I guess there was a huge legal fight that he eventually won through argument and opponent apathy, so as long as he doesn’t let the character sit completely idle, he keeps the rights despite no longer giving a fuck either. It’s utterly petty, and if I cared more about Dick Tracy I’d probably find it infuriating rather than hilarious.
Wikipedia claims, according to the podcast episode here, the 2023 appearance was unnecessary because Dick Tracy becomes public domain in 2027. No idea how true that is, but if it is true, that adds an interesting wrinkle to the story.
Partly true, but as we’ve seen from the Steamboat Willie thing, the specific aesthetics of the Beatty movie, and even elements like the two-way wrist radio (introduced 1946) or any villains who came along later than 1932 will still be protected for a while.
Yeah and it ran until the 70s, so there will be a lot of legal land mines with using that character for quite awhile.
I doubt anyone under 30 even knows who Dick Tracy is, but okay. You do you, Beatty.
That’s not true, I’m sure many of us over 30 have never heard of him either
Why is 30 the cutoff? I’m in my 30s and haven’t even heard of anyone referencing this character.
There was a pretty popular Dick Tracy movie in 1990, so he was fairly relevant in the early '90s. I figured those 30 and older may remember. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That movie is fantastic, but why is Warren Beaty such a knob?
Yeah, cause he kept the rights all to himself and squandered the character’s popularity.
Which is shitty of him. He never made a sequel and at his age it’s not gonna happen. Should have sold the rights post Sin City and someone could have made a cool movie out of it
TIL: Warren Beatty is still alive.
He also pays for Dick Tracy comic books to be produced every one in a while for the same reason.
I just heard this on the Free With Ads podcast lol
