This afternoon, I was listening to The Thom Hartmann Show on the radio, as usual. One of his topics was copyright law, which he argued--as a writer who holds many copyrights--that the laws as they stand are fairly ridiculous. Walt Disney is long dead, but the Disney companies still own the copyright to everything he did, and apparently will in perpetuity. Likewise, the creators of Superman, Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster are both dead.
Long, long ago, National Periodical Publications kinda screwed the creators, giving them piddly chump change for the character. Along the way, there have been many lawsuits, and both men ended up with a little--but not a lot--better deal. NPP became DC Comics, which got bought by Warner Brothers, which is now Time-Warner. Siegel's heirs have since won more, and that's where I start to wonder if the copyright law makes much sense. Will the heirs' heirs also get royalties from Superman?
How tangential a character still pays? Superboy? Supergirl? SuperFly? Anyway, all of this seems to be forcing DC/Warner's hand as it pertains to a new Superman movie. Which could be great for fans. Or terrible, if they rush a picture out just to satisfy the lawsuit. Great Caesar's ghost!
[Excerpt]
Another Court Decision Regarding Superman And The Siegel Family
You’d be surprised what this means for you.
CBR is reporting that there’s been another ruling in the ongoing court battle between DC Comics and the heirs of Jerry Siegel. Fortunately, they were also kind enough to have their writer Brian Cronin, also a lawyer, explain exactly what it all means. . .
CBR is reporting that there’s been another ruling in the ongoing court battle between DC Comics and the heirs of Jerry Siegel. Fortunately, they were also kind enough to have their writer Brian Cronin, also a lawyer, explain exactly what it all means. . .
Read more at: Bam! Kapow!
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