While trademarks and copyrights, when used properly, can ensure the protection of everything from ideas to images, misuse of these legal sticking points can lead to million-dollar lawsuits.

Recently, the entertainment industry has been dominated by several legal problems regarding copyrights sent to court. Dan Brown, author of the mega-hit “The Da Vinci Code,” is on trial in England, fending off claims his novel stole ideas from the non-fiction book “Holy Blood, Holy Grail.”

Another legal problem was raised when Marvel and DC comics reportedly forced a smaller comic book company GeekPunk to drop the name “Super” from the title “Super Hero Happy Hour,” claiming a trademark on the name “Super Hero,” according to Newsarama.

“I think it’s stupid,” said Rick Berg, manager of Graham Crackers Comics, 901 C Lucinda Ave.

“Why would you care? I think competition would force companies not to run crossovers to compensate for low sales. I think Marvel and DC are just saying look how powerful we are.”

Associate communication professor Brian Thornton believes such claims would hold little power in court.

Thornton said the same is true of the plaintiffs of the Brown case.

“My opinion is that Brown probably doesn’t have much to worry about because it’s hard to copyright history,” Thornton said. “The same thing happened with ‘Roots.’ Anybody who has a best-selling novel, people tend to come out of the woodwork.”

Associate professor of law John Walton agrees Brown’s position is rather solid, but contends the authors of “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” may have other reasons for fighting the case.

“Unfortunately, the truth is the reason they may have taken this position because they really can’t lose,” Walton said. “Even if they lose the case altogether, people who have heard of the case will be picking up their book. And one of the authors already has a new book coming out.”

Still, Walton believes the plaintiffs have a “steep hill” in front of them in terms of legal victory.

“A lot of the story features are based on theological history, and since this is public domain, it’s not protectable,” Walton said. “I’d say Dan Brown has a good chance in court.”