 |reporter=F.2d |opinion=432 |pinpoint=433-34 |court=2d Cir. |date=1940 |url=http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/111/432/1503080/ |accessdate=2017-10-07 |quote=}} 5. ^{{cite court |litigants=Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc. |vol=111 |reporter=F.2d |opinion=432 |pinpoint=434 |court=2d Cir. |date=1940 |url=http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/111/432/1503080/ |accessdate=2017-10-07 |quote=}} 6. ^{{smallcaps|Robert C. Harvey, The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History}} 21 (1996). External links{{caselaw source| case = | cornell = | courtlistener = | findlaw = | justia =http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/111/432/1503080/ | oyez = | vlex = | other_source1 = Google Scholar | other_url1 =https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7892207794856041058 | other_source2 = Berkman Klein Center at Harvard | other_url2 =https://cyber.harvard.edu/IPCoop/40dete.html | other_source3 = | other_url3 = | other_source4 = | other_url4 = | other_source5 = | other_url5 = | other_source6 = | other_url6 = | other_source7 = | other_url7 = | other_source8 = | other_url8 = | other_source9 = | other_url9 ={{DC Comics}} 6 : United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit cases|United States copyright case law|DC Comics|Superman|1940 in United States case law|United States lawsuits |
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