Lawsuit May Block “Superman” Global Release

The estate of Superman creator Joseph Schuster has filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery and its DC Comics label and is seeking to block the release of James Gunn’s tentpole film “Superman” in several countries ahead of its July global rollout reports Deadline.

The estate claims the studio lacks the rights to release the film in a handful of key territories – namely those countries that are part of the British Commonwealth, including the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia.

Filed today in Federal Court in the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit seeks “damages and injunctive relief for Defendants’ ongoing infringement in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, as well as declaratory relief establishing the Shuster Estate’s ownership rights across relevant jurisdictions.”

A Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson says: “We fundamentally disagree with the merits of the lawsuit, and will vigorously defend our rights.”

The issue is tied to foreign copyrights to the original Superman character and story. Creators Jerry Siegel and Joesph Shuster assigned worldwide Superman rights to DC’s predecessor in 1938 for $130.

However, the copyright laws of countries with the British legal tradition contain provisions automatically terminating such assignments 25 years after an author’s death. Shuster died in 1992 and Siegel in 1996. The lawsuit states:

“By operation of law, Shuster’s foreign copyrights automatically reverted to his estate in 2017 in most of these territories (and in 2021 in Canada). Yet Defendants continue to exploit Superman across these jurisdictions without the Shuster Estate’s authorization – including in motion pictures, television series, and merchandise – in direct contravention of these countries’ copyright laws, which require the consent of all joint copyright owners to do so.”

The lawsuit requests a jury trial and the estate is asking the court for a cease and desist order from further infringements. THR adds that it is reportedly seeking a share of profits from all works attributable to the alleged copyright infringement – including Zack Snyder’s “Justice League” and “Black Adam”.

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