Comments on: Superman Copyright FAQ

By: Denise Armstrong

Denise Armstrong — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 01:30:11 +0000

I have a 1938 copywrite superman comic book. Its say it was copywrite in 1975 and also say copywrite renewed in1965. I just wanted to no how much its worth. Denise Armstrong cell #215-501-9562

By: The Fight For Justice… Er- Ownership « ComicEconomic

The Fight For Justice… Er- Ownership « ComicEconomic — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:40:01 +0000

[...] 2013, thanks to another copyright extension, Superman will fall under the total control of the Shuster and Siegel estates. Can’t wait to [...]

By: The Oldest Superhero With The Greatest Power « ComicEconomic

The Oldest Superhero With The Greatest Power « ComicEconomic — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 06:15:16 +0000

[...] Jerry Siegel’s heirs are equally empowered. It’s been determined that DC has only 50 percent control of the Superman copyright and DC is likely to lose it all in the next few [...]

By: E.A.Arnold

E.A.Arnold — Tue, 10 May 2011 03:04:58 +0000

Does anyone know if the spinning rings used on Krypton to hold the three criminals prior to sending them into the phantom zone are copyrighted or trademarked? These rings have been used exclusivly in all Superman movies & SmallVille series.

By: an auther

an auther — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:08:29 +0000

i would like to write a book on superman, would i have to contact whoever owns the copywrite and how? (would i have to pay money???)

By: Este no es el Superman de tu padre… ni el tuyo, ya que estamos… « El Blog de Eugenio

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:29:57 +0000

[...] los curiosos: la noticia en inglés (un portal de cómics y en un periódico) y en español (hablando sobre la sentencia y lo que aparecía en algún [...]

By: xxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxx — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 04:13:43 +0000

Great costume period . I wonder who owns it.

By: Vicki

Vicki — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:47:19 +0000

This comment thread has been really interesting… and shows a lot of ignorace and misinformation… as well as some intellect and fact.

What I want to add is this….

As soon as an author puts pen to paper and creates a character and a story, they OWN THE COPYRIGHT. A copyright does NOT have to be REGISTERED in order to be protected. Registering it just makes it a little easier to PROVE it.

And thank goodness for copyright protection. If any Joe Schmoe could steal my work, then WHY one earth should I create anything?

And for the knucklehead who argues that the heirs should WORK for it… well that’s fine for you, but shouldn’t the creator be the one to decide that? If my father built a successful vineyard, shouldn’t HE get to decide if he leaves it to me or sells it to someone else, or gives it to the general population? Just because people like his wine, grapes, or whatever doesn’t give them the right to come and raid the vineyard and steal his grapes.

By: Nikki

Nikki — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:29:00 +0000

yes let’s just hope they treat him well…as public domain everyone could write a good superman novel or even a terrible one. sigh. however let’s just hope the siegels are not coming for payback, freezing the character or split him apart by selling him to marvel or other comic book publishers…it would be terrible to see supi jumping from building to building…like most people said here propably they continue to publish and paying royalities, intresting will be the outcome of the new superman movie…if it flops on the big screen and the expenses are too high(i heard 50 percent income share wtf!) dc could actually REALLY kill superman off…huge sales for the last superman comic book and then they could go on with a new superhero maybe the son of kal L…the loss of the red is S is a big one…the rest is arguable(modernizing the custome is not bad anyway).

By: Blog@Newsarama » More on the Superman copyright decision

Blog@Newsarama » More on the Superman copyright decision — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:24:25 +0000

[...] At Comics Should Be Good, Brian Cronin assembles a Superman copyright FAQ that serves as a good companion to [...]

By: DanCJ

DanCJ — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:47:41 +0000

It is.

I did think it was a farce that a young Superman could possibly belong to anyone other than DC, but if the Seigels now own half of the original Superman then that certainly changes things

By: Greg Eimer

Greg Eimer — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:39:43 +0000

Of course, I am assuming that the “Superboy” matter is a separate issue from the “Superman” ruling.

Is it?

By: Greg Eimer

Greg Eimer — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:46:49 +0000

Has the “Superboy” ownership rights been settled? I only know that it has been in the courts and because of the current litigation, things like the Superboy character, in the Legion animated series, having to be called Superman and DC Comics being unable to publish “Superboy Archives”, etc.

By: Shaun

Shaun — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:39:24 +0000

Thanks to plok and TJR for their comments.

All in all, I want Superman to be treated as he should be: The single greatest symbol of good in all of fiction (I’m going out on a limb here, since I’m unaware of an actual survey).

Whether an individual likes him or not, Superman is so much bigger than all of us. He’s not just ink and 4-colors on a page, without him the superhero genre, or comics for that matter, may not be around today to inspire us all.

And without comics as a medium (I happen to be a comics writer/artist from Trinidad), kids might just a tad less literate than they already are (I know I might be generalizing, all apologies, but I’m admittedly biased when it comes to such matters).

Thanks again for this forum and to all its contributors.

By: TJR

TJR — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:56:11 +0000

Shaun. There is nothing sad about a creator or their heirs finally getting some of what is rightfully theirs. It is something to celebrate……..And Plok is right, The Siegel’s will just let DC continue to publish and collent money.

By: plok

plok — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 01:19:19 +0000

Come on, Shaun, why is it sad? DC and the Siegels are not bickering, only we fans are bickering…and over nothing, I might add. Both DC and the Siegels have an interest in Superman’s continued publication…all that’s going to happen now is that the Siegels will start receiving compensation for DC’s use of the character. Hey, in a handful of years it all becomes public domain anyway, like…I don’t know, like Sherlock Holmes, or something. And Sherlock Holmes is doing fine, isn’t he?

By: Shaun

Shaun — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:29:10 +0000

This is all so very sad.

In my own humble opinion, DC should continue to publish Superman forever, but the Siegels should keep getting royalties.

The characters and the fans will be the ones to suffer if all of this bickering continues.

I’d really hate to see Superman published by Marvel or Image or whoever, unless the entire DCU isn’t there either.

The Siegels deserve something too.

I can’t belive that fans would want to know that the Siegel name is being discredited or disrespected in any way.

Thank you Siegel and Shuster for the greatest fictional character in history.

(Batman’s my favourite, but I have to have SOME perspective.)

By: Superman — not faster than a not-so-speeding reversion of copyright ownership « The Learned Fangirl

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 05:54:54 +0000

[...] retain copyright back to 1999 has riled up many fans. (For analysis of this case check out these links and the [...]

By: It’s never to late to claim a copyright « The Geeky Librarian

It’s never to late to claim a copyright « The Geeky Librarian — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 23:00:20 +0000

[...] never to late to claim a copyright Big week for copyright news.Â First there was the news that the copyright associated with Action Comics #1 had been awarded to the family of Jerry Siegel, [...]

By: Slappypants

Slappypants — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:06:17 +0000

creators have a natural right in this country to benefit from their creations, obviously if you’re just a cosumer and don’t actually create anything, you might not sympathize with that notion. Maybe dc should have spent time and money developing other ip in the last 70 years or so.