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Superman Estate Sues Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Comics Over Foreign Copyright Infringement
Posted on January 31, 2025 by Neil Cole
The estate of Joseph Shuster, co-creator of Superman, has filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Comics in Federal Court in the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit, filed by Mark Warren Peary, the executor of the Shuster Estate, seeks "damages and injunctive relief" over alleged ongoing violations of Shuster's foreign copyrights. The suit comes in light of the highly anticipated DCU superhero movie Superman, directed by James Gunn, which is set to release in the United States this July.
The lawsuit claims that Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Comics are continuing to exploit the Superman character in multiple international markets, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia, without authorization from Shuster's estate. These territories, governed by copyright laws with a British legal tradition, include provisions that automatically revert copyright interests to the original authors or their estates after a period of 25 years following their deaths. According to the lawsuit, this means that Joseph Shuster's foreign copyrights have reverted to his estate in 2017 (and 2021 in Canada), yet Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Comics are still distributing the Superman franchise in these regions without securing the necessary rights from the Shuster Estate.
The complaint also seeks "declaratory relief establishing the Shuster Estate's ownership rights" in these jurisdictions, where Shuster's estate asserts an undivided copyright interest in the character and story co-authored with Jerry Siegel.
The lawsuit details that while Siegel and Shuster originally assigned worldwide Superman rights to DC Comics' predecessor in 1938 for a mere $130 (or $65 each), the copyright laws in these specific countries are designed to protect creators and their estates by automatically terminating such assignments after 25 years. As a result, the Shuster Estate claims ownership of the co-creator's share of the rights in key territories, and that Warner Bros. and DC Comics are infringing on these rights by continuing to use Superman without consent.
In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. Discovery said, "We fundamentally disagree with the merits of the lawsuit, and will vigorously defend our rights."
The Shuster Estate's legal action raises significant questions about the ongoing ownership and control of the Superman franchise, especially in regions where the creators' original copyrights have lapsed back into their hands. The outcome of this case could have wide-reaching implications for the future of the iconic superhero and the broader entertainment industry, as similar cases involving creators' rights could reshape the landscape of intellectual property.
We will continue to follow this story as it develops.
Source: Wall Street Journal
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