I've googled this a bunch out of curiosity before and everybody, including a bunch of courts, seems to argue that fleshed-out fictional characters are in fact c

I've googled this a bunch out of curiosity before and everybody, including a bunch of courts, seems to argue that fleshed-out fictional characters are in fact covered by copyright even with the serial numbers filed off. IANAL either, obviously. I mean, you'd be drowning in published, unauthorized fanfic of Batman and Harry Potter and whatnot otherwise.