Jeff Trexler reports that a U.S. District Court judge has granted the motion by Warner Bros. and DC Comics to reconsider a 2006 ruling that determined the family of Jerry Siegel had recaptured the copyright to Superboy.
This ruling, by Judge Stephen G. Larson, doesn’t end the legal battle, by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a little early in the day for me to go wading through 73 pages of legalese, but, according to Trexler, the decision “vacated the relevant portions of the earlier ruling, including part of the statement of facts.”
Trexler writes: “The judge calls for further briefing on that issue but, as reviewing judges often do, lays out a roadmap for concluding that Superboy was nothing ‘more than a trivial variation from the pre-existing material in Superman, other comic book characters in general, or even more broadly with other comic book characters’.”
Expect more later, especially if I can rope Tom Bondurant, Esq., into providing assistance.
You can read the full 73-page decision as a PDF file.
(Via Heidi MacDonald)
Related: The Legion Omnicon’s timeline and related links
August 6th, 2007 at 9:17 am
Works for me.
August 6th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Maybe now DC can stop with their silly contortions of not using the word “Superboy” in their stories.
August 6th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Saying that Superboy is a variation on Superman makes sense. However, saying that he’s a variation on comic book characters in gernal sounds scary. That sounds dangerously broad, as if a creator can’t own a superhero he created if it follows the conventions of superheroes in general.
August 6th, 2007 at 11:48 am
SuperNOVA!
August 6th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Get that Tom Bondurant assistance yet?
September 24th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
hey, if the family wants a bigger settlement, then DC/Warner should pay them, and get it over with.. it would be kind of dumb to have a separate superboy in another comics world..