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Title: Copyright and Trademark battle for Superman and Superboy Post by: Super Monkey on August 04, 2004, 12:55:08 PM It's on again :
http://www.newsarama.com/pages/DC/sUPERMAN_bATTLE.htm Title: Re: Copyright and Trademark battle for Superman and Superboy Post by: nightwing on August 04, 2004, 03:04:57 PM Well, if the paperwork was filed in 2002, I think we now have a definitive answer to why work on the Superboy Archives was mysteriously halted.
Title: Re: Copyright and Trademark battle for Superman and Superboy Post by: The Starchild on August 04, 2004, 04:31:59 PM Another one:
http://www.comicon.com/thebeat/archives/00000164.htm Title: Re: Copyright and Trademark battle for Superman and Superboy Post by: The Ceb-Man on August 08, 2004, 12:14:19 AM Thanks For the welcome Super- Monkey.
Sorry for a double post, just finding info about the copyright and I found it thanks to you. If the families get the rights , I sure hope they get the trademark as well. I hope DC does not do a Superman without Clark Kent and other essential characters. That would be very disrespectful to the character. It would be very interesting to see the return of many Pre-Crisis characters from Superman. As the Siegels have stated a return of Superman to his original roots. Boy, A DC Universe without Superman would be real weird! The return of the Real Superboy would be awesome! Could you imagine the possibities a Superman universe all to itself? No Batman, No JLA! Could Superman movies etc be made at different studios such as 20th Century Fox, Universal, Paramount, or Sony if the families get the rights? For the right money I am sure the families would? Just some things to think about! What about it? The Ceb-Man! Title: Re: Copyright and Trademark battle for Superman and Superboy Post by: Great Rao on March 28, 2011, 11:10:41 PM Latest update on the apparently never-ending copyright battle:
Joanne Siegel’s posthumous appeal to Warner Bros - letter, article, and links at http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/03/joanne-siegels-posthumous-appeal-to-warner-bros/ The original letter article was published here: http://www.deadline.com/2011/03/letter-from-lois-lane-to-time-warner-boss/ Title: Re: Copyright and Trademark battle for Superman and Superboy Post by: Great Rao on June 15, 2011, 04:12:57 PM Latest news in the Superman copyright battle:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/federal-judge-allowing-warner-bros-201931 The interesting bit is from the last paragraph: "The Siegel and Shuster estates have been largely successful in terminating copyright grants over their early work, which includes some of Superman’s defining characteristics, such as his costume, Clark Kent and his origin story" - which makes me very curious just what the relaunched Superman will be like. But it looks as though Superman isn't the only copyright battle on WB's plate right now: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/mike-tyson-tattoo-artist-sues-183716 Title: Re: Copyright and Trademark battle for Superman and Superboy Post by: nightwing on June 15, 2011, 06:43:50 PM The timing of this company-wide reboot is certainly interesting.
The prevailing wisdom seems to be that DC is doing it because (a) they have some great new idea for a streamlined DCU or (b) the comics are selling so poorly, drastic measures are called for. But the above link suggests another motive entirely; DC will very soon be unable to publish stories about "Superman" as the world now knows him, so he must be changed. And either because he's so central to the DCU or just because they want to put up a smokescreen, they're tweaking all their other characters, too (some more than others). It makes sense; if they have to change him, better to frame it as a big "event" that was entirely their idea than to admit up front, "We lost the rights to the real thing, but here's something we cobbled together from what was left." In a weird way, it's kind of reassuring to know Superman is still so important to them that they're willing to change the whole DCU to cover their tracks. Frankly it's been a long time since it felt like they valued him at all. Title: Re: Copyright and Trademark battle for Superman and Superboy Post by: Great Rao on June 15, 2011, 10:03:32 PM It makes sense; if they have to change him, better to frame it as a big "event" that was entirely their idea than to admit up front, "We lost the rights to the real thing, but here's something we cobbled together from what was left." In a weird way, it's kind of reassuring to know Superman is still so important to them that they're willing to change the whole DCU to cover their tracks. I'm pretty sure this is a big piece of what is going on. After all, why would DC give Superman an entirely new origin - just so they could reboot him 3 months later and give him another new origin, erasing the one that they just gave him? The only way that makes sense is if it was the result of an unexpected decree from WB legal. Title: Re: Copyright and Trademark battle for Superman and Superboy Post by: DoctorZero on June 18, 2011, 06:43:40 AM The time of the matter is what gets me. At a point where DC would soon have to start forking over money to the Siegel heirs they opt to make changes to their universe. Covering changes to Superman with a mass of changes would be one method of saying it wasn't done to circumvent legal decisions. Since no deal has been announced about payments or sharing of profits, then it seems very likely that DC would opt to change those elements that they dont' own regarding Superman and keep those that they do.
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