The mayor of a city in southeastern Turkey plans to sue director Christopher Nolan for unauthorized use of the name “Batman.”
You see, that’s the name of the city: Batman. It’s the the capital of Batman Province, an important oil-producing region. It rests on the banks of the Batman River.
I’m not making this up.
“The royalty of the name ‘Batman’ belongs to us,” Mayor Hüseyin Kalkan tells a Turkish news agency. “There is only one Batman in the world. The American producers used the name of our city without informing us.”
He tells Hürriyet Daily News that after a media spotlight was cast on the city last year because of an increasing suicide rate among women, a columnist asked why the mayor hadn’t sued the producers of the Batman movies for royalties to aid the struggling economy.
With that, a light bulb went off.
But there is, apparently, another issue at play: Residents of Batman who live abroad can’t use “Batman” in the names of their businesses because of trademark infringement.
Curiously, though, Kalkan’s wrath is reserved solely for Nolan. He doesn’t plan to sue DC Comics or Warner Bros.
Bizarro update: A commenter points to this 2007 article that states Kalkan “was awarded damages by DC Comics after a lawsuit over the use of his town’s name for the superhero Batman.” In February 2008, the mayor was sentenced to 10 months in prison for “spreading terrorist propaganda” in a newspaper interview.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Yeah… and also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hüseyin_Kalkan
In 2007, DC Comics confirmed that they had settled with the city for an undisclosed amount.[1] In February 2008 the mayor was sentenced to 10 months in jail for promoting terrorism. Prosecutors speculated that Kalkan may have used money from his settlement with DC Comics to fund terrorism.
Though apparently this time his motives are for the good of his city.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Scratch that; source article for the above claim cites nothing with regards to DC Comics $$$ = terrorist funding.
Poor guy, he’s getting a bad rap…
November 10th, 2008 at 10:05 am
It seems DC/Nolan/Whoever could just let the thing go to trial and get a single etymologist as a witness to establish that Batman has nothing to do with the city of Batman, then perhaps countersue for the court costs once the suit was declared frivolous.
One would thinka judge and jury would see this as being as ridiculous as it is.
November 10th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Wait? After like 70 years of Batman they are just NOW realizing there’s a character by that name?
November 10th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Gaddammit, Batman.
November 10th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Well put, Ugly American!!
November 10th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Geez, what’s next, will B’wana Beast, Austrailia and Brother Voodoo, Peru file lawsuits over their names too???
November 10th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
that’s a silly story. it’s being ridiculed also here in Turkey. i don’t think it will go anywhere, not even a trial. it’s just a crazy ignorant man trying to draw attention…