Jingle bells, Batman smells ... ?

[amphioxus]

"Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin's laid an egg" -- any copyright or trademark problems, per se, in that now-famous song lyric?

[AndyJ]

Hi amphioxus and welcome to the forums.

I'm tempted to say that your guess is as good as mine. It appears that the earliest versions of the song originated in the 1960s. This means that if the song qualified for copyright at that time (because it was original enough to meet the minimum threshold for creativity) then copyright still exists today. This is because where an author appears to be anonymous, section 12 (3) of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 says that copyright subsists for 70 years from the date the work was made.

Whether anyone is actually likely to try and enforce that copyright is an entirely different matter, and not a question I can answer.

[amphioxus]

Thanks Andy.

Aside from that particular issue, I'm wondering if the insertion of these lyrics in an original song (with no other mention of Batman and Robin in the song and nothing offensive associated with them) could create any potential problems in relation to the current owners of Batman and Robin (Warner Bros). For example, suppose the hypothetical song I just described got played on radio and the writer received payment for the radio plays. Could this be credible grounds for the owners of Batman and Robin to claim a share of the proceeds -- if not by dint of copyright, then perhaps by trademark law or something similar?

[AndyJ]

Hi again,
There is no copyright in the names Batman and Robin. Even if there was, it wouldn't belong to Disney, but to DC Comics and the characters' creators artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger.
And there are no trade mark implications, assuming that the names are even registered in respectof songs, because their use would not be in the course of trade, that is, as a product name, or on its packaging or advertising etc.

[amphioxus]

Thanks Andy

[BruceBridges]

sounds like it's some ringtones for phones, so there shouldn't be any copyright issues

[AndyJ]

Hi Bruce,

I don't know why you think that ringtones don't raise copyright issues. If they original in the copyright sense and the composer didn't die before 31 December 1952 then they will certainly be subject to copyright protection, just like any other musical composition.