Warner Bros.’ Superman Rollout Threatened by Lawsuit Over International Rights

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Legal action has been taken against Warner Bros. Discovery, aiming to prevent the launch of their flagship movie based on Superman in various nations before its scheduled release in July, due to a dispute over ownership rights.

Joseph Shuster’s estate claims that Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has been using Superman, a character and story co-created by Shuster, without proper permission or compensation for years, even though they claim to have lost their international rights long ago. In a lawsuit filed in a New York federal court on Friday, the estate is asking for a share of profits from works related to this alleged copyright infringement, such as Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Black Adam, and Shazam!, particularly in countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

In a statement, a representative from WBD stated, “We strongly oppose the validity of the lawsuit and will actively fight to protect our legal standing.

The lawsuit could pose a challenge to Warner Bros. Discovery’s release of the upcoming Superman film on July 11, which will be the first standalone movie for the character in over a decade since Man of Steel. This production is expected to anchor the portfolio of DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, who have been working on a series of projects tied to this movie. They were brought on board by Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav with the mission to reimagine the DC universe.

Superman, a character owned by DC, has roots that go back to 1938 when the writers Jerry Siegal and Joe Shuster sold their rights for only $130. It was under DC’s label that Superman made his debut in Action Comics Issue 1, where his origin story, disguise as Clark Kent (a journalist), and powers of extraordinary strength and speed were introduced. His first flight took place in Action Comics Issue 65, which happened in 1943.

Ever since then, it has often been embroiled in legal disputes. The first such instance occurred in 1947 when they filed a lawsuit aimed at revoking DC Comics’ ownership of Superman’s rights. The legal battle was resolved, with Shuster and Siegel receiving $94,000 to close the case.

In U.S. copyright regulations, Shuster originally had the option to regain control of Superman’s domestic rights after a specified duration due to a provision in intellectual property legislation. However, his sister and brother struck an agreement with DC Comics in 1992 that effectively cancelled this right, receiving $25,000 annually as part of the deal. This decision was later validated by a federal appeals court.

This time, Shuster’s estate is looking to make use of U.K. copyright law, which automatically ends copyright ownership 25 years after an author’s demise. They believe they reclaimed Superman’s rights in 2017 as the graphic artist passed away in 1992.

Additionally, there’s the hypothesis that Shuster’s sister lacked the power to tie the estate to the contract that supposedly relinquished its ability to end DC’s ownership of Superman. If this is true, the court deemed the matter a “complex issue” and chose not to make a decision on it at this time.

The legal action asserts that copyright rules have been breached in the U.K., Australia, Canada, and Ireland. It demands a judicial injunction preventing any future use of the international Superman rights, which are claimed to be held by the Shuster estate. Notably, Marc Toberoff, a prominent copyright termination attorney, represents the estate in this matter.

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2025-01-31 23:55