re: Fox/Disney deal is back on, could be announced next week

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DC fricked!

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One real danger is that Disney would own the Batman 1966 TV series and film.

For 45 years, the Batman series was owned by Fox and Bill Dozier's Greenway Productions, with the characters owned by DC. Then Dozier died and his portion was split between multiple heirs and the heirs of his attorneys. That's why we never had the show on VHS or DVD. Too many owners, no way they would come to an agreement.

In the early 2010's, an entrepreneur tracked down the Greenway heirs and bought up their portions, then used some specific launguage from the original agreement to force Fox to buy or sell so that someone would own the entire rights. Fox bought the show, then allowed Warner merchandising rights for the characters.

So if Disney buys Fox Studios, they own the Batman '66 series and film. They'd need DC's permission to use the characters outside of the actual show, and DC would need Disney's permission to use the likenesses of Adam West, Caesar Romero, etc.



Trivia: The only person to own an authorized VHS set of the Batman series was Mark Hamill. He used his Star Wars clout to get Fox to make VHS dubs for him.