My husband and I have been listening to this podcast series by NPR's Planet Money called "Planet Money Buys a Superhero". It all started when Kenny Malone, host of Planet Money, read an article about the CEO of Disney, the company that owns Marvel Comics, who said something like, "there is no end to this superhero film empire of ours because we own 7,000 characters." That got him and Robert Smith thinking about "all the amazing minor characters with strange powers now trapped in a filing cabinet in a vault somewhere, yearning to fly free" and the possibility of Planet Money buying one of these unused superheroes and building a little empire around him, with new stories, a new comic book, swag, action figures, T-shirts, lunchboxes, movies, musicals. "Plus, you know, explore the world of high-stakes intellectual property along the way."
So instead of doing a lecture or interview style story about intellectual property, trademarks, copyrights, the public domain, etc etc. they launched into a real world example and tried to buy a super hero (which has been a fascinating and delightful journey and I have learned SO much!).
They started with trying to buy one of Marvel's 7000 superheroes, since they obviously arent using all of them, but quickly discovered that Marvel was not going to sell them even their worst character (like "Doorman" who literally can just turn into a door). But professor Jennifer Jenkins from Duke Law School found a loop hole for them. She is also the director of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain, and suggested they look through the public domain for superheroes whose copyright had lapsed.
Many vintage superheroes were born in the 1940s, and their copyright lasted only 28 years so it had to be renewed in the 1970s. Smith joked, "And, you know, with all the disco and the hot tubs and the cocaine, some small companies understandably spaced out on the need to renew their superheroes." But more likely, the weirdest of superheroes weren't doing so well so there was probably not a great business reason to spend money renewing the copyright of a failed character. Jenkins said "After 28 years, 85% of works were not renewed, suggesting that the copyright owners did not find it worthwhile."
So they looked through a list someone had created of 3,368 public domain comic book characters. It was hilarious hearing them go through the list. Smith says, "This is like going through Tinder for superheroes. It's like swipe left, left, left, weird costume, terrible superpowers, shirtless, left, left." Eventually they fell in love with the 1940s sonic avenger Micro-Face. "He was everything a podcast could have hoped for: super-sensitive hearing, photoelectric vision, and the kicker — a microphone strapped to his face." Technically, because it is in the public domain, everyone owns the old version of Micro-Face. But as soon as they add things to Micro-Face's story, improve him in some way - give him new superpowers, a new identity, change the design - they will own all of those changes and Planet Money would hold the copyright to that new version of Micro-Face. They assemble a team to create the first comic book, and they decided to take the legacy route with this character. The new Micro-Face will be the grandson of the original Micro-Face, who finds his grandfather's superhero mask and takes on the role of Micro-Face.
The most recent episode we listened to was about licensing opportunities for Micro-Face. The Planet Money team held their own little Shark Tank to hear idea about other businesses partnering with to use the likeness of Micro-Face for their products. After an incredibly delightful episode, they choose a Gouda Cheese and a Lemon Soda to have licensing rights to Micro-Face. I enjoyed the whole thing so much I immediately went online and bought the cheese, the soda, the comic book, and a t-shirt for my husband (proceeds all go to NPR, so it's not entirely just frivolous capitalisms). I can't wait for it all to arrive so I can delight my husband with our Micro-Face goodies!
With delight (and a better understanding of intellectual property rights),
♥Jamie
No comments:
Post a Comment