DC Loses Rights to Origin of Superman
The family of Jerry Seigel has been awarded the rights to the first few weeks of the Superman comic strip and early issues of Action and Superman Comics.
According to Variety:
In an ongoing Federal court battle over Superman, Judge Stephen Larson
ruled Wednesday that the family of the superhero’s co-creator, Jerry Siegel,
has "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.
What does this mean? Well, Siegel’s familynow own the concept of Superman being form the planet Krypton, his parents Jor El and Lora, infant Superman Kal El, and the concept of the baby being sent into space by his parents before the destruction of Krypton.
DC Comics, however, spins this in a different way:
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.
Amongst these "key elements" are Superman’s ability to fly, most of his other powers, his extended origin, Lex Luthor, Jimmy Olsen, and kryptonite. In any case, it’s likely that the biggest result of this ongoing court struggle will be more money paid to the Siegel family, as opposed to any kind of real change with the character or publishing.
Read the full story at Variety .
Source: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118007269.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Posted originally: 2009-08-14 10:49:34
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