good those little shits dont deserve a dime. call me cold but all they see is money and would most likely sell the charachter

The past decade has been a tumultuous one for Warner Bros. regarding their flagship character. The company has been entangled in a lawsuit with the heirs of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, after the latter’s nephew Mark Peary filed a copyright termination notice in 2003. In 2008, the federal court ruled not only that the Schuster’s heirs would officially take ownership of the Man of Steel and his properties in 2013, but that if Warner didn’t produce another Superman film by 2011, they could be sued for lost revenue.

However, things started to look up for Warners in 2012 when Judge Otis D. Wright ruled that a 1992 deal Between Schuster’s sister and DC – in which she waived the right to any “past, present, or future claims against DC” in exchange for $25k a year and coverage of her brother’s debts – meant that the family had no claim to Superman’s rights. Furthermore, in 2013, Wright declared the Siegels’ 50% claim to the character to be voided due to a deal struck between the family and Warner Bros. in 2001.

In other words, it was ruled that the Siegel and Shuster heirs had signed away their rights to Superman years ago. They filed an appeal anyway.

It seems like Warner Bros. is in the clear, though – after finding themselves back in court on Thursday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal made its ruling: 2-1 in favor of Warner.

Superman 75th Anniversary Warner Bros. Wins Final Piece of Superman Lawsuit

Supporting Warner Bros. in the suit were Judges Stephen Reinhardt and John Sedwick, who expressed their disapproval of actions taken by the defendants and their lawyers to conceal certain relevant information in the original 2003 notice — specifically that they planned to develop their own Superman movies under attorney Marc Toberoff’s production company Pacific Pictures if they managed to secure the rights.

Warner Bros., who in 2010 sued Toberoff for allegedly goading Peary and the other heirs into the copyright termination notice so he could reap some Super-profits of his own, had this to say:

“We are obviously very pleased with the court’s decision.”

Warner Bros. might be pleased, but Toberoff, the Siegels, and the Shusters must be frustrated – it has to sting, knowing they’ll probably never see the rights to the character Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster created seven decades ago, especially after Man of Steel brought in over $660 million at the box office this year. Whether or not the heirs will file yet another appeal remains to be seen, though at this point it would be more annoying than anything on their part, as there doesn’t really seem to be anywhere new for them to go with it.

Warner Bros., at least, can rest easy knowing their plans for Superman are safe. Assuming they don’t get sucked back into court by the Siegels and Shusters, they’ll be able to put their full focus on the upcoming Batman vs. Superman and its sequels and spin-offs.

Are you guys relieved Warner Bros. won the case, or do you think it’s only fair that Shuster and Siegel’s heirs should should hold some ownership over the Superman franchise?

http://screenrant.com/warner-bros-wins-superman-copyright-lawsuit/

I think the only people that deserved money are dead (the original creators). These people would just sell Superman to the highest bidder, they don't care about the character. Besides doesnt DC own most of the good stuff, like Lex Luthor, Kryptonite.... I forgot but theres more. Also the entire rouges gallery and the JL. Either way, Im happy that these leeches are done for.

exactly! and the fact they sold the rights several times just shows they have no desire for the charachter

at least wb is doing something with the property. the heirs would just let it sit on the shelf and sell to the highest bidder. honestly if someone in my family had a property that had supermans legacy around the world and they didnt do anything with it id slap the shit out of them because why let it go to waste?

Good, one less thing for Superman fans to worry about, for now.

Personally I feel characters this old should be moved to the public domain, but maybe that's just me.

This is America. Major Corporations and the politicians they own will decide when and if anything goes into the Public Domain. As it stands now nothing new enters the Public Domain anymore (since the 1994 Walt Disney/Sonny Bono Act) and the Major Corporations are hard at work on recovering anything of value that had already been established as Public Domain. No rest for the wicked.

Judge Otis D. Wright, Judges Stephen Reinhardt, and John Sedwick reverse decisions and find in favor of the Mega-corporation over the creators families. Not a surprise and nothing resembling justice. Money and Power trump truth and justice every time in the U.S. court system and will continue to do so. The Heirs were robbed by DC Comics and then the Court System.

Good news

did you read the article? the sister waived past present and future rights away

quoted

things started to look up for Warners in 2012 when Judge Otis D. Wright ruled that a 1992 deal Between Schuster’s sister and DC – in which she waived the right to any “past, present, or future claims against DC” in exchange for $25k a year and coverage of her brother’s debts – meant that the family had no claim to Superman’s rights. Furthermore, in 2013, Wright declared the Siegels’ 50% claim to the character to be voided due to a deal struck between the family and Warner Bros. in 2001.

Thank goodness.

People sure do like to side with faceless corporations.

BB

thats not always true with me at least. why should this family get any form of rights after the sister basicly signed them all away in 92? nobody had a gun to her head and said hey we must have superman all to ourselves. and she got payed enough per year

First of all No swearing dude and second good.

You know what? F*ck it. I wanted to see WB or DC on suicide watch f they had lost Superman. Maybe they would have appreciated more Superman.

Theyd just write a canon story where Batman killed Superman after he went rogue. Problem solved, DC would give no f***s.

@deaditegonzo: Wonder Woman would have probably done it. She kills. Or GL.

Good

Excellent

i forgot about that from the 30's i remember maybe 3 or 4 years ago wile this whole thing was going on that people really thought if the heirs won they may sell it to marvel for a insane price tag. i know it was fans freaking out but can you imagine if something like that did happen? i mean hey disney paid 7 billion for pixar and 4 . 5 billion for star wars so something along the lines of superman just the film rights without any merchandise man oh man i cant even imagine a number they wouldve paid