They don’t have any rights to any real world tech surrounding it, so all you’d really need to do is to change its aesthetics a little bit, like just changing color might be enough. They could still try but since their suit is fictional and yours would be real you should be good
No, not as long as you don’t use it commercially. But the law enforcement of your country will come after you for unsanctioned weapons, and a lot of scientists will come after you asking you how you were able to just create energy.
The worst possible outcome would be (in my uneducated, non-lawyer, opinion) is a court order requiring you to paint it in colors other than the colors used in the movie.
Let me get this straight, you think that your client, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world, is secretly a vigilante who spends his days flying around in a weaponized suit blowing up bad guys, and your plan is to sue this person?
Do a little reading. Trademark law prevents you from using a source identifying name or symbol IN COMMERCE. Copyright law prevents you from using a character or storyline in another piece of art/entertainment. Patent law prevents you from copying a patented useful invention for 20 yrs. So unless Marvel actually invented and patented an ironman suit, they couldn’t prevent you from making one. Also, all three categories of IP laws are concerned primarily with commercial use. Some thing not used in commerce won’t fall under tradrmark law; something used for education will fall under copyright fair use.
If you just a made a slim metal suit that can fly for a little bit that happens to look almost exactly like Iron Man, then the possibility of Marvel taking action would certainly exist – but it would have to look egregiously similar for their lawyers to even bother with you in all likelihood, given the fact that things like Metal Man exist.
If you somehow actually made a functional apparatus or suit from military-grade materials that could fly for extremely long periods of time and possibly even fire attached weaponry, however, copyright laws would likely be the least of your problems… assuming you live in North America or the free parts of Europe, the moment you unveiled your creation to the public you would suddenly be in the eyes of almost every government agency with an armed sector – along with high-ranking members of the international military industrial complex – that would be interested in either taking your creation after “securing” you and it for being threats, or handing you a check with a big number on it after asking some questions and taking the suit with them politely.
I’m assuming Marvel has copyrighted the looks of ironman, so anyone trying to create a comic with ‘tin-man’ who has a flying suit made out tin that shoots repulsors and was created by a billionaire might get sued, but they can’t I don’t think you can copyright theoretical tech. But r/legaladviceofftopic might be more beneficial.
copyright infringement only applies if you intend to use marvel’s trademark (aka ironman) icon as a way to make money. but if its for educational purposes/guide you can say it fair game.
Copyright protects original works of authorship, including songs, music, artwork, film, writing, software, etc. and is automatically a right of the author (or the corporation that hires the author if the work is done for-hire). Copyright lasts the life of the author plus + 70 years (or 95 years from date of publication in the case of work-for-hire). The character, artwork, and stories of Iron Man comics are copyrighted by Marvel Comics.
Trademarks cover words, phrases, or symbols/logos used to represent a product, service, or business. There are two types of trademarks, registered (®) and unregistered (™) that offer different levels of protection. Trademarks can last as long as the company continues to use them. Companies that operate in different industries can have similar trademarks as long as they are not easily confused. E.g., the Marvel “Iron Man” name and logo is a registered trademark of Marvel, but the “Ironman” name and logo is also a trademark of the organization that manages the Ironman Triathalons.
Patents cover original inventions. Obtaining a patent involves a lengthy application and review process, usually involving patent attorneys. Patents are only granted for 20 years. E.g. the Nintendo Switch is patented. If Tony Stark were real, Stark Industries would have applied for a patent on the Iron Man armor designs.
Can Marvel sue you if you create your own comic/movie/videogame about Tony Stark / Iron Man?
Yes, because that character and his stories are protected by copyright owned by Marvel.
Can Marvel sue you if you name a different, original character of your own creation and the associated comic/movie/videogame “Iron Man”?
Yes, because the name “Iron Man” is trademarked by Marvel for use in entertainment and media.
Can Marvel sue you if you invent a suit of armor with an integrated artificial intelligence that protects you from harm and allows you to fly, shoot various beams from various body parts, and do other cool shit?
No, absolutely not, because the comic-book Iron Man’s armor has not been patented by Marvel and cannot be because it’s fictional. Since it is fictional, it could not meet the high level of documentation and explanation necessary to be awarded a patent. Marvel does not have a patent on Iron Man’s fictional armor, so they have no legal claim against someone who invents actual power armor (as long as you don’t brand it the “Iron Man” armor … which would infringe on their trademark).
Marvel’s IP only covers works of fiction. Do it in Real Life, and you could even call yourself Ironman or Iron Man or IronMan or anything you wanted to.
If you made a flying armoured power suit, probably not, unless they had a patent – you can’t copyright or trademark concepts. But if you made it look like any of their copyrighted or trademarked designs, probably yes.
Unlikely since the fictional item isn’t patented and your “Legally Distinct Powered Battle Suit” would very much need to be to prevent losing it to a government or corporation.
So long as you don’t infringe by using copyrighted names of brands or established IP to trick or confuse your customers or use the strength of the established brand to unfairly enrich or exaggerate your product you’ll have plenty of legal standing.
There have been a few cases of fiction inspiring real products and none of them have had much luck fighting each other about it.
Smart enough to build a life size working Iron Man suit. Not smart enough to either know or contact a lawyer over the legal ramifications and decided to ask Reddit.
Okay, so lets imagine that you were an engineering genius and you invented a suit of powered armour that can fly, augment your strength, fire weapons, etc.
That’s not anything that Marvel can claim to own. They have copyrights and trademarks on certain characrers and designs, but they don’t have patents on any of the fictional technologies involved.
Even in a fictional context they don’t own that idea: there are dozens of other superheroes in powered armour in other company’s books and movies. You can’t copyright an idea, only the specific expression of it.
But now lets say you paint the thing yellow and red, so it looks exactly like in the film, and start selling them under the brand name “Iron Man”. Or more likely, I guess you are selling your services while dressed in it? Making birthday party appearences? Doing bodygaurd work?
Now you are running into IP infringement– less on the copyright side than the trademark side. Trademarks are meant to prevent other people from profiting from the good reputation of the owner by creating consumer confusion. Someone could reasonably think that the guy in the working Iron Man suit who can come to your party and fly around and take pictures with you while holding up your truck is licenced by Disney. So you could be sued for a portion of your income or for damages to Disney’s brand reputation. If you are offering an entertainment product they will say you are unfairly trading on their marks to compete with them.
The same is true of any cosplayer who is making money off the character, but the fact is that individuals on Insta or Hollywood Blvd are, firstly, not in a business that Disney actually wants to be in, secondly, judgement proof in the sense that they likely don’t have any money to take once Disney’s expensive legal team destroys them, and finally, easy enough for the fan community to empathize with that any attempt to mess with them is only going to hurt their brand. Too small potatos.
If you have a ten-million-dollar suit of armour and you are flying around calling yourself Iron Man, probably making serious money, maybe doing things that could get someone hurt, that’s a very different story. You are going to get a cease-and-desist, at least.
If you just call yourself “Machine Hero” and make up your own paint design, you sidestep all of that.
It has not happened to those who have tried. Adam Savage made a titanium ironman suit that is bulletproof (for 9mm and 45 acp I believe) and can fly a little bit (if you have a jet pack)
Comments
People do cosplays all the time. I don’t think they’d come after you unless somehow you were to profit from it and maybe claim it as your own.
Looks, sure they could sue you for IP, but probably only if you brought the reputation of the IP into disrepute.
Thousands of cosplayers recreate the looks of the IP and (AFAIK), don’t get sued.
But, if you made it weapons capable and started flying around at Mach 10? Yeah, maybe you’d get a cease and desist from the House of Mouse.
As long as you don’t start selling it as a business
you’re much more likely going to be sought out by your respective government who want to include your tech into their military
If they do smash them
They don’t have any rights to any real world tech surrounding it, so all you’d really need to do is to change its aesthetics a little bit, like just changing color might be enough. They could still try but since their suit is fictional and yours would be real you should be good
i mean if you had an iron man suit would it matter who sued you lol
No, not as long as you don’t use it commercially. But the law enforcement of your country will come after you for unsanctioned weapons, and a lot of scientists will come after you asking you how you were able to just create energy.
The worst possible outcome would be (in my uneducated, non-lawyer, opinion) is a court order requiring you to paint it in colors other than the colors used in the movie.
Let me get this straight, you think that your client, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world, is secretly a vigilante who spends his days flying around in a weaponized suit blowing up bad guys, and your plan is to sue this person?
Well, good luck!
If you could create fully functional arc reactors, you could buy Disney.
That’s before we consider the value of the other technologies you would have.
Only if you build it in a cave. With a box of scraps
Do a little reading. Trademark law prevents you from using a source identifying name or symbol IN COMMERCE. Copyright law prevents you from using a character or storyline in another piece of art/entertainment. Patent law prevents you from copying a patented useful invention for 20 yrs. So unless Marvel actually invented and patented an ironman suit, they couldn’t prevent you from making one. Also, all three categories of IP laws are concerned primarily with commercial use. Some thing not used in commerce won’t fall under tradrmark law; something used for education will fall under copyright fair use.
If I break the laws of physics and exceeded the speed of light, would I get a traffic ticket?
And don’t you come at me with that bullshit sciencey stuff about how it’s not actually possible, nerd!
If you just a made a slim metal suit that can fly for a little bit that happens to look almost exactly like Iron Man, then the possibility of Marvel taking action would certainly exist – but it would have to look egregiously similar for their lawyers to even bother with you in all likelihood, given the fact that things like Metal Man exist.
If you somehow actually made a functional apparatus or suit from military-grade materials that could fly for extremely long periods of time and possibly even fire attached weaponry, however, copyright laws would likely be the least of your problems… assuming you live in North America or the free parts of Europe, the moment you unveiled your creation to the public you would suddenly be in the eyes of almost every government agency with an armed sector – along with high-ranking members of the international military industrial complex – that would be interested in either taking your creation after “securing” you and it for being threats, or handing you a check with a big number on it after asking some questions and taking the suit with them politely.
I’m assuming Marvel has copyrighted the looks of ironman, so anyone trying to create a comic with ‘tin-man’ who has a flying suit made out tin that shoots repulsors and was created by a billionaire might get sued, but they can’t I don’t think you can copyright theoretical tech. But r/legaladviceofftopic might be more beneficial.
I think you might not be able to use the name thatq all they can sue you for id imagine. Though i think they would enjoy the free publicité.
copyright infringement only applies if you intend to use marvel’s trademark (aka ironman) icon as a way to make money. but if its for educational purposes/guide you can say it fair game.
Time for Intellectual Property 101:
Copyright protects original works of authorship, including songs, music, artwork, film, writing, software, etc. and is automatically a right of the author (or the corporation that hires the author if the work is done for-hire). Copyright lasts the life of the author plus + 70 years (or 95 years from date of publication in the case of work-for-hire). The character, artwork, and stories of Iron Man comics are copyrighted by Marvel Comics.
Trademarks cover words, phrases, or symbols/logos used to represent a product, service, or business. There are two types of trademarks, registered (®) and unregistered (™) that offer different levels of protection. Trademarks can last as long as the company continues to use them. Companies that operate in different industries can have similar trademarks as long as they are not easily confused. E.g., the Marvel “Iron Man” name and logo is a registered trademark of Marvel, but the “Ironman” name and logo is also a trademark of the organization that manages the Ironman Triathalons.
Patents cover original inventions. Obtaining a patent involves a lengthy application and review process, usually involving patent attorneys. Patents are only granted for 20 years. E.g. the Nintendo Switch is patented. If Tony Stark were real, Stark Industries would have applied for a patent on the Iron Man armor designs.
Can Marvel sue you if you create your own comic/movie/videogame about Tony Stark / Iron Man?
Yes, because that character and his stories are protected by copyright owned by Marvel.
Can Marvel sue you if you name a different, original character of your own creation and the associated comic/movie/videogame “Iron Man”?
Yes, because the name “Iron Man” is trademarked by Marvel for use in entertainment and media.
Can Marvel sue you if you invent a suit of armor with an integrated artificial intelligence that protects you from harm and allows you to fly, shoot various beams from various body parts, and do other cool shit?
No, absolutely not, because the comic-book Iron Man’s armor has not been patented by Marvel and cannot be because it’s fictional. Since it is fictional, it could not meet the high level of documentation and explanation necessary to be awarded a patent. Marvel does not have a patent on Iron Man’s fictional armor, so they have no legal claim against someone who invents actual power armor (as long as you don’t brand it the “Iron Man” armor … which would infringe on their trademark).
Call it metal man or something
You could call it a stainless steel man, titanium alloy man or ………
If you called it Ironman and/or used copyright designs or logos. Otherwise no of course not. They didn’t actually create Ironman tech, it’s a story.
The Gene Roddenberry foundation doesn’t own the right to build starships in the future.
Don’t call yourself Ironman thats it
No ones gonna stop you. link
They can try, but the good news is you now have the most powerful deterrent ever conceived. In other words…come and take it
I’d be more worried about the government than Marvel
Sounds like you need to read Armor Wars, Stark is going to feel a moral responsibility to stop you
I’d be more worried about the dozens of existing patents on powered exoskeletons and similar devices.
People have tried to make their own nuclear reactors before, it never ends up well for them.
You can make the real amor and just not call it iron man …
Or you can cosplay as iron man
Or you can make iron man art, but not sell it.
Or you can make ironman-inspired art, and sell it
Theyre mostly out to sue people who use their IPs to make money.
The actual ‘schematic’ for an iron man suit doesnt exist. If you make one make sure to patent the technology… Coz thats what will bring in the money
Marvel’s IP only covers works of fiction. Do it in Real Life, and you could even call yourself Ironman or Iron Man or IronMan or anything you wanted to.
Just call it “Steelman” or “Tungstenman” or “Aluminoman” and you’ll be fine
You’d have more issues to deal with than marvel..
In Europe atleast you should be safe as long as you don’t claim the idea is yours and you don’t profit from it
Within art, almost anything goes. Just don’t sell it
The general concept of flying armored supersuit isn’t trademarkable. But if you copied the color scheme, that could be a problem.
If you made a flying armoured power suit, probably not, unless they had a patent – you can’t copyright or trademark concepts. But if you made it look like any of their copyrighted or trademarked designs, probably yes.
Depends, you gonna sell it? If so I know a team of lawyers who have some paperwork for you
Unlikely since the fictional item isn’t patented and your “Legally Distinct Powered Battle Suit” would very much need to be to prevent losing it to a government or corporation.
So long as you don’t infringe by using copyrighted names of brands or established IP to trick or confuse your customers or use the strength of the established brand to unfairly enrich or exaggerate your product you’ll have plenty of legal standing.
There have been a few cases of fiction inspiring real products and none of them have had much luck fighting each other about it.
Even if they did, you’ll have an Ironman suit, what could they really do? Send me an arch reactor when you get it figured out. Thanks.
If you had a suit that did in real life what the iron man suit did in the movies then i dont think anyone could tell you what tf to do
Smart enough to build a life size working Iron Man suit. Not smart enough to either know or contact a lawyer over the legal ramifications and decided to ask Reddit.
Only if you color it and design it to look like iron man.
But iron man is not an original idea. Your work would naturally be a derivative work
Okay, so lets imagine that you were an engineering genius and you invented a suit of powered armour that can fly, augment your strength, fire weapons, etc.
That’s not anything that Marvel can claim to own. They have copyrights and trademarks on certain characrers and designs, but they don’t have patents on any of the fictional technologies involved.
Even in a fictional context they don’t own that idea: there are dozens of other superheroes in powered armour in other company’s books and movies. You can’t copyright an idea, only the specific expression of it.
But now lets say you paint the thing yellow and red, so it looks exactly like in the film, and start selling them under the brand name “Iron Man”. Or more likely, I guess you are selling your services while dressed in it? Making birthday party appearences? Doing bodygaurd work?
Now you are running into IP infringement– less on the copyright side than the trademark side. Trademarks are meant to prevent other people from profiting from the good reputation of the owner by creating consumer confusion. Someone could reasonably think that the guy in the working Iron Man suit who can come to your party and fly around and take pictures with you while holding up your truck is licenced by Disney. So you could be sued for a portion of your income or for damages to Disney’s brand reputation. If you are offering an entertainment product they will say you are unfairly trading on their marks to compete with them.
The same is true of any cosplayer who is making money off the character, but the fact is that individuals on Insta or Hollywood Blvd are, firstly, not in a business that Disney actually wants to be in, secondly, judgement proof in the sense that they likely don’t have any money to take once Disney’s expensive legal team destroys them, and finally, easy enough for the fan community to empathize with that any attempt to mess with them is only going to hurt their brand. Too small potatos.
If you have a ten-million-dollar suit of armour and you are flying around calling yourself Iron Man, probably making serious money, maybe doing things that could get someone hurt, that’s a very different story. You are going to get a cease-and-desist, at least.
If you just call yourself “Machine Hero” and make up your own paint design, you sidestep all of that.
It has not happened to those who have tried. Adam Savage made a titanium ironman suit that is bulletproof (for 9mm and 45 acp I believe) and can fly a little bit (if you have a jet pack)
He made it in a cave with a box of scraps. You’re good, keep going. Just Do it!
If you were able to make a comic level suit, no one would be able to sue you.