This just came to my attention via BoingBoing, which I will now quote, as it perfectly explains the situation (emphasis mine).
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Thomas Denton of comic blog Say It Backwards has a nephew who was diagnosed with cancer. A charity called Candlelighters helped his family out. Thomas decided to use his connections in the comics world to organize some charitable auctions featuring original artwork by various artists to give something back to the organization. Apparently Time Warner (who own DC comics, who in turn own Superman, Batman and most of the cool superheroes who wear capes) objected to the selling of the pieces featuring their copyrighted and trademarked characters on eBay, specifically Superman from what I understand.
Using characters owned by the major comic book corporations is pretty common in charity auctions at comic book conventions. This is not to mention that if you go on eBay right now there are a lot of auctions for artwork featuring those same characters, none of which Time Warner seems to be going after.Thomas has posted a statement apologising to everyone involved in the affair (artists, bidders), but it doesn’t seem right that he’s been left holding the bag for trying to something for sick kids. Some letters to Time Warner’s PR department might make them think twice about sending out cease and desist orders so wantonly, and who knows, might even prompt them to kick some cash Candlelighters’ way.
Mr Denton documents the details here. It’s in reverse chronological order, so start with the bottom most post. In short, all received money that hadn’t already been sent to Candlelighters has been refunded, and all donated art that had not already been dispatched to buyers has been returned to the artists by Mr Denton. If I am mistaken here or misstating something, please let me know. I do not want to in any way spread false information.
Reading about this has left me feeling very upset. DC of course owns the rights to those characters, and has the legal right to sue if they are used by someone else to make profit as if they owned them, but that’s not what’s happening here. As the above bolded section notes, comic artists drawing these characters for charity is nothing new, and there are many such eBay auctions that Warner Brothers is NOT taking down, though they have nothing to do with charity. Those same artists drawing art for fans on paid commission is also not new, and DC doesn’t seem to mind that either. I’m not going to speculate on why DC chose to single out Mr Denton and his singularly thoughtful and interesting charity drive, which he actually managed to get professional artists to donate their time and effort for. What I do know is that there’s a difference between having the legal right to sue someone for something and recognizing when not to exercise that right for the mutual benefit of all involved, such as in the case of a philanthropic nonprofit effort designed to give aid to an organization devoted to children with cancer.
There is no danger of dilution of DC’s brand here, or loss of profit, or association with unseemly elements (unless the company does not want to be associated with charities). This entire situation suggests at best an overeager Warner Brothers legal department employee who wasn’t thinking clearly about the context. From a PR perspective, I would go so far as to suggest a successful charity auction would have generated positive press for the company. A clever spokesperson could’ve even spun something about their characters being used in the fight against cancer. This debacle, by contrast, won’t, and shouldn’t, generate anything but negative publicity for the company.
I leave you with a request, not just to my fellow members of all my fandoms but to everyone reading this. Warner Brothers has not so much dropped as stabbed the ball here, and this nonprofit has lost the chance for a sizable donation that it could have put to the care of sick children, but on the bright side many like me who follow this sort of news have today become aware of Candlelighters and their mission. If you have the resources, please make a donation. The donation options on the Candlelighters website is easy to use and automatically generates and mails out paperwork to verify the tax deductible status of your gift.
Please spread the word about this. Even if you’re unable to donate, someone who reads your blog might be, and the more people who learn about this and complain, the less this sort of snafu will be repeated. Complaining directly to WB, not just on your blogs, might not be a bad idea either, though I am not entirely sure whom one would contact about this particular issue. Even if they don’t shift their stance on this particular set of auctions (and they should), everyone involved would be served well should they make a formal policy statement about these sorts of fundraisers and how their legal department will react to them in the future.
Thank you for your time.
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