Superman's Super-Custody battle!

This is the first in a series of articles written by Matt Brady for Another Universe.com The editor at Another Universe has kindly allowed me to reprint the first of a now five part article on the copyright custody. It's been 60 years and the copyright is up for renewal! Can you say "millions and millions of dollars" boys and girls? Sure you can...

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Matt Brady webdate 8/31/99

Look up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a Copyright Custody Battle! For more than 60 years, Superman could not be stopped, not even by Kryptonite. But now the last son of Krypton, an orphan rocketed to Earth, is torn between the family of one of his creators and publisher DC Comics in a super-battle over his copyright.

DC Comics stands to lose half the rights to Superman due to documents filed in the U.S. Copyright Office by heirs of the late Superman creator Jerry Siegel. His wife, Joanne (the first model for Lois Lane) and daughter, Laura Siegel Larson, revoked the transfer of copyright Siegel and his co-creator, the late Joe Shuster, granted DC Comics in 1938. The price back then: a mere $130. Under the law, Siegel's heirs have been entitled to half of the revenue from Superman starting April 16, 1999, says Michael Lovitz, an attorney with Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld specializing in copyright law, who has been following the case for some time.

Further, the termination means that DC Comics no longer holds the exclusive rights to produce Superman comics and related merchandise. This means that the Siegels could create their own Superman comic book or even television series or movie to compete with DC's publications and series, as the Siegels and DC now co-own the Superman copyright. However, if the Siegels were to produce their own Superman comic book or movie, they would have to pay DC Comics one-half of the revenue it generated as well.

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For the rest of the article, and to see how this all turns out (or not) check out Another Universe.com

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Back in 7 with Part 3 of Publisher's web sites!

Robert

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