Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Films are readying Superman, a new movie starring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel. Give or take some complaints about Clark Kent's flying face, the trailer went over very well and the hype is high. But the estate of original Superman creator Joseph Schuster is throwing a wrench into things. According to Deadline, executor of the estate Mark Warren Peary has sued WBD and DC claiming that they're not allowed to release the new movie in certain key territories around the world. Just a few months out from the planned release date of July 11, this could mean trouble.
The basic story is that Shuster and Jerry Siegel published the first-ever Superman story in 1938. They assigned copyrights for the character and story to DC's predecessor. In the U.S., at least, that copyright still holds. But Peary points out that in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, this kind of copyright terminates 25 years after the author's death. Schuster died in 1992 and Siegel in 1996, so Peary is claiming that, so far as ownership of the Superman character in those countries goes, the rights now belong to the estate, not to WBD or DC.
Peary filed his case in Federal Court in the Southern District of New York. He's asking for a jury trial, which could take a long time if he gets it. He's asking for damages as well as injunctive relief that would, for instance, prevent WBD and DC from releasing Superman in any territories where the Schuster estate still holds the rights to the character.
I'm sure the executives are WBD and DC are frustrated right about now. I don't know Peary's intentions, but the timing of the lawsuit does seem calculated to vex them as much as possible. Consider that, under the legal framework in these countries, the copyrights would have returned to the Schuster estate in 2021 at the latest, 25 years after Jerry Siegel's death. And yet Peary is only filing his lawsuit now, four years later, a few months before WBD and DC are about to release a hugely expensive Superman movie around the world.
I'm not saying that Peary's legal arguments aren't correct — that'll be for a judge and maybe a jury to decide — but it smells a little like he timed this to put WBD and DC in a corner, perhaps hoping that they'll make him a big cash offer to get rid of the problem.
And that might yet happen, although first WBD plans to stand its ground. “We fundamentally disagree with the merits of the lawsuit, and will vigorously defend our rights," a spokesperson said.
Considering how important this movie is to the future of the new DC Cinematic Universe these companies want to build, I think they'll do everything they can to make sure it gets released everywhere come July 11. Whether that means convincing a judge to throw out Peary's case or forking over a big hunk of money to Peary remains to be seen.
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