If courtroom precedent is any indication, the studio behind “TheDark Knight Rises” likely won't be held liable for last week'stragic Colorado theater shootings.

The alleged shooter, James Holmes, wasat least partially inspired by one of the franchise's signaturevillains, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters.“He had his hair painted red, he said he was The Joker,obviously the enemy of Batman,” Kelly said, according toReuters.

In the past, supposed links between media violence and real-lifecrime sprees have led to litigation. Following the 1999 ColumbineHigh School shootings, for instance, the victims' families sued 25 entertainment companies, claiming that violentvideo games and films had contributed to the massacre. And the 1994film “Natural Born Killers” spawned several lawsuits, including one fromPatsy Ann Byers, who alleged that the movie had inspired twoteenagers to embark on a shooting spree that left herparalyzed.

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Courts ultimately dismissed both lawsuits, however, ruling thatthe makers of violent games and movies could not have anticipatedthat their products would lead to actual violence. Also at issueare First Amendment rights: In 2011, the Supreme Court struck downa California ban on selling violent video games to minors,finding that it violated game manufacturers' protected freespeech.

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For such lawsuits to be successful, the link between fictionaland actual violence generally has to be more explicit. In oneinfamous case, publisher Paladin Press was sued over the book “HitMan: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors,” which wasadvertised as a “how-to” guide for contract killers. When a hit manreportedly used the book to commit a 1993triple homicide, the victims' families filed suit.

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The 4th Circuit ruled 3-0 that “Hit Man” was not protected freespeech, as its “only instructional communicative 'value' is theindisputably illegitimate one of training persons how to murder andto engage in the business of murder for hire.” Although Paladin wasconfident of an eventual courtroom victory, its insurance companysettled the case out of court.

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In the case of “The Dark Knight Rises,” though, it will beharder to prove that its distributor, Warner Brothers Studios,could have foreseen that any violence would result from the film.The studio, which cancelled the film's Paris premiere after theshootings, released a statement saying it was “deeply saddened” bythe incident.

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Read more analysis at Reuters.

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For more InsideCounsel coverage of violent video games,read:

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Violent video games at the Supreme Court

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Video game ban runs afoul of First Amendment

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Video game makers settle FTC charges

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Grand Theft Auto suit goes forward

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