The governor of Batman municipality Hüseyin Kalkan, has said that they are preparing to sue the producer of the Batman film, who is claimed to make money by using the towns name, and has that they are investigating on the matter whether the case should be opened in the US or in Turkey.

Kalkan said that they will use the compensation that they will obtain from the case for women and street children in Batman.

Batman Belediye Baþkaný Hüseyin Kalkan, Batman kentinin ismini kullanarak para kazandýðýný iddia ettiði ´Batman´ filmi yapýmcýsýna dava açmaya hazýrlanýyor.

Batman Municipality governer Hüseyin Kalkan is preparing to sue the producer of the Batman film who is said to make money by using the name of the town of Batman.

Kalkan, who has made an announcement on the matter, said that a column writer in England has criticized that, in spite of the large revenues of the worldfamous Batman cartoon film, the Batman Municipality, where women commit suicide and where children live on the streets, have not undertaken anything on this topic.

Kalkan, who has made clear that intensive investigations are being undertaken on this matter, said: ´On this matter, the Batman municipality is a city who owns a name, Batman is a town with the copyright to its name. Batman, is used in this way in laws and in the internaitonal speech. At the same time it is in the position of (being) a town of this country. Ofcourse we do not have any doubt about this. What we are now thinking of, is whether the cases that need to be opened should be in Turkey, or should they be opened with the law codes of that country? On that issue we have difficulties´.

Kalkan, who stated that they worked together with the Municipality Law Commission and that according to the last information they received the case needs to be opened in the US, said ´Because the place where the offense (crime ) is commited is there. Even if its not an offense, the situation is subject of speech there. Because the flim is being translated there and the centre is there´.

Kalkan, who explained that the producers company is currently continuing shooting a new Batman film, said ´I think it is one of the most watched cartoon films in the world. To be honest we expect a large compensation for this. Ofcourse the result of the case will make this clear, but with this hope, with this approach we brought the matter up. A needed announcement will be made for all the press when the cases is opened in the near future.´

When asked why they open the case now, after different versions of Batmans cartoon film have been made and when there have been cinema films for years, he said that a journalist from Batman came with the suggestion.  He also said that there already were some investigations that had been going on and that they had started this initiative already.

Kalkan, who explained that they want to start the case as soon as possible and that everybody has shown great interest in the issue, said ´The phones havent stopped ringing, our internet has seen a big

enthousiasm. Also our press has received great interest. I want to express that in the case of achieving this we will be very happy´.

Kalkan also explained that they did not have conversations with the producers, and that they are examining all legal processes and international law codes. About their expectations abotu the compensation he said: If we win compensation, we will see in court how much of the revenues it will be. We expect our share from the revenues. If we win the case, we will use all the rights we won for service to the Batman people and to the streetchildren there. We do not have a special effort. We mean to use it to bring a sollution for the problems of the people, children and women of Batman. We do not have a specific case. (???)´

When it comes to the statement that the English version of Batman and the name of Batman city are being used in different meanings, and whether he really does or does not believe that he will win this case, Kalkan said that Batman means ´weight, heaviness´, and that different meanings did not interest them (??). Kalkan: Ofcourse the law/jurisprudence will decide about this. Courts will pu tthis forward. Currently we are inspecting the place where the trial will be opened. Most likely it will be in the US. In the n ear future we will discuss with the jurists there. If there is need for the case to be opened and if there will be a chance we can win this, we will open the trial without hesitation´ he said.