Superman Lawsuit: Shuster Estate Sues WBD, DC Over Foreign Rights

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Superman Lawsuit: Shuster Estate Sues WBD, DC Over Foreign Rights

Posted in: HBO, Movies, TV | Tagged: dc studios, james gunn, superman

Superman co-creator Joe Shuster’s estate is suing Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Comics to block the film’s release in several global markets.

There’s a potentially big legal roadblock to writer/director James Gunn, DC Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) planned global rollout of David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult-starring Superman. With the feature film set to hit screens worldwide this July, the estate of Superman co-creator Joseph Shuster has filed a lawsuit against WBD and DC Comics, claiming the multimedia company doesn’t have the legal right to release the feature film in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia. Shuster Estate Executor Mark Warren Peary filed the lawsuit earlier today in Federal Court in the Southern District of New York, seeking “damages and injunctive relief for Defendants’ ongoing infringement” in the key territories listed above. In addition, the lawsuit (which has been made available online) is looking for a “declaratory relief establishing the Shuster Estate’s ownership rights across relevant jurisdictions.”

Image: DC Studios

So What’s The Issue? It comes down to foreign copyrights to the original character. In 1938, Superman co-creators Shuster and Jerome Siegel signed the global right to Superman to Detective Comics, Inc. (DC Comics’ predecessor) – but the matter of copyright laws and how they function in other countries is now in the spotlight. Today’s lawsuit claims that “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.”

In other words, according to the argument being made, Shuster’s passing in 1992 should have started the clock on that 25-year time limit regarding rights in those territories. “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),” the lawsuit continues. “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.”

For their part, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. Discovery has this to say in a statement responding to the suit: “We fundamentally disagree with the merits of the lawsuit and will vigorously defend our rights.”

DC Studios’ Superman stars David Corenswet (Hollywood) as Superman/Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as Lois Lane. In addition, the Superman: Legacy cast includes Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Nicholas Hoult (The Great) as Lex Luthor, Wendell Pierce (HBO’s The Wire) as Perry White, Isabela Merced (Sicario: Day of the Soldado) as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi (X-Men: First Class) as Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion (The Rookie) as Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan (Barry) as Metamorpho, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, María Gabriela de Faría as Angela Spica/The Engineer, Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord, Pruitt Taylor Vince (Murder One, Lady in the Lake) as Jonathan Kent/”Pa Kent,” and Neva Howell (Ghosts of the Ozarks) as Martha Kent/”Ma Kent.”

Image: DC Studios

Joining them are Beck Bennett (Saturday Night Live) as Daily Planet sports editor Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad) as Daily Planet gossip columnist Cat Grant, and Christopher McDonald as skilled Daily Planet reporter Ron Troupe – with Frank Grillo‘s Rick Flag Sr. (from Creature Commandos and Peacemaker Season 2) set to appear, along with Alan Tudyk in an undisclosed role. Composer John Murphy (28 Days Later, Sunshine, Kick-Ass, The Suicide Squad, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3) will score the film.

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