Intellectual Property

Character

To be entitled to copyright protection, characters must pass a three-part test from DC Comics v. Towle:

1. Character must have "physical as well as conceptual qualities."
2. The character must be "sufficiently delineated" to be recognizable as the same character whenever it appears.
   • It must display consistent, identifiable character traits and attributes, although the character need not have a consistent appearance.
3. The character must be "especially distinctive" and "contain some unique elements of expression."
   • It cannot be a stock character such as a magician in standard magician garb.