DC Comics will retain its rights to Superman after a judge ruled this week that the heirs of the superhero's Canadian co-creator signed away their ability to reclaim copyrights to the Man of Steel roughly 20 years ago.
The ruling means that DC Comics and its owner Warner Bros. will retain all rights to continue using the character in books, films, television and other mediums, including a film reboot planned for next year.
DC Comics sued the heirs of artist Joe Shuster in 2010, seeking a ruling that the heirs lost their ability to try to reclaim the superhero's copyrights in 1992. U.S. District Court Judge Otis Wright II agreed, saying Shuster's sister and brother relinquished any chance to reclaim Superman copyrights in exchange for annual pension payments from DC Comics.
Toronto-born Shuster and writer Jerry Siegel created Superman, who made his comic book debut in 1938 in Action Comics No. 1. Both men battled for increased compensation for the superhero throughout their lives and Siegel's heirs have also fought DC for a stake in copyrights to Superman. Shuster worked as a paperboy for what was then called the Toronto Daily Star, which served as a partial inspiration for The Daily Planet, where Superman worked as his alter ego, Clark Kent.
Shuster's heirs had argued that the copyright agreements could be terminated under provisions that allowed creators of works made before 1978 a mechanism to reclaim their rights. Wright ruled that the decision by Shuster's sister to accept higher annual payments created a new agreement and the pre-1978 rights no longer applied.
"We respectfully disagree with its factual and legal conclusions, and it is surprising given that the judge appeared to emphatically agree with our position at the summary judgment hearing," the Shusters' attorney Marc Toberoff wrote in a statement. He declined further comment. Warner Bros. and its attorney Daniel Petrocelli also declined comment on the ruling.
