Before we go to the text of the Siegel opinion, I want to call attention to an aspect of the case that is truly unusual. Not the awarding of copyright to the co-creator’s heirs–while this is indeed historic, it is nonetheless an outcome envisioned by the statute.
No, for me the most striking thing about this case is how many people are reading court documents without getting graded or paid. Despite all my years hanging with lawyers and law students, I’ve rarely encountered anyone whose idea of weekend entertainment was to knock back a seventy-two page ruling on the termination of transfers.
Yet over the past few days I’ve watched in amazement as the link to the opinion racked up dozens . . . then hundreds . . . now thousands of downloads.
Even more incredible: you’re actually reading it. Quoting favorite lines, citing page numbers, arguing over what passages mean–it’s a powerful reminder that Siegel and Shuster did not just create a character.
They created a community.
April 1st, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Well, the subject matter doesn’t hurt, but Judge Larson (or his clerk) writes very well. Most of the time a lengthy opinion invites skipping around to pick out the pertinent parts, but both this opinion and his Superboy ruling from last July took great pains to explain clearly the issues and his reasoning.
Thanks for hosting them, Jeff!
April 1st, 2008 at 6:34 pm
I don’t want to read the judgment - where can I find a summary?
April 1st, 2008 at 11:06 pm
@longshot7: For a concise summary, you need go no further than previous comment–Tom Bondurant has the goods over at Newsarama.com.
You might also be interested in a couple of my previous Q&As.
@Tom: I definitely agree. I also like that he resisted the temptation to make this a jokey opinion filled with lame puns . One definitely has a sense here that the author(s) knew they were writing for history.
I’m sure it also didn’t hurt that Judge Larson was formerly a magistrate judge–when I read his stuff, I get the sense that this is a guy who is seriously strategizing how not to get overturned on appeal. Shoot, if he’d been around when I was a clerk on the 9th, I think I would have rubber-stamped him just because countering his rigorous detail would take too much work!