And it could mean deep shit for DC/WB, as the Judge decides to restrict the company certain rights.
In an ongoing Federal court battle over Superman, Judge Stephen Larson ruled Wednesday that the family of the superhero’s co-creator, Jerry Siegel, has “successfully recaptured” rights to additional works, including the first two weeks of the daily Superman newspaper comic-strips, as well as portions of early Action Comics and Superman comic-books.
The ruling is based on the court’s finding that these were not “works-made-for-hire” under the Copyright Act.
This means the Siegels — repped by Marc Toberoff of Toberoff & Associates — now control depictions of Superman’s origins from the planet Krypton, his parents Jor-El and Lora, Superman as the infant Kal-El, the launching of the infant Superman into space by his parents as Krypton explodes and his landing on Earth in a fiery crash.
However, while the Siegels still own the origin rights, the court affirmed that DC Comics still owns the rights to Lex Luthor, Kryptonite, and flying. Additionally, the court also ruled that the family owned the rights to Lois Lane, The Daily Planet, Superman’s alter ego Clark Kent and the love triangle.
However, the article says the real purpose of the suit is to secure how much money DC and Warner Bros., owe the Siegels after the rights reverted back to them in 1999.
To say the least, I’m pretty happy that the Siegels are getting something back but it’ll be interesting to see how this affects the comics and other media branches of the character.
