Superman Creator’s Estate Sues Warner Bros. Discovery & DC Over James Gunn Film

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Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Comics are reportedly being sued by the estate of Superman creator Joseph Schuster. The suit directly mentions the release of James Gunn’s upcoming DCU film, claiming copyright infringement in several territories.

According to Deadline, Schuster’s estate claims that Warner Bros. and DC lack the rights to release James Gunn’s Superman film and a suit filed in Federal Court in the Southern District of New York seeks “damages and injunctive relief for Defendants’ ongoing infringement in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, as well as declaratory relief establishing the Shuster Estate’s ownership rights across relevant jurisdictions.”

The estate’s suit specifically names the upcoming Superman film starring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, saying “Defendants are actively planning a major new Superman motion picture and other derivative works for imminent worldwide release.” The DCU Superman film is currently set for release on July 11.

“We fundamentally disagree with the merits of the lawsuit, and will vigorously defend our rights,” a spokesperson for Warner Bros. Discovery said. It remains to be seen if the lawsuit will impact the film’s ability to be released in the territories mentioned in the suit.

The main issue in the lawsuit relates to foreign copyrights for the original Superman character and story, which was coauthored by Jerome Siegel and Shuster. Deadline notes that Siegel and Shuster assigned worldwide Superman rights to DC’s predecessor in 1938, but the suit goes into detail about how certain provisions have changed after the author’s death. “The copyright laws of countries with the British legal tradition — including Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia — contain provisions automatically terminating such assignments 25 years after an author’s death, vesting in the Shuster Estate the co-author’s undivided copyright interest in such countries,” the suit said.

“Shuster died in 1992 and Siegel in 1996. By operation of law, Shuster’s foreign copyrights automatically reverted to his estate in 2017 in most of these territories (and in 2021 in Canada). Yet Defendants continue to exploit Superman across these jurisdictions without the Shuster Estate’s authorization — including in motion pictures, television series, and merchandise — in direct contravention of these countries’ copyright laws, which require the consent of all joint copyright owners to do so.”

The lawsuit requests a jury trial due to “willful, intentional and purposeful” infringement and is seeking an amount in damages to be determined at trial “inclusive of Plaintiff’s actual damages and Defendants’ profits”. The suit also asks the court for a cease and desist order to stop further infringement.

Details regarding the lawsuit and its implications for the upcoming film are still emerging at this time.

Source: Deadline

“}]] James Gunn’s Superman film is at the center of a lawsuit, with the Superman creator’s estate suing Warner Bros. Discovery and DC over its release.  Read More