Warner Bros. Continues to Battle Over Superman

Mar 27, 2012

In what seems to be a never ending round robin of Warner Brothers Studio trying to screw the families of Superman creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, a new brief has been filed last Friday before the 9th Court of Appeals. The brief asks the Court to reverse portions of earlier judgments which gave rights to Action Comics #1 (the first appearance of Superman) to Jerome Siegel and Joseph Schuster. Warner Bros. wants the case remanded to a district court for a trial, which could settle the case once and for all, if the Appeals Court decides not to make a ruling. Regardless of the decision of the Court, all we’ll see is a continuation of what seems to be a endless number of appeals due to the millions of dollars – minimum – at stake.

Previously, in 2008, a judge held the copyright termination notices served by the Siegel heirs in 1997 gave the Siegels rights to half of the copyright to Superman. DC Comics owns the other half until at least 2013, when a similar copyright termination on behalf of the heirs of Joseph Shuster could take effect, giving full control of the character to the creators’ families until at least 2033. The decision also determined Action Comics #1 was not produced as “work for hire” for DC and hence the rights should revert to the heirs. This means the heirs hold the rights to the Superman costume, his alter ego Clark Kent, and his origin story, while DC Comics retain control of all the elements of the Superman universe added after Action Comics #1.

This new Warners’ brief simply restates all the studio’s previous arguments – which have been shot down in multiple court actions – and essentially state the studio and the Siegel heirs had an oral agreement to proceed in 2001 when, just before the deal was finalized, attorney Marc Toberoff (who specializes in intellectual property cases) approached the heirs and basically offered them the prospect of a much bigger payday that could be gained through litigation. The brief also marshals the studio’s evidence that backs Warner’s contention the Action Comics #1 material was actually “work for hire.”

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Greg McAleer

Hailing from the Chicagoland area, Greg brings over three decades of comic book fandom to the fore as TGG’s resident comics expert. From tackling Golden and Silver Age titles to the latest projects on the horizon, he provides an “every fan’s” look at the industry; be it from the reader or publisher’s perspective.