Who controls Superman?

Move over Lois Lane – two other women are fighting in court to have Superman and Clark Kent all to themselves!  The two women are the widow and daughter of one of the creators of the Superman comic, Jerome Siegel.

In Siegel v. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., 542 F. Supp. 2d 1098, (C.D. Cal., 2008), Mrs. Siegel and her daughter issue a notice of termination to DC Comics in an effort to terminate the grant of copyright to Superman given to DC Comics by Jerome Siegel and his partner, Joseph Shuster, and recapture the decedent’s half of the copyright.

The District Court of California found the notice of termination to be effective concerning the original grant of copyright, making Mrs. Siegel and her daughter co-owners of the copyright with DC Comics.  The heirs did not, however, gain any rights to foreign profits received post-termination.