Copyright Insanity: Courts Continue To Try To Slice And Dice The Superman Copyright
from the who-gets-what-now? dept
For years, I've been watching the rather insane battle between the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and Warner Bros., over who owns what copyrights concerning Superman. The overall details of the case are honestly too bizarre and convoluted to get into all of the details as to how we got here, but suffice it to say, it's yet another example of how twisted copyright has become, in this specific instance, focused on "termination" rights when it comes to copyright. If you want a good detailed explanation of the history here, this is a pretty good summary. As it stands now, both parties own some of the rights to Superman, which makes for some awkward problems. BobinBaltimore alerts us to a short writeup concerning the latest ruling in the ongoing series of court cases, and just a quick summary should detail the insanity that we're dealing with:The court ruled, for the most part, that the Siegels successfully recaptured most of the works at issue, including those first two weeks of daily Superman strips, as well as key sections of early Action Comics and Superman comics.This means the Siegels, repped by Warners' nemesis Marc Toberoff, now control depictions of Superman's origins from the planet Krypton, his parents Jor-El and Lora, Superman as an infant, the launching of the baby Superman into space and his landing on Earth in a fiery crash.It's like a Solomon-like "splitting of the baby" to figure out who can actually do what. In the meantime... the idea that Superman can fly is covered by copyright? Yikes.
But Warners/DC still owns other elements, including Superman's ability to fly, the term "kryptonite," the villain Lex Luthor, Jimmy Olsen, and some of Superman's powers.
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Filed Under: copyright, dc comics, jerry siegal, superman
Companies: warner bros.
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Pay yer royalties!
It costs $5,000 to sing the song legally. (Page 4,68)
And they called ME insane!
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Superman via Seinfeld
Also, if you're going to use a biblical reference, get it right. It's Solomon, not Samson.
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Re: Superman via Seinfeld
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Re: Re: Superman via Seinfeld
That's a mistranslation. It's actually the assbone of a jawa.
Common mistake...
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Y'know... Frak 'em.
Creatives, carry on as you have been.
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Samson?
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Re: Samson?
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Solomon
Samson was the guy who got his hair cut off.
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http://occasionalplanet.com/id3.html
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Superman can fly?
I hate that Superman can fly, is affected by kriptonite, and has heat vision... Only his super strength is explained in the comic: Kripton was a larger planet and the people there where super athletes. So, of course the baby is a super athlete in a smaller planet...
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Re: Superman can fly?
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Yah!
I LOVE THIS COUNTRY AND ITS BOUGHT JUDGES AND POLITICIANS!
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Re: Yah!
The author of the sequel should have given the main character to ability to fly.
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Re: Re: Yah!
And the created a Holden version of Dawson's Creek on the WB, in which Holden is a complete and total vagina.
Just keeping the analogy going...
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changed Samson to Solomon..
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Also, how greedy do you have to be where neither side can come to terms on a complete buyout of the others holdings?
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Superman's entourage
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Re: Superman's entourage
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Meanwhile on the other side of town...
1) Kryptonite
2) Copyright Lawyers
Why am I not surprised?
I can actually see the day when the earth's Meteorite defense shield fails as copyright lawyers have tied up the activation code...
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How online TV and Movie copyright infringment could be made a thing of the past...
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Re: Can Superman Fly?
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Copyright
So, the Siegels can do whatever they want with the Super Man the Siegels originally created, who is an alien from Krypton who is strong and can jump around town, beating criminals to a pulp.
Anything DC and Warner spent the billions they've spent on the branding of the character, nope. That includes all logos, insignias, etc, cause they sure don't own the Superman shield either - he only had a goofy S in a triangle on his chest in the first place.
But good for them - i'd love to see a comic based on this early edition of super man, though I doubt it would be accepted by superman fans as canon.
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Using Grey and Brown Superman
After reading the internet address listed below what do you think of the grew and brown superman?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_(serial)
I think it looks cool and could serve good for 20 years under current copyright law in the United States anyways.
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