Mayor of the city of Batman, Turkey suing director and studio of "Dark Knight" for royalties

Christopher Nolan being sued by Batman
The mayor of the city of Batman, Turkey, is suing the director and studio



Access Hollywood
updated 8 minutes ago

Batman has battled quite a few foes over the years, including The Joker, The Riddler, Two Face and The Penguin.

But now, the Caped Crusader could have a new enemy, the city of Batman.

The mayor of the real city of Batman — an oil-producing city in southeast Turkey — is reportedly suing “Dark Knight” director Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros., seeking royalties from this summer’s box-office blockbuster, according to Variety.

In his lawsuit, Huseyin Kalkan, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party mayor of Batman, is accusing Nolan and the studio of using the city’s name without permission.

“There is only one Batman in the world,” Kalkan said. “The American producers used the name of our city without informing us.”

According to Variety, Kalkan is compiling a series of charges against the director and Warner Bros., which owns the right to the Batman character.

Among the charges are a claim that the use of the Batman name is to blame for several unsolved murders and a high female suicide rate, based on the psychological impact that the film’s success has had on the city’s inhabitants, Variety reported.

Kalkan claims he has evidence, which will show the city of Batman was founded before the 1939 debut of Bob Kane’s DC Comics superhero by the same name.

When contacted by Variety, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. said they have not been served with any lawsuit yet by Kalkan.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27669362/