CBR: Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. Sues Dynamite Over John Carter, Tarzan

[CBR News]

The family-owned company that holds the existing rights to the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs has sued Dynamite Entertainment, accusing the publisher of trademark infringement and unfair competition.


Full article here.

[mjharwood]

They should rethink this... It's because of the Dynamite Warlord of Mars series that I have started buying the prose works that inspired them and have a huge level of excitement for the upcoming movie. The first issue of the Tarzan series has renewed my interest in that character, as well, with the prose works being high on my "next to buy" list. If the series are driving people to put money in their pockets, is it really that bad??

[CrazyOldHermit]

How is that Tarzan series anyway?

[Ed Love]

They should rethink this... It's because of the Dynamite Warlord of Mars series that I have started buying the prose works that inspired them and have a huge level of excitement for the upcoming movie. The first issue of the Tarzan series has renewed my interest in that character, as well, with the prose works being high on my "next to buy" list. If the series are driving people to put money in their pockets, is it really that bad??

Well, if you're not buying new editions, it's not money in their pockets.

Either way, when it comes to trademarks, there's no rethinking. They don't have a choice. You are required to defend your trademarks or you lose the rights to them and it affects future decisions regarding damages. You can be sure if it gets that far, it's going to be looked into whether or not they went after the people that made the Traci Lords version of PRINCESS OF MARS.

Did not know that the UK Copyrights on these titles were still valid. Means they could also go after League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, especially volume 2 which makes quite a bit of use of Burroughs' Mars work. Of course, that should only have bearing on international sales and distribution.

Don't know how "common law" trademarks work but trademarks do have to be used or else they are lost. I haven't seen any product that matched Tarzan with "Lord of the Jungle" in years and cannot recall an instance ever of anything with the name of "Deja Thoris" attached. Seems that might be a stretch.

And only Dark Horse has comic rights to John Carter... isn't Marvel doing a movie tie-in comic right now?

As far as her clothing... she's described as being naked in the books and clearly topless in the licensed paperbacks with the Whalen covers.

This case will be interesting to watch. DC claims ownership of quite a few characters by dint of trademark that are at least partially if not totally public domain when it comes to copyrights (Doctor Occult, Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, all of the Quality library) and Marvel has a few as well (Namor, Ka-zar and possibly the GA Angel and Human Torch)

[Comic2read]

The Dynamite Tarzan is excellent. It's a pity ERB estate is complaining about Public Domain. I hope Nick wins.

[Manga4life]

Nobody has given a crap about anything related to John Carter or anything related to Warlord of Mars for years and years, now that Dynamite publishes comics that have landed in the top 150 books each month now we have an issue......please.

ERB Inc or whatever they're called should be happy that someone has brought John Carter back into the limelight, but yeah.....I'm sure they'll sue and try to grab a quick buck.

[mjharwood]

How is that Tarzan series anyway?

The first issue was pretty good. More of the origin of how he came to be an orphan in the jungle, so only really scratching the surface, but it shows a lot of promise.

[mdg1]

Repeat after me:
Trademark Is Not The Same Thing As Copyright

Whether a story is in public domain or not has zero impact on the trademarks. Trademarks mean the names, appearances, and other symbolic details used to identify a particular product in trade.

If ERB doesn't defend them, they become "genericized" and become useless for business purposes.

[mjharwood]

And only Dark Horse has comic rights to John Carter... isn't Marvel doing a movie tie-in comic right now?

The article states Dark Horse has license to the novels; maybe Marvel, as an extension of Disney, has rights through the film?

[The_Livewire]

Hmm, I thought the first three books were Public Domain for John Carter.

The 'borderline pornography' bit made me laugh. Um, have they looked at the covers of their own novels

[rasx]

The Dynamite Tarzan is excellent. It's a pity ERB estate is complaining about Public Domain. I hope Nick wins.

I'm buying the dynamite tarzan because for years dark horse hasn't done anything with. What a waste of a really cool franchise.

[Lot 49]

The first three John Carter novels are, in fact, public domain. Marvel also works hand-in-hand with the Burroughs estate in adapting the novels (A Princess of Mars and Gods of Mars, so far).

And, yes, Marvel has the rights to adapt the Disney film, which is why the characters in PAD's book look so much like the film...

I also agree with the poster who said that Trademarks need to be defended...

Truthfully, I blame Dynamite. Yes, the Warlord of Mars comic brought attention to the character. IMO, Dynamite got greedy. If they had simply stuck with the Warlord of Mars book, it may have gone on being published without repercussions from the Burroughs estate.

But, now that Dynamite is publishing:

Warlord of Mars
Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris
Warlord of Mars: Fall of Barsoom
Dejah Thoris and the White Apes of mars
Warriors of Mars

and now, Lord of the Jungle

They might as well use a gun...

[pimpernel]

It's kind of sad that people seem to be saying "i like these unlicensed products so screw the people who own the rights" basically. It reminds me of all those people who argue that pirated comics/DVDs/music is justifiable because people want to read them but those things are too expensive to buy legally.

Burroughs created these characters and his heirs should own the rights... just because they haven't done much with the characters or had a lot of success with the characters in recent years doesn't make it cool for other people to swoop in and rip them off shamelessly.

I would LOVE to make my own Wonder Woman comic because i think what DC is doing with the character is rubbish... but i don't own the character and DC does... so tough... i can't just go and do it anyway.

Is there a way that Dynamite can legally justify their actions? I'm not an expert... it's possible i suppose. But that doesn't make it right morally.

[MadMikeyD]

ERB Inc. owns the trademarks to "Tarzan" and "John Carter of Mars," as well as the common law rights in the "Tarzan Lord of the Jungle," "Dejah Thoris" and "Barsoom" marks.

"Lord of the Jungle," "Dejah Thoris" and "Barsoom" are not registered trademarks, so Dynamite is not infringing on trademarks there. There may be an issue with the international copyright situation, though.

Indeed, if Dynamite had stuck to the PD material - the first 5 John Carter books and the first 8 Tarzan - there might not have been a problem. Their mega-expansion of the John Carter universe is likely what gave ERB Inc. the feeling they would have enough legal grounds for a suit. Unfortunate, because DE is doing great adaptations of the novels (I don't care about the spin-offs).

Truthfully, I think the real issue is the upcoming Disney film. ERB Inc. has long marketed its characters to kids and all-ages audiences. The upcoming film is from Disney, marketing to kids and all-ages audiences. The licensed Marvel comics are marketing to kids and all-ages audiences. The Dynamite books are pretty firmly for mature audiences only, something the nude covers only enforce. This creates a problem when an 8 year old who loves the movie wants to read a comic and picks up the Dynamite version instead of the Marvel one. ERB Inc. (and likely Disney) would probably prefer not to have such books on the shelves once the film comes out.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I was going to buy Warlord of Mars when it first came out, but decided to wait for collected editions--because it reads better that way. I assumed at the time that these were authorized adaptations--though I've learned otherwise since.

I don't like siding with big business, but I don't think Burroughs has much choice. If they don't defend the trademark then its worthless to them. Others can go and exploit Tarzan and John Carter without paying one thin dime to Burroughs. The legitimate businesses that are paying licensing fees to Burroughs have a right to expect exclusive use of those trademarks and are not going to like it when their rights are being violated.