[B5JMS] ATTN: JMS: The Siegels' Suit over Superman

[b5jms at mail.fsl.cs.sunysb.edu]

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From: Jeffrey O. Gustafson <PsicopJeffG at hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Mar 2005 21:29:57 +0000 (UTC)
Lines: 25

The relevant article over at Newsarama...
http://www.newsarama.com/DC/Superman/Intro.htm

(There was also an illuminating article in The Comics Journal a few months
back...)

Anyway, long story short, the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel are
suing DC/WB over half the rights to Superman.  One would wonder why now, and
it's rather complicated - over the nigh seventy years Siegel et al have
entered into various agreements with National/Detective Comics/WB in regards
to the rights, and copyright law has changed dramatically, and the first real
opportunity to claim the rights occurred in a five year window that ended in
1999.  The Siegels followed through with their intent to reclaim the rights in
1997, and have only recently filed suit, and it is all rather complicated,
though Newsarama puts it all out elegantly.  They might actually have a case.

As a creator, a comics writer, and as a Superman fan, what's your take on the
case? 

      -The Jeff

Sheridan:"So how did you find out all of this?"
Bester:"I'm a telepath.  Work it out." <*>



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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com
Date: Sun, 6 Mar 2005 00:13:31 +0000 (UTC)
Lines: 23

"As a creator, a comics writer, and as a Superman fan, what's your take
on the case?"

There's the law and there's what's right, and sometimes they're on the
same side of the table, and sometimes they ain't.  When S&S signed with
DC, the terms were what they were...and they got bupkis.  But since
then Superman has become so massive a commodity that sharing some of
that with the folks who created it is the fair and right thing to do.

In terms of the present suit, I don't know all the details, so take my
opinion with a grain of salt...but as I understand it, the suit isn't
over Superman but rather over Superboy, that when he was created (to
keep a lock on all things Super) a different rights deal was made that
has now, in their view, expired, and they want a different piece of the
pie.  At least, that's my understanding of it, but I haven't read the
briefs.

But in general, I always stand foursquare for those who created
something getting a fair share of it...as one might well expect.

jms