Quality Heroes Question

Can the quality heroes with the exceptions of plastic man,the blackhawks,and kid eternity be used by anyone?

The Quality Heroes CAN be used by anyone, legally, with the INCLUSION of Plastic Man, Blackhawk AND Kid Eternity.*


*There's a few mid 1950 issues to watch out for. The Trademark issue is a myth (Dastar vs. Twentieth Century Fox)

OK,Thank you for telling me!

kevinryanvt wrote:

The Quality Heroes CAN be used by anyone, legally, with the INCLUSION of Plastic Man, Blackhawk AND Kid Eternity.*


*There's a few mid 1950 issues to watch out for. The Trademark issue is a myth (Dastar vs. Twentieth Century Fox)

I've read numerous times that the Quality characters, all of them are owned by DC and any attempts by anyone to use them will get a cease and desist. Especially for Plas' and Phantom Lady. I think DC has such a stranglehold on the properties it would be very difficult to pursue them at this point. Which sucks because there are plenty of great characters to mine.

Just wished there was something absolutely definitive and concrete written about the legal status regarding Quality and DC in general.

I am not arguing your point but am stating what I've read over the years.

OK,Thanks for your help.

@ The Great Dude:

Afraid I am not helping any at all, just making things a bit more confusing because the whole issue is a bit confusing and nothing that I've read has been stated as an absolute.

I think regarding the use of the Quality characters, as DC "nabbed" them way back when despite never solidly proving they did so legally other than SAYING they did, they've used them so long it has been one of those cases where it appears they own Quality characters by proxy.

Again these are just speculations on my part and nothing with any definitive proof.

Despite the whole problem with Quality, there are plenty of PD characters which still exist and whatever your plans are Great Dude, I hope they come about.

That's All right,don't worry about it.

Here's the deal...the quality characters ARE definitely public domain. I'm sure DC's deal to acquire Quality was legitimate, but it doesn't matter. If an issue's copyright wasn't renewed, it became public domain, and public records make it clear that the first 100 issues of Police Comics were not renewed.

There is only one confusing thing that I've read about, and that is that AC comics backed down to a cease and desist from DC regarding the use of Phantom Girl's name, and that may have been a trademark issue rather than a copyright issue. It may also be a case where one or both parties didn't understand Phantom Girl's status, or it may have been a case of blatant intimidation. In any case, DC couldn't back up anything other than a trademark suit, unless AC was using aspects of the modern Phantom foGirl, like the yellow glasses that only DC's version wears.

Wow,that's interesting.

[quote="argosail"There is only one confusing thing that I've read about, and that is that AC comics backed down to a cease and desist from DC regarding the use of Phantom Girl's name, and that may have been a trademark issue rather than a copyright issue. It may also be a case where one or both parties didn't understand Phantom Girl's status, or it may have been a case of blatant intimidation. In any case, DC couldn't back up anything other than a trademark suit, unless AC was using aspects of the modern Phantom foGirl, like the yellow glasses that only DC's version wears. [/quote]

From what I read (including in an interview with AC's Bill Black), the problem with Phantom Lady was simply that DC wanted to own her. AC and their lawyers were sure that they could win on the law, DC was funded by Warner Brothers' nearly bottomless pockets. AC was funded by Bill Black's nearly empty pockets. So they "backed down" because, otherwise, the company and Bill Black (as the publisher) would have gone bankrupt.

Sadly, sometimes even when the law is on your side, it ain't enough to win!

Yeah,you got that right.

PDSH wiki says you can use the golden age version of *insert quality comics character here* but not the *insert DC comics writer* version. How am I supposed to use a character without making him to much like the presumably almost identical version?  

girido wrote:

PDSH wiki says you can use the golden age version of *insert quality comics character here* but not the *insert DC comics writer* version. How am I supposed to use a character without making him to much like the presumably almost identical version?  

In some cases, it can be a VERY subtle line. For instance, Uncle Sam is the spirit of an American slain during the Revolution in Quality, but a unique supernatural entity created by the Founding Fathers in DC. Other than that, the characters are identical. Quality's Phantom Lady had a dark light beam; the DC version also can see in the dark and turn intangible.

Best advice I can give in using these characters would be to make yourself a chart listing all the stuff in the public domain issues (which is usable) on one side and the DC additions (which would get you sued blind) on the other. Or, you might just want to use similar characters from other publishers to play it safe.

The easiest way is to stick as close to what you see in the golden age comics. If it originally appeared in a public domain comic, you can use it! If you're interested in a character, don't just rely on profiles. Those are only a starting point. Go read the comics yourself! Familiarize yourself with the original version of the character.

You only have to be careful when you start adding new elements to the characters. Look at what other artists are doing with the characters and make sure your new elements haven't been done before in a copyrighted work.

girido wrote:

PDSH wiki says you can use the golden age version of *insert quality comics character here* but not the *insert DC comics writer* version. How am I supposed to use a character without making him to much like the presumably almost identical version?  

Sorry to revive an old thread, thought I'd weigh in, as it's an important topic.

Think about whether what you know about the character comes from reading Quality Coimcs, or from a DC version. If you don't know, then ComicBooksPlus.com will probably have some of the originals available.

Small additions/ changes to the character's story could probably be included without too much fear, but love interests, altered backstories, and superteams introduced by DC are out.