Last week, U.S. District Judge Ronald Lew made a decision to allow DC Comics to sue a man who was making and selling Batmobiles on the grounds of copyright and trademark infringement. Despite numerous articles you may have read, this is nothing new.

Automobile enthusiast Mark Towles was manufacturing and selling a variety of Batmobiles through his company Gotham Garage as well as other items from TV and movie history including the 1966 version of the Batboat and the famed Munsters family car. DC Comics found out about this man’s company and decided that it was within their right to file a claim against the man for violation of copyright and patents that they’ve had on the Batmobile for decades. Towles and his attorney attempted to have the copyright claim, and thusly the entire case, thrown out against him because they did not believe that an automobile could be copyrighted. They were completely and utterly wrong.