A 2001 letter from an attorney representing the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerome Siegel effectively transferred all copyrights in the Superman character to DC Comics, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco has decided (Larson v. Warner Bros Entertainment, February 10, 2016, per curiam). Siegel’s daughter, Laura Siegel Larson, could not go forward with an action against DC Comics, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Warner Communications, Inc., Warner Bros. Television Production, Inc., and Time Warner Inc. (collectively, “DC”), seeking a declaration that copyright termination notices they served on DC in 1997 effectively recaptured their copyright interests in the Superman character and works, which Siegel had transferred to DC in 1938.
A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law.
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