Rumors have spread over the past few weeks about a crack-down on fan films depicting intellectual property of DC Comics/Warner Bros. being screened at the upcoming Comic-Con International in San Diego. Freelance writer and fan film aficionado Eli McElmurray has been tracking the development and has reported his findings to Comics2Film.

According to McElmurray, " Warner Bros. has stepped in, requesting that Comic-Con International honor their intellectual copyrights by not screening films which may infringe upon those copyrights owned by WB/Time-AOL/DC Comics."

David Glanzer, Director Marketing and Public Relations Comic-Con International, offered this statement of the convention’s position.

"Comic-Con International received a letter in early June from Warner Bros. requesting that we honor their intellectual copyrights by not screening films which may infringe upon those copyrights. Needless to say we have complied, so this year any movie that deals with a copyrighted character by released by DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image to name a few will not be shown this year."

Glanzer provided a complete list of films that will be screening. That same list can be found at the Comic-Con website.

Apparently, the core issue is that Comic-Con charges admission to the convention, where the fan films are screened on-site. So, the convention organizers could be viewed as profiting from these infringing works.

Further, the proliferation of bootleg copies, sold on DVD or VHS directly to fans is in direct violation of Warner Bros. copyrights. Such copies are easily obtained at comic conventions and through Internet sales and auctions.

Although this creates a situation where Warner Bros’ intellectual property is unfairly exploited by a third party, Warner is apparently working with independent filmmakers to create an outlet for this creative expression that doesn’t violate anyone’s rights. To that end, Warner Bros. is consulting with filmmakers like Bat In The Sun’s Aaron Schoenke.

McElmurray spoke to Schoenke about the situation. Schoenke’s latest work, ’Batman: Madness’, was slated to premiere at this year’s Comic-Con.

"WB right now has put fan films on ’pause’ until they can figure out how to handle this. Right now, I believe, you can’t show fan films at any [conventions] or events that charge a fee to enter," said Schoenke whose films ’Batman Beyond: Year One’ and ’Batman: Dark Justice’ are fan favorites.

"BUT! [emphasis his] There is MUCH [emphasis his] light at the end of the tunnel. WB is trying very hard to come to an agreement that will make both sides very happy. This is why they are using me as a ’consultant’ on the subject. I have been talking to WB for a couple of years now."

Schoenke continued, "WB doesn’t mind fan films, and love the fans’ spirit and heart for [their] characters. Its the money [and] legal thing that’s a problem. But I have no worry that WB set forth some very positive rules that will only strengthen fan films in general. Just be patient, this will all be resolved in due time."

Another aspect that may have Warner Bros. concerned is that the buzz generated by fan films may detract from the presentation of their feature film projects. Many fans felt Sandy Collora’s ’Batman: Dead End’ put previous Hollywood ’Batman’ films to shame. Collora was slated to debut his ’World’s Finest’ Batman/Superman film at the 2004 con.

With Warner Bros. expending resources presenting ’Catwoman’, ’Batman Begins’ and ’Smallville’ (as well as animated and gaming content based on their properties) to convention goers, there is a definite feeling that the fan films may shift attention away from those works.

"DC is getting back in the game with movies, TV series, video games and video deals and want people to focus more on the official released projects," McElmurray reports, "but at the same time appreciate that a fan would spend a good deal of personal resources to release their own movies. WB is trying to work something out by next year, and hope that Comic-Con will once again show super-hero indie movies."

Comic-Con International runs from July 22-25 with independent films being screened each day. Eli McElmurray is the founder of DC Live Action Comic Books e-mail group.