Warner Bros/DC Loses Some Rights to SUPERMAN

Warner Bros. and DC Comic losing the rights to Superman is kind of a big deal. There has been an ongoing battle for some time now between the studio and the family of Superman's co-creator Jerry Siegel. Now it looks as if the family of Jerry Siegel has won. They now fully control Superman's Krypton origins. Judge Stephen Larson ruled Wednesday that they have 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.

This means the Siegels 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.

In 2008, the same court order ruled on summary judgment that the Siegels had successfully recaptured (as of 1999) Siegel's copyright in Action Comics No. 1, giving them rights to the Superman character, including his costume, his alter-ego as reporter Clark Kent, the feisty reporter Lois Lane, their jobs at the Daily Planet newspaper working for a gruff editor, and the love triangle among Clark/Superman and Lois. This means that Warner Bros. owes the a lot of money from profits they have collected since 1999.

While ownership of the Man of Steel is one point of all this legal activity, the real issue is money and how much Warner Bros. and DC owe the Siegels from profits they collected from Superman since 1999, when the heirs' recapture of Siegel's copyright became effective.

DC owns other elements like Superman's ability to fly, the term kryptonite, the Lex Luthor and Jimmy Olsen characters, Superman's powers and expanded origins.

In a statement, Warner Bros. and DC said:

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.

In the end they will ultimately loose the rights to the siegel's. If they want to get a new Superman or even Justice League pic featuring the superhero, Warner Bros. and DC will be forced to go into production by 2011, because come 2013 WB and DC will loose complete rights to the man of steel in 2013.

It's safe to say that if Warners and DC decide to move forward with a movie, it will be rushed and end up being one last crappy Superman movie that wont be able to dive into Superman's origins. Once the Siegals have complete control, who knows what they will do. Sell the rights off a gain to the highest bidder? Develope their own buisness and company around it? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Source: Variety