This week, the new “Superman” film was already met with mockery and ridicule from the online community. The reason was a new TV spot in which a wide-angle shot made it appear as if David Corenswet’s Man of Steel was cross-eyed. For Warner, the producing studio that is doing everything it can to finally elevate the valuable DC brand to the level of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), this was a major setback. Some films never recover from such negative backlash. But now comes the real bombshell, one that could literally stop Superman in his tracks: According to reports, the estate of comic artist Joe Shuster filed a copyright lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Comics in a federal court in New York City on Friday (via Deadline).
This legal battle has been ongoing for decades and seemed to have been settled in 1992. Comic artist Joe Shuster and writer Jerry Siegel, the creators of Superman, sold the worldwide rights to their character in 1938 for $130 to Detective Comics, the predecessor of DC Comics. In 1947, they attempted to reclaim the rights to Superman, but the New York Supreme Court dismissed their case. However, they received $94,000 from the publisher for the rights to Superboy and were subsequently fired, with their names removed from all Superman comics. In 1975, Warner agreed to pay them an annual sum, and in return, Siegel and Shuster pledged never to challenge the rights again.
In reality, U.S. copyright law would have allowed the creators to reclaim their intellectual property after a certain period. When Shuster died in 1992, his sister Jean and brother Frank reached an agreement with DC Comics that waived this right in exchange for an annual payment of $25,000. In 2012, they once again filed a lawsuit against Warner to reclaim part of the usage rights, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco dismissed the case.
That should have put the matter to rest. However, the Shuster estate is now citing British law, under which copyrights automatically revert to the original creator’s heirs 25 years after their death. In this case, the rights to Superman would have reverted to the Shuster estate in 2017, making any use of the character without permission and/or licensing legally invalid. This British copyright law is also followed by Ireland, Australia, and Canada, which is why the lawsuit not only seeks damages but also requests an injunction preventing the release of “Superman” in these countries until the case is resolved. So, better watch the trailer one more time:
“Superman”: Will the lawsuit prevent the planned worldwide release?
A spokesperson for Warner Bros. has already stated that the company disagrees with the lawsuit and will “vigorously” defend its rights in court. Even if Warner were initially only barred from releasing “Superman” in the four mentioned countries, the current German release date of July 10, 2025, could be at risk. For the studio, it is crucial to launch the event film worldwide as simultaneously as possible to generate maximum momentum—and to prevent illegal screen recordings from spreading.
