First, a huge thank you to JK Parkin and the entire Blog@ team for inviting me to post. I’ve enjoyed reading Newsarama in its various incarnations over the years, and I’m honored to have an opportunity to get slagged in my own comments thread!
Now to the business at hand. Pretty much everyone in the comics community knows that a judge has granted the Siegel family a copyright interest in Superman. What this means, however, is far from clear.
Over the next week I’ll be cross-posting here a series of follow-ups to my original FAQ over at UncivilSociety.org. Can DC still publish Superman stories? Will Superman soon be joining the Avengers? And just what gives a family the right to regain copyright if the original creators sold it in a legal contract? These are only a few of the issues we’ll be considering–if you have questions of your own don’t hesitate to let me know.
Just be nice. After all, I’m a lawyer, and you know how easy it is to hurt our feelings.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:59 am
Hi Jeff… Thanks for doing this!
Can you explain the distinction between a trademark and a copyright for those of us who don’t know?
Also, I’ve heard stuff about the year… 2013, I think? Something about the Siegel’s taking full ownership of Supes at that point? I might have that wrong, but that’s why I’m asking. What’s the story, and does that mean DC could lose Supes in a few years? Or is it more likely they’d simply have to pay a licensing fee to the Siegels?
Finally, there’s been discussion about Supes eventually becoming public domain. Is that a realistic possibility? I remember Disney going to great lengths to protect its characters awhile ago, so I’m not sure how that works either. Can’t a company, like Disney or WB, just re-up their copyright (or whatever) every so often to keep their properties?
April 4th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
All excellent questions, as have been most–well, actually, all of them here & in my email. Even if I don’t respond to every one the personally in the comments threads, I’m making my way through as many as possible in the posts.