DC Comics Loses Attorney’s Fees

As I have previously discussed, the creators of Superman, with their attorney Marc Toberoff, brought a suit against Warner Bros. hoping to terminate “a 1992 copyright grant agreement between Shuster’s heirs and DC Comics.” The ruling in that case meant that Warner Bros. could create new Superman films and other projects without the authorization of the creators. Warner Bros. was also successful in getting a 2008 agreement between itself and the Shuster and Siegel heir’s because it violated copyright law.

To recuperate the attorney’s fees that Warner Bros. lost defending the suit, the company and its subsidiary DC Comics, sued Toberoff for $500,000 in attorney’s fees. A federal judge has ruled against Warner Bros. because it the motion felt like it contained a great amount of animus towards Toberoff. The judge also noted that DC Comics and Warner Bros. only targeted Toberoff, a non-party to the suit, and did not seek attorney’s fees from the creators of Superman, the plaintiffs in the case. DC Comics argued that the reason that they did not seek punitive damages Shuster and Siegel’s heirs was because they felt that they too were victims of Toberoff and his scheme to interfere with the copyright rights involving Superman. The judge disagreed DC Comics and argued that Toberoff and Pacific Pictures had the ability to explore a new area of copyright law. Furthermore, the judge concluded that Toberoff acted within the boundaries of reasonableness. In a different case, the judge also rejected DC Comics claim that Toberoff and Shuster tortuously interfered with their rights.

See Elizabeth Warmerdam, DC Comics Loses Pair of Rulings in Superman Saga, Courthouse News Service, Apr. 8, 2013.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.