Is this infringement?

[chip]

A dude I know is making a web series using public domain characters and characters of his own creation.

One of the characters is The Woman in Red

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/9fL89baDu4E&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/9fL89baDu4E&rel=1</a>

This is a legit character from the forties http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_in_Red_(comics)

My question is: Is the choice of costume for his version of this character in the video infringement?

What do you guys think?

[legion of daves]

if it's being distributed freely and not being sold or sponsored in any way, and not portraying the question(i assume that's the costume you're referring to) in a negative light, i don't think dc would really have any reason for legal action.

[lugaru]

Very reminiscent of the question, but I dont think anyone would care much unless it became profitable somehow beyond youtube ads.

Beyond that looks cool, and I like the costume a bit. The tie is a nice touch, it plays with gender in a way that says she means buisness.

[chip]

My thoughts were along these lines as well but it was to damn close to The Question IMO.

I'm interested in what you guys think of so many different entities, like Dynamite with Project Superpowers, using these these public domain characters. Is it possible for multiple variations to exist and still be a creatively rich experience? At some point, I wonder if it's just laziness for not creating something new and fresh.

[AztecLos]

Here is an article I read a while back on public domain characters.

Thor isn’t the only public domain superhero

There's only one Mjolnir, hammer of Thor — but there are two Thor movies coming next weekend, one in theaters and one on Syfy. In fact, you could make your own Thor movie in your back yard if you wanted.

That's because mighty Thor belongs to the most powerful superhero team of them all — the league of public domain superheroes. There are tons and tons of characters that the major comic book publishers have featured, who happen to be in the public domain. Including figures from mythology, characters from literature, and cases where the publisher just forgot to file the paperwork.

(Main Article)
http://io9.com/5796725

[lugaru]

I ran into that other thor movie on netflix streaming, did not watch though.

That said there is plenty of room for a comic book to feature the thor I want to see, with a red beard, drinking mead and weirder myth connections.

As for the golden age heroes what I would love to see is several creators using them at the same time, so you get those diverging realities. This creator treats this old hero like a boyscout, the next like a vigilante and maybe the next as a deconstructed alegory for american society or whatever.