His name is Captain Marvel. Lawsuits were filed and settled, arguments raged, but for 70 years he's been "Captain Marvel".
If TPTB at DC think that's too complicated for fans to understand, they should not be writing comic books.
It's not that they think it's too complicated. It's a matter of copyright. Legally, they *can't* call him that.
shareYes they can. They just can't make that the name of the comic.
shareSigh. No, they Can't.
Marvel trademarked the name, and has aggressively protected both copyright and trademark rights since. (Even though the runs have not been profitable, they've made sure every year or so they publish yet another iteration of a "Captain Marvel" comic.) Since DC and Marvel don't have as adversarial a relationship as DC and Fawcett did, there's been no reason to litigate any name usage in DC's books.
DC has (wisely) avoided the entire issue by referring to their character as "Shazam." They know not to go there. If they did, they'd lose in court.
Nope, but thanks for playing. The settlement between Marvel and DC allowed DC to use the name for the character. But, as I stated, they were not allowed to use "Captain Marvel" in the name of the comic book. Hence the long run of "Shazam" comics featuring Captain Marvel.
https://www.brooklyncomicshop.com/BCS/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Shazam-Captain-Marvel-3-Brooklyn-Comic-Shop.jpg
LOL. . .yer welcome, always glad to play. I actually own that comic you posted (the entire run, actually); you're still wrong.
Here's the fact of the matter: the name "Captain Marvel" has a long and torturous history. There were TWO before Marvel secured the rights to the name; to make a long story short, DC sued one into ceasing publication, and Fass (who created the other) sued Marvel when they (finally) got around to creating their own Captain Marvel. Rather than litigate, Marvel simply paid off the much smaller company, and secured trademark to the name.
DC (who understand trademark/copyright much better than you) subsequently licensed the Fawcett characters they'd sued into oblivion. . .INCLUDING the first Captain Marvel. To keep Marvel from going after them, they titled the book "Shazam," figuring they could walk that tightrope. Marvel allowed this for the short run of this series (and a couple miniseries), but the fact that they chose not to litigate does NOT mean they couldn't have smacked DC down. It's a money game. And that's why (eventually) DC finally gave up and started calling the character "Shazam," instead of "Captain Marvel." Even though that makes NO sense.
Interesting side note: Alan Moore's character, when brought over from England, had to change his name from "Marvelman" to "Miracleman," for the same reason. They didn't want to annoy Marvel with trademark/copyright issues.
Bottom line: These companies know Very well what they're doing, and how far they can push trademark/copyright issues. Sometimes they toe the line, sometimes they cross it, sometimes they scuff the edges. Sometimes the other side pushes back, sometimes they figure it's not worth it. But the trademark issues/rights are clear.
he flew before superman
shareBut isn't it funny that because Captain Marvel belonged to another publisher DC Comics bought a lawsuit and closed the character down alleging it was too close to Superman. Later they acquired the character only to be stopped from using the name by another lawsuit from Marvel - hence Shazam!
(All details from Wikipedia. I know nothing about this stuff but was curious why the name changed)
The movie is abysmal so who cares ... not me.
share