Could Warner Bros. have potentially copied a fight sequence from YouTube for a scene in Batman Vs. Robin?
YouTuber kwonkicker uploaded a video on Dec. 7 to his channel about a potential copyright infringement by Warner Bros. As he details it, he released a web series in 2012 called Slug Street Scrappers. It was recently brought to his attention that the animated DC film Batman Vs. Robin – released in 2015 – featured a very similar fight sequence to his, down to the changes in camera angles and pacing.
Here is the video he posted and we’ll let you be the judge.
Kwonkicker posted an updated on Dec. 23 regarding whether or not he’s heard from anyone at Warner Bros. or DC about his accusations.
UPDATE 12-23-18: Still waiting for WB & DC to return my emails. I’ve tried contacting them in a friendly manner, but I’ve received no response yet. If you’re a WB/DC rep, contact me via the info in my channel’s about section. If you are an attorney or litigator interested in working with me on contingency, please do the same.
READ BEFORE COMMENTING: To reiterate… I would not care if all they did was to use the same sequence of fight moves. The fight choreography by itself isn’t the actual issue, as similar choreography is bound to happen from time to time in action films. My primary issue is that it looks as if they straight up TRACED OVER the sequence from my film frame-by-frame, using a combination of the same tempo, same moves, same camera angles, same edits, and the body outlines of my characters. In other words, my issue is that it appears as if they rotoscoped the sequence without asking permission. Also, the characters in this series are entirely original creations. They are NOT characters from video games. Finally, here is proof that my sequence was uploaded and screened YEARS BEFORE Batman vs Robin was released.
We’ll be following along to see if there any updates on the story.
VIA: Heroic Hollywood
