The estate of Joseph Siegel, the writer who co-created Superman with Joe Shuster, has won its share of the copyright of Superman. This somehow causes me great relief — I couldn’t stand the thought that the man who created what is arguable the most successful story in the 20th century got paid $200 for it. Now I can maybe finish Kavalier and Klay.
UPDATE: I guess the ruling applies only to Action Comics #1 — but that’s a lot: Superman, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Daily Planet. I don’t understand law. But this is big.
On my iTunes now:
No Bones by Dinosaur Jr. from "Bug"
Recent Comments
- Dyna Moe: Now talk about how awesome I am....
- Will: That is hilarious....
- SPO: It seems like Every Friday night we talk about our improv hi...
- Hal: I'm really glad you posted this. I won't bother reiterating...
- Michelle: I do enjoy a fine piece of improv geekery (despite being a g...
- Tab: This is real sweet. Of all the Mitchells in all the world....
- Todd Simmons: Good call, Will....
- kate: nice and needed.......
- kate: it IS a winner!...
- mitch: here's that scene in Spanish if you want to compare and cont...
Mar 30th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Hey, Will… You may be interested in my friend’s blog http://noblemania.blogspot.com/2008/03/fighting-for-superman.html. I went to high school with Marc, and he recently wrote a book about the creators of Superman. His blog has a lot of interesting research on the subject.
Mar 30th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I think it might mean even less then that. I think it might just be that story or something like that. I haven’t found a good article about the ramifications, but roughly what I hear is that Siegel’s heirs will get some money and nothing will change.
This will be the third time DC has paid for the rights to Superman, and probably not the last.
Mar 30th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Ok, I was sort of wrong - but also sort of right.
this is the best info on the subject I have found so far:
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/03/30/superman-copyright-faq/
Mar 31st, 2008 at 8:57 am
CATS
Mar 31st, 2008 at 9:14 am
Someone published the decision, if you’re interested in lengthy judicial opinions:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2386369/Superman-Jerome-Siegel-Copyright-Decision