DC Comics Prevails in Winter Case

Last week the California State Supreme Court unanimously decided in favor of DC Comics and the creators of Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm & Such in the long-running dispute with Johnny and Edgar Winter. The California Supremes agreed with arguments set forth in DC’s briefs and in an amicus brief filed by the MPAA, CBLDF, and others, that the characters Johnny & Edgar Autumn used in the series were legitimate expressions in the context of a larger, First Amendment protected, expressive work.

The Court found, “Although the fictional characters Johnny and Edgar Autumn are less-than-subtle evocations of Johnny and Edgar Winter, the books do not depict plaintiffs literally. Instead, plaintiffs are merely part of the raw materials from which the comic books were synthesized. To the extent the drawings of the Autumn brothers resemble plaintiffs at all, they are distorted for purposes of lampoon, parody, or caricature. And the Autumn brothers are but cartoon characters – half-human and half-worm – in a larger story, which itself is quite expressive.” The court continued, “the comic books are transformative and entitled to First Amendment protection.”

The CBLDF salutes the DC Comics legal team for their victory in the most recent round of this important case.

Web Resources:

Full Text of the Decision
Law.com article
Associated Press Article
Newsarama Article and Discussion