Warner Bros. Moves to Throw Out ‘Superman' Suit Over Foreign Copyrights

Yahoo

06-03-2025

Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Comics have moved to throw out a lawsuit over the copyrights to 'Superman' in foreign territories, arguing the issue has already been exhaustively litigated.
Mark Peary, the nephew of the late Superman co-creator Joe Shuster, filed the suit in January, seeking to invalidate the studio's copyrights under the laws of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Ireland. If successful, the lawsuit could interfere with the release in July of 'Superman,' starring David Corenswet and directed by James Gunn.
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In a motion to dismiss filed Wednesday, Warner Bros. noted that courts have repeatedly rejected Peary's claims, finding that his mother, Jean Peavy, signed away all rights to the Superman character after Shuster's death in 1992.
'Peary's complaint fails on every ground,' argued Daniel Petrocelli, the studio's attorney.
The estate's lawyer, Marc Toberoff, argued that in the overseas territories, copyright assignments automatically terminate 25 years after the author's death. He filed the suit in federal court in New York, arguing that U.S. courts have jurisdiction over the dispute because the U.S. is a signatory to the Berne Convention.
In response, Petrocelli argued that the Berne Convention is not enforceable in U.S. courts, and that the case should be dismissed because the court lacks jurisdiction.
The studio also argued that the Shuster estate's claims have already been denied by a federal judge in Los Angeles, and those findings were upheld by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal in 2013.
The studio also offered a summary of the many legal disputes that have arisen since Shuster and Jerome Siegel first signed away the rights to Superman for $130 in 1938. Since then, the studio argued, the creators and their heirs have received millions of dollars, adjusted for inflation, in royalties and other payments.
After Shuster died, his sister — and sole heir — asked DC Comics to cover his debts and increase the survivor payments to her. DC Comics agreed to those terms, raising her annual payments from $5,000 to $25,000 per year for the remainder of her life. The agreement states that it 'fully settles all claims' regarding Shuster's copyrights and trademarks.
In 2013, the 9th Circuit found that agreement precluded the estate's subsequent attempt to cancel the copyright.
Toberoff argues that the 9th Circuit opinions pertains only to U.S. copyright law, and says nothing about Peary's rights in other countries. The suit seeks to assert the 'Dickens provision' of U.K. copyright law, which it argues also applies in Canada, Australia, Ireland, Israel, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand and South Africa.
In response, Petrocelli argued that the 1992 agreement covers 'all rights' — including foreign rights.
'There are no carve-outs in the controlling 1992 agreement for any foreign copyrights, much less for the copyrights in the 10 countries Peary now alleges in the Complaint,' Petrocelli wrote.
Warner Bros. was required to respond to the suit by March 24, but filed the motion to dismiss nearly three weeks early. The studio asked that if the judge does not dismiss the case, that it should be transferred to the Los Angeles judge who handled it previously.
Superman is due to enter the public domain in 2034.
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