Foreseeable Problems in Superman’s Future

The conclusion of the Siegel’s Superman lawsuit in the next few months is unlikely to signal the end of Superman copyright disputes. Jerome Siegel’s decedents own a one-half interest in the copyrights but the other half rests in the estate of Superman illustrator Joseph Shuster. On November 10, 1993, Mark Warren Peary (Shuster’s nephew and the court-appointed representative of his estate) filed notice with the US Copyright Office of intent to terminate the 1938 grant of the Superman copyright to Detective Comics and its successors (i.e., Time Warner) effective on October 26, 2013. As the date of termination approaches, this issue will undoubtedly heat up.