On Thursday, a Superman legal battle ended with a Warner Bros. victory. Judges for the United States Court of Appeals ruled that heirs of Superman's co-creators must abide by a compensation contract that was from 2001, said a Jan. 10 NY Times report.
Just a few months ago, heirs of Joe Shuster tried to end the Superman copyright, but they were unsuccessful. The court's ruling was in favor of Warner Bros. and following this, there was another situation which concerned Superman's other co-creator, Jerome Siegel. Siegel's family had their termination notice approved by a federal judge in 2008, but this decision has now been canceled by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. .
Previously, the Siegels were permitted to keep some rights to "Superman’s defining characteristics" such as,
"....his costume, Clark Kent and his origin story, as described in the first editions of Action Comics,"
Now that this ruling has been dismissed, Warner Bros. and DC Comics now own all of Superman's character rights. This ruling comes just in time for their upcoming "Man of Steel" movie, which will premier in June.
Warner issued the following statement regarding the matter,
“Today’s ruling vindicates DC Comics’ long-held position that it entered into a binding agreement with the Jerry Siegel family in 2001. We are extremely pleased that Superman’s adventures can continue to be enjoyed across all media platforms worldwide for generations to come.”
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