Copyright
I have a script copyrighted since 2006, created in 1997 under the name ''Dark Knights''. I am seeking funding for the movie and I was accused of ''trying to capitalize on an existing material - ''The Dark Knight'' - (Batman) released in 2008. I was told to change my movie title, although It was created 15 years ago.
Re: Copyright
Titles can not be copyrighted, so there is no legal restriction on your use of the title. Likewise, there is no restriction on the makers of The Dark Knight movie using that title.
Usually, when you make a distribution deal for your finished film, distributors will require a producer to obtain a "title search" report which shows all the uses of that particular title in all media. This does not prevent the re-use of the title, but gives the distributor warning of any conflicts.
It does happen occasionally that more than one movie comes out with the same or similar titles, and the distributor of the later film makes a business decision to release the film in spite of that. Generally, though, marketers of films want to have a distinctive title to avoid confusion in the marketplace.
If you are at the funding stage, it is premature for anyone to be worrying about a possible conflict, and certainly you shouldn't feel pressure to change at this early stage. Most pictures change their titles at least once or twice from the time development begins and the time they are released.
Re: Copyright
Titles can not be copyrighted, so there is no legal restriction on your use of the title. Likewise, there is no restriction on the makers of The Dark Knight movie using that title.
Usually, when you make a distribution deal for your finished film, distributors will require a producer to obtain a "title search" report which shows all the uses of that particular title in all media. This does not prevent the re-use of the title, but gives the distributor warning of any conflicts.
It does happen occasionally that more than one movie comes out with the same or similar titles, and the distributor of the later film makes a business decision to release the film in spite of that. Generally, though, marketers of films want to have a distinctive title to avoid confusion in the marketplace.
If you are at the funding stage, it is premature for anyone to be worrying about a possible conflict, and certainly you shouldn't feel pressure to change at this early stage. Most pictures change their titles at least once or twice from the time development begins and the time they are released.
