A team of lawyers for the WB has constrained the use of Superman related works created by a team of comic artists listed through eBay's charitable donation channel. They forcibly had the company to pull the items saying that it was a violation of trademark and copyrights. Thomas Denton, a Superman fan site owner, says that he asked for the help of the artists' creative abilities to place the comic related lists up to donate the proceeds to Candlelighters.
This Childhood Cancer Foundation Office was founded in 1970 by parents of adolescents with cancer. Candlelighters provides cancer education for children and families, supports research of the disease, and is an advocate for the fight against cancer. In the present, the organization has over 50,000 members of their national office and more than 100,000 members across the United States. Mr. Denton said that he had decided to have the comic artists' creations made and posted on the auction network, because he was thankful for what the center had done to help his nephew fight his battle with cancer. However, his hopes were dashed when WB, DC's parent company, found out about the items up for bid and said that Superman was their property which wasn't allowed for helping with any charities.
Denton says that due to this sour experience, he will close down his fan site dedicated to the man of steel. He will still be required to pay the fees for the auctions pulled, and DC in what can only be seen as a very poor attempt at showing slight empathy, allowed one of the items to continue for bidding.
Critics of Thomas Denton's efforts argue that he should have gone through procedure and obtained permission before having the creations listed on eBay. They also say that his low feedback score could have indicated a scam artist and posed a possible threat to the name of Superman and other WB owned characters. The auctions for Candlelighters, they claim, may have also been a problem if they weren't listed under eBay's "Mission Fish" charitable donations section.
Those who looked into the auctions further say they found no items listed for Candlelighters including Denton's. Some feel that the failure to obtain a positive feedback score before posting, that correct start up wasn't used by contacting the owners of Superman and friends prior, and talking to the cancer organization for teamwork led to an obvious strike down. Others may not believe that the man is a scam artist, but say that they support DC's right to flex their ownership muscle when dealing with this type of situation.
The overwhelming response in the court of public opinion is that it is sad if Denton's efforts were honest and that maybe the WB and DC should team up with the charitable auctioneer by either approving the creations or donating some for the purpose of fund raising for Candlelighters. The auctions, obviously could have easily been reworked by the WB lawyers so that contracts were made with Candllighters and Mr. Denton to post up legally authorized auctions of Superman and the other characters. As he has blogged, his aren't the only listings featuring the hero of Metropolis or any other in DC comics. Either way, it is a very sad situation for both sides, especially those that may have been helped by any money obtained from the listings.
