Are Some Characters More Equal Than Others?

Abstract

This thesis examines “to what extent fictional characters are protected considering they are visually depicted or solely literary characters”, whether the current approach is for the benefit of fictional character protection in means to public domain or interests of the author or do literary characters deserve a better protection under copyright law. By doing so, I will compare several approaches on the matter in the light of US, EU and Turkish law, pointing out the similarities and also differences. Since the objective of this paper is to reach a humble conclusion on “how to protect fictional characters that are based in different mediums?”, the standpoints in those three legal systems shall pave the way to reach a final opinion.