Attorney and "copyright crusader" Marc Toberoff represented the heirs of Jerome Siegel (one of Superman's creators) in, and won, a legal battle against Warner Brothers last week. After being sold for $130.00 71 years ago to Detective Comics, a federal court restored their stake in rights to the Superman franchise.
This, along with legal actions that will be eligible in five years for co-creator Joe Shuster's heirs to take, might affect any further film plans for the character. This includes the two known projects: The sequel to Superman Returns and Justice League. Also, since the ruling applies to any domestic monies made for projects since 1999, Warner could be looking at paying tens of millions from Superman Returns.
The studio declined to comment to Variety only stating that "substantial issues relating to the accounting of profits were ruled in our favor." These issues include: international profits, trademark-related revs and profits stemming from Superman fare produced before 1999, when Siegel's heirs terminated the earlier copyright arrangement under a 1976 law.
This, along with legal actions that will be eligible in five years for co-creator Joe Shuster's heirs to take, might affect any further film plans for the character. This includes the two known projects: The sequel to Superman Returns and Justice League. Also, since the ruling applies to any domestic monies made for projects since 1999, Warner could be looking at paying tens of millions from Superman Returns.
The studio declined to comment to Variety only stating that "substantial issues relating to the accounting of profits were ruled in our favor." These issues include: international profits, trademark-related revs and profits stemming from Superman fare produced before 1999, when Siegel's heirs terminated the earlier copyright arrangement under a 1976 law.
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