Superman will soar this summer in cinemas all over the world after a tactical legal win by Warner Bros Discovery and DC Comics over the estate of one of the Man of Steel’s creators.
Citing jurisdictional reach, or lack there of, a federal judge this week TKO’d an ambitious effort launched in January by Mark Warren Peary, executor to the estate of Joseph Schuster to stop the release of the James Gunn helmed tentpole in parts of what was once the British Empire. Represented by long-time WB foe Marc Toberoff, the action sought “damages and injunctive relief for Defendants’ ongoing infringement in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia” and other multinational ownership rights.
There lies the global rub for Peary, who has pursued such claims before.
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The Schuster estate “infringement claims are brought explicitly under the laws of foreign countries, not the laws of the United States,” points out U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in a pretty blunt 13-page April 24 order.
“The Court concludes that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over this case; the case therefore must be and is dismissed,” Judge Furman adds. “Accordingly, the Court need not and does not address Defendants’ alternative argument that the case should be transferred to another federal district. Additionally, given the Court’s lack of jurisdiction, Peary’s motion for a preliminary injunction must be and is denied as moot.”
It should be noted that nothing Judge Furman ordered had anything to do with the actual merits of the case. Having battled WB before over Superman rights, don’t be surprised if the tenacious Toberoff quickly files another suit in a state court.
In response to what they hope to be a box office smash that reinvigorates the DC brand, the Daniel Petrocelli and O’Melveny & Myers represented WBD today said: “We are pleased with the court’s decision to dismiss this baseless lawsuit. As we have consistently maintained, DC controls all rights to Superman.”
Toberoff did not respond to request for comment from Deadline on the latest Superman ruling.
In a deal they came to regret after creating one of the most successful and lucrative properties in media history, Jerome Siegel and Shuster assigned worldwide Superman rights to DC’s predecessor in 1938. Getting “a mere $130 ($65 each),” Peary’s suit outlines how “the copyright laws of countries with the British legal tradition—including Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia—contain provisions automatically terminating such assignments 25 years after an author’s death, vesting in the Shuster Estate the co-author’s undivided copyright interest in such countries.”
“Shuster died in 1992 and Siegel in 1996. 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),” the January 31 filing states. “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.”
Maybe, but not in American federal court it seems.
Starring David Corenswet as the last son of Krypton, Gunn’s Superman is set to fly on to the big screen on July 11. The cast also includes Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor and María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer.
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