--- title: Batman: The Batmobile Is Protected by Copyright, Court Says description: DC Comics has a right to a copyright on the Batmobile vehicle portrayed in the Batman cartoon and movie franchise, an appeals court said. canonical: https://time.com/4046683/batmobile-copyright-protection/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-23T17:26:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:25:08.359Z og:title: The Batmobile Is Protected by Copyright, Court Says og:description: 'In our well-ordered society, protection of private property is essential' og:url: https://time.com/4046683/batmobile-copyright-protection/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a407ac658b2d39a/69876d15cd1bba32536f3fae/batmobile-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: batmobile-01 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Batmobile Is Protected by Copyright, Court Says twitter:description: 'In our well-ordered society, protection of private property is essential' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a407ac658b2d39a/69876d15cd1bba32536f3fae/batmobile-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Batmobile Is Protected by Copyright, Court Says > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 23, 2015 5:26 PM UTC  1963 "Batman's Batmobile" 1963 "Batman's Batmobile"Heritage Auctions  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 23, 2015 5:26 PM UTC DC Comics has a right to a copyright on the Batmobile vehicle portrayed in the Batman cartoon and movie franchise, [an appeals court said Wednesday.](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/dc-comics-is-entitled-copyright-826678) The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the car qualifies as a “automotive character” that can be protected under copyright law, according to the _Hollywood Reporter_. The ruling comes in response to a challenge by DC Comics of a California mechanic who manufactured Batmobile replicas and sold them for $90,000. “As Batman so sagely told Robin, ‘In our well-ordered society, protection of private property is essential,'” judge Sandra Ikuta wrote in the court’s opinion. \[[_The Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/dc-comics-is-entitled-copyright-826678)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4046683/batmobile-copyright-protection/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4046683/batmobile-copyright-protection/"},"headline":"The Batmobile Is Protected by Copyright, Court Says","datePublished":"2015-09-23T17:26:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:25:08.359Z","description":"'In our well-ordered society, protection of private property is essential'","url":"https://time.com/4046683/batmobile-copyright-protection/","keywords":["Newsfeed","U.S."],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a407ac658b2d39a/69876d15cd1bba32536f3fae/batmobile-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a407ac658b2d39a/69876d15cd1bba32536f3fae/batmobile-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"batmobile-01","caption":"1963 \"Batman's Batmobile\"","creditText":"Heritage Auctions","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4046683/batmobile-copyright-protection/","name":"The Batmobile Is Protected by Copyright, Court Says"}}]}] ```