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August 14, 2009 - Superman / court rules more copyrights to Jerome Siegel's estate
Scooped on Saturday, August 15, 2009
The judge overseeing the case of the estate of Jerry Siegel versus DC Comics and the ownership of the Superman rights ruled this week that certain story elements following the publication of the character were now owned by the plantiffs. These story elements include the first two weeks of the daily Superman comic strip as well as segments of Superman's adventures in Action Comics and other Superman books. As Variety explains, such elements now owned by the Siegel estate include the depiction of baby Kal-El, the infant Superman, the planet Krypton, his Kryptonian birth parents Jor-El and Lara and the concept of the baby Superman being sent off into space as Krypton explodes and being sent to Earth.
In the 70 years since the creation of the character there have been many additions to the Superman mythology. DC Comics still owns sizeable chunks of that rich tapestry, such as Superman's most well-known villain Lex Luthor, the concept of Kryptonite, the Daily Planet, Superman's secret identity as a mild mannered reporter and Lois Lane. But even if DC still remains these ideas, how relevant is Lois Lane to the world of DC Comics without Superman?
Putting their best spin on the judge's ruling, DC and Warners issued the following joint statement: "Warner and DC Comics are pleased that the court has affirmed that the vast majority of key elements associated with the Superman character that were developed after Action Comics No. 1 are not part of the copyrights that the plaintiffs have recaptured and therefore remain solely owned by DC Comics."
It has also been determined that the estate of Joe Schuster, the other co-creator of Superman, is entitled to its equal share of Superman royalties come 2013. The representatives for Schuster did not go to court at the same time as Siegel's estate which is why Schuster's portion of the Superman royalties doesn't take effect until four years from now.
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