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brother from another mother 15000+ posts
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OP
brother from another mother 15000+ posts
Joined: Feb 2002
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http://news.yahoo.com/judge-sides-dc-comics-fight-over-superman-005011173.html
LOS ANGELES (AP) — DC Comics will retain its rights to Superman after a judge ruled Wednesday that the heirs of one of the superhero's co-creators signed away their ability to reclaim copyrights to the Man of Steel roughly 20 years ago.
The ruling means that DC Comics and its owner Warner Bros. will retain all rights to continue using the character in books, films, television and other mediums, including a the film reboot planned for next year.
DC Comics sued the heirs of artist Joe Shuster in 2010, seeking a ruling that they lost their ability to try to reclaim the superhero's copyrights in 1992. U.S. District Court Judge Otis Wright II agreed, stating that Shuster's sister and brother relinquished any chance to reclaim Superman copyrights in exchange for annual pension payments from DC Comics.
Shuster and writer Jerry Siegel created Superman, who made his comic book debut in 1938 in Action Comics (hash)1. Both men battled for increased compensation for the superhero throughout their lives and Siegel's heirs have also fought DC for a stake in copyrights to Superman.
Shuster's heirs had argued that the copyright agreements could be terminated under provisions that allowed creators of works made before 1978 a mechanism to reclaim their rights. Wright ruled that the decision by Shuster's sister to accept higher annual payments created a new agreement and the pre-1978 rights no longer applied.
"We respectfully disagree with its factual and legal conclusions, and it is surprising given that the judge appeared to emphatically agree with our position at the summary judgment hearing," the Shusters' attorney Marc Toberoff wrote in a statement. He declined further comment, and Warner Bros. and its attorney Daniel Petrocelli also declined comment on the ruling.
Toberoff had argued that an agreement altering copyright interests would have been much longer than the one-page 1992 agreement between DC Comics and Shuster's sister, Joan Shuster Peavy, and his brother, Frank.
The latest Superman film, "Man of Steel" is scheduled to land in theaters in 2013. Director Zach Snyder told fans earlier this year at Comic-Con that his film would make the superhero more relatable than previous depictions that showed him as "a big blue Boy Scout up on the throne and you can't really touch him."
In April, the $412 check that DC Comics wrote to acquire Superman and other creative works by Shuster and Siegel sold for $160,000 in an online auction.
"My friends have always been the best of me." -Doctor Who
"Well,whenever I'm confused,I just check my underwear. It holds most answers to life's questions." Abe Simpson
I can tell by the position of the sun in the sky, that is time for us to go. Until next time, I am Lothar of the Hill People!
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 19,428 Likes: 8
brother from another mother 15000+ posts
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OP
brother from another mother 15000+ posts
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 19,428 Likes: 8 |
Was the 52 reboot because of this lawsuit?
I hope we now don't go back to the crap comics DC was producing.
"My friends have always been the best of me." -Doctor Who
"Well,whenever I'm confused,I just check my underwear. It holds most answers to life's questions." Abe Simpson
I can tell by the position of the sun in the sky, that is time for us to go. Until next time, I am Lothar of the Hill People!
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 7,040 Likes: 24
Society's Discontent 6000+ posts
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Society's Discontent 6000+ posts
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 7,040 Likes: 24 |
I'm still holding out for them to have the balls to do a full reboot. It's never going to happen but, I save a shitload of money by holding out in the meantime.
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Joined: May 2003
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Doog the MIGHTY 10000+ posts
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Doog the MIGHTY 10000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 10,793 Likes: 3 |
All Star Superman proved that they don't need a reboot, just good stories. Even though he's my least favorite character of all time those were some of my favorite comics ever. That line had potential but DC never properly backed it and Frank Millers Goddamn Batman was half assed and treated like just something to do when he got tired after masturbating on piles of money. The problem with having a single character in multiple in-continuity books is that you can't do anything epic with the characters without effecting change across all of them, thus the stories must be kept generic and status-quo safe except for the annual crossover that fucks things up and nobody really knows how to run with it anyway.
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Joined: Dec 2004
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Unbreakable 3000+ posts
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Unbreakable 3000+ posts
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This makes me sad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Star_DC_Comics#Unreleased_titlesAdam Hughes writing and drawing Wonder Woman. What could have been... The Batgirl title seems interesting. At least it's not Frank Miller's Fucking Batgirl.
"Batman is only meaningful as an answer to a world which in its basics is chaotic and in the hands of the wrong people, where no justice can be found. I think it's very suitable to our perception of the world's condition today... Batman embodies the will to resist evil" -Frank Miller
"Conan, what's the meaning of life?"
"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women!"
-Conan the Barbarian
"Well, yeah."
-Jason E. Perkins
"If I had a dime for every time Pariah was right about something I'd owe twenty cents."
-Ultimate Jaburg53
"Fair enough. I defer to your expertise."
-Prometheus
Rack MisterJLA!
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Joined: May 2003
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Doog the MIGHTY 10000+ posts
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Doog the MIGHTY 10000+ posts
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Frank Miller's Fucking Batgirl I WOULD READ THAT!!!
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devil-lovin' Bat-Man 15000+ posts
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devil-lovin' Bat-Man 15000+ posts
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hello whore 500+ posts
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hello whore 500+ posts
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All Star Superman proved that they don't need a reboot, just good stories. Even though he's my least favorite character of all time those were some of my favorite comics ever. That line had potential but DC never properly backed it and Frank Millers Goddamn Batman was half assed and treated like just something to do when he got tired after masturbating on piles of money. The problem with having a single character in multiple in-continuity books is that you can't do anything epic with the characters without effecting change across all of them, thus the stories must be kept generic and status-quo safe except for the annual crossover that fucks things up and nobody really knows how to run with it anyway. 
I am the Rill Mac!
(formerly randal_flagg)
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The conscience of the rkmbs! 15000+ posts
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The conscience of the rkmbs! 15000+ posts
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The Batgirl title seems interesting. At least it's not Frank Miller's Fucking Batgirl. Actually, Miller's Batgirl was more believable than the canon depiction.
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Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
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Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,951 Likes: 6 |
All Star Superman proved that they don't need a reboot, just good stories. Even though he's my least favorite character of all time those were some of my favorite comics ever. That line had potential but DC never properly backed it and Frank Millers Goddamn Batman was half assed and treated like just something to do when he got tired after masturbating on piles of money. The problem with having a single character in multiple in-continuity books is that you can't do anything epic with the characters without effecting change across all of them, thus the stories must be kept generic and status-quo safe except for the annual crossover that fucks things up and nobody really knows how to run with it anyway. One of the great things about DC when I was kid was that continuity between the books was loose enough that doing something shitty with a character in one book didn't screw him up for every other book that character appeared in. It also gave writers and artists some freedom to experiment without "the powers that be" decreeing it wasn't in line with the "official" version. For example, Haney's Batman in B&B and WF was always doing insane shit but it didn't affect whatever was going on over in Detective, JLA or Batman. Similarly, because continuity wasn't that tight you got Englehart and Rogers able to kick ass and take names over in 'Tec without worry that "their" Batman had to tie in with the other titles or (worse yet) some crossover.
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Son of Anarchist 15000+ posts
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Son of Anarchist 15000+ posts
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did they have to worry about Rob Liefield drawing their characters with freaky feet and then talking smack on twitter back then?
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cobra kai 15000+ posts
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cobra kai 15000+ posts
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All Star Superman proved that they don't need a reboot, just good stories. Even though he's my least favorite character of all time those were some of my favorite comics ever. i've never enjoyed superman comics. to me, they always seem too bland, or too wordy, or too silly. but all star superman was just... fun. like, yeah, there were silly parts, but... it just made everything seem fun and fresh. even without the overall arc of supes' illness, which in itself was well done, the stories seemed perfectly befitting the world of superman. all sortsa crazy silver age shit, well-paced adventures, a superman who was powerful without seeming impossible, and some incredibly solid characterization, particularly between lois & supes then clark & luthor. i think, if anything, it proved that a (theoretically) on-going superman book could be enjoyable and very well done, without crazies cross overs or fear of continuity or stressing between wacky stories, grim and dark stories, whiney stories, etc. just good, solid books. Frank Millers Goddamn Batman was half assed and treated like just something to do when he got tired after masturbating on piles of money. see, i actually really liked the allstar bat book. yes, there were annoyances, and silliness, and the goddamn line was purdy startling upon first read. but as the book progressed through the next few chapters, it actually really fit the tone of the book - a character that really did fill the evolutionary gap between the silent and precise batman of "year one" and the cantankerous and powerful batman of "dark knight returns". i mean... batman is fucking awesome, at all times, and this is the first time i can recall the character, himself, recognizing that. good read. i was sorry to see both of them die off.
giant picture
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Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
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Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
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All Star Superman didn't die off, per se. It was a mini-series and Morrison told the story he wanted to tell.
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Timelord. Drunkard. 15000+ posts
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Timelord. Drunkard. 15000+ posts
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http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/...superman-heirs/ Yesterday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the petition filed by the heirs' lawyers. That leaves standing a ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, and the heirs won't be allowed to wrest the copyright away.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet." Our Friendly Neighborhood Ray-man said: "no, the doctor's right. besides, he has seniority."
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Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
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Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,951 Likes: 6 |
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/10/supreme-court-wont-hear-copyright-case-brought-by-superman-heirs/ Yesterday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the petition filed by the heirs' lawyers. That leaves standing a ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, and the heirs won't be allowed to wrest the copyright away. I wonder if marvel's regretting their decision to settle with the Kirby family right now
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Timelord. Drunkard. 15000+ posts
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Timelord. Drunkard. 15000+ posts
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The current decision was based on the fact that the families signed contracts in the 90's giving away their rights to regain the copyright. Kirby's family was suing on whether or not he was 'work for hire'. Marvel had a lot more to lose than DC.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet." Our Friendly Neighborhood Ray-man said: "no, the doctor's right. besides, he has seniority."
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Joined: Mar 2004
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Son of Anarchist 15000+ posts
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Son of Anarchist 15000+ posts
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not to mention Kirby can eat his enemies and gain their power. I've seen him do it to Mario and Pikachu.
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