What is the Superman estate vs DC Studio controversy? Explained

James Gunn's Superman has fallen into trouble as the film's studio- DC studio is being sued by the estate of Joe Shuster, who co-created Superman originally. The estate is emphasizing copyright laws while accusing DC of breaking them, in contrast to the studio's retort that Shuster's sisters had already signed his termination agreement shortly after his death in 1992.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeal previously addressed this suit in 2013 and is now being brought back by the estate's attorney Marc Toberoff, who is reiterating copyright laws of the U.K., Canada, Ireland, and Australia.

He has added that copyright laws have already been reverted in most of these countries. Speaking on behalf of the estate, Toberoff said,

“Yet Defendants continue to exploit Superman across these jurisdictions without the Shuster Estate’s authorization — including in motion pictures, television series, and merchandise — in direct contravention of these countries’ copyright laws, which require the consent of all joint copyright owners to do so."

A spokesperson for Warner Bros, who owns DC studios, stated,

“We fundamentally disagree with the merits of the lawsuit, and will vigorously defend our rights,”

The estate is currently demanding a portion of the profits made by the Superman franchise, along with Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Black Adam and Shazam!

Who actually owns the rights to Superman?

Superman was created by Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster, who then sold the copyrights to DC in 1938 for a meager $130. After its immense worldwide popularity and legacy, based on the comics featuring Clark Kent, Shuster and Siegel hit DC with a lawsuit that contradicted DC's ownership of Superman.

Although the case was settled with Siegel and Shuster both getting a payout of $94,000 this started a series of attempts from them and their estate to claim the rights to Superman back. After Siegel's death in 1996, both the creators' families have tried to hit the studio with multiple unsuccessful lawsuits.

According to a report in The Hollywood Reporter, Shuster would normally be able to recover his domestic rights to Superman under U.S. copyright law because of an intellectual property law provision that permits creators to regain ownership of their works after a specific amount of time. However, in 1992, his brother and sister made a deal with DC that ended that right in return for $25,000 annually.

Attorney Marc Toberoff isn't new to the case. He has been a part of the suit since 2001 and has even been sued by DC for wrongfully partnering with Shuster's family to take back the copyright for Superman from DC, who owns them.

Toberoff has asserted that under copyright laws in the mentioned countries, the rights to the franchise have reverted to the creators' estate 25 years after their death. Based on this, the estate stands with the belief that the rights to Superman went back to the estate in 2017.

The suit comes shortly before Superman is all set to release, one of the most widely anticipated films of the year. Shuster's suit demands that DC must obtain a license from the estate before distributing Superman among any of the aforementioned countries.

Toberoff's statement further adds,

“We live in a global economy; studios like DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. cannot expect foreign countries to respect and enforce U.S. copyright law amidst rampant piracy, if we don’t respect and enforce their copyright laws. This suit is not intended to deprive fans of their next Superman, but rather seeks just compensation for Joe Shuster’s fundamental contributions as the co-creator of Superman. The ball’s in DC and Warner Bros.’ court to do the right thing.”

More details from DC Studios are awaited for now.