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Supreme Court Says Sixth Superman Series......Seriously.
Okay gang, another bit of news concerning the Warner Brothers studios came out, and got looked over by the recent events in entertainment. (Well, Michael Jackson's memorial really was the biggest recent event in entertainment). Anyway, Variety is reporting that the Warner Brothers/DC Comics legal issues with the family of Superman Co-creator Jerome Siegel recently went the way of WB/DC.
Basically, the case was that the heirs say that WB paid a "lower price" to DC in order to get the license fees for the movies. Commonly called a "sweetheart deal" in legal-backroom-speak, this is something that happens between two companies that have a record of dealing with each other. WB claimed that they were paying "full and fair" market prices for the licenses fees to DC for the Superman franchise. Well, the US District Courts ruled in WB's favor, saying that they did in fact pay "full and fair" market value.
Which is somewhat of a blow to the heir's future claims in court. Now, instead of being part of a lawsuit trying to get a piece of the profits from the movies, they are only allowed to continue receiving a claim on the profits of the Superman COMICS only. Which isn't something to ignore since DC Comics took in $13.6 Million profit from being tied into the Superman Returns movie ALONE. Of course that does NOT include DC Comics profits from the TV rights for Smallville (Around $18.5 Million) and any other format that Superman appears in. (Which includes the animated shows, direct-to-DVD, books or games). So there is some serious money being talked about in regards to the heirs. Even if it's simply a 1% of the profits that are supposedly handed over to the family, you are looking at Millions of dollars being handed out. While a lot of people would just give them a 1% and be done with it, the family is actually seeking roughly 5% of the profits from ALL formats that use the Superman character. And while the TV show Smallville can run up to $45,000 per episode in TV rights, you can see how this is something that will quickly run into Millions of dollars for DC Comics. So, it's no surprise that they will fight to keep as much as possible.
Both companies released a joint statement in a letter that stated: "DC Comics and Warner Bros. Entertainment are very gratified by the court's thorough and well-reasoned decision in this matter. The decision validates what DC and Warner Bros. have maintained from the beginning, which is that when they do business with each other, they always strive for -- and achieve -- fair market value in their transactions. We are very pleased that the court found there was no merit to plaintiffs' position that the Superman deals were unfair to DC Comics and, by extension, the plaintiffs"
There is another court date for Dec. 1, to determine how much the heirs could receive. Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen G. Larson ruled for the family giving them roughly half the copyright for Superman material.
But what we have now is something that is really strange. It seems that Judge Larson also ruled that if Warner Brothers doesn't start production on another Superman movie by 2011, the Siegel family will be able to sue again for recovering further damages. The Siegel family are also looking forward to seeing how much the courts will award them in money. Which is an odd situation for Warner Brothers to be in, since it was also reported that Brandon Routh's contract to PLAY Superman in any future films has expired. (Click here for story) Being court ordered to start up another movie production, when all the major players of the last film are either working on something else or no longer signed to be part of it makes it odd for Warner Brothers. I guess that makes the Superman: The Man of Steel (rumored title) project back in action..... unless, they want to pay more.
I personally hope that the reboot rumors for this movie are true. It's time to get Superman back in the skies again.
Basically, the case was that the heirs say that WB paid a "lower price" to DC in order to get the license fees for the movies. Commonly called a "sweetheart deal" in legal-backroom-speak, this is something that happens between two companies that have a record of dealing with each other. WB claimed that they were paying "full and fair" market prices for the licenses fees to DC for the Superman franchise. Well, the US District Courts ruled in WB's favor, saying that they did in fact pay "full and fair" market value.
Which is somewhat of a blow to the heir's future claims in court. Now, instead of being part of a lawsuit trying to get a piece of the profits from the movies, they are only allowed to continue receiving a claim on the profits of the Superman COMICS only. Which isn't something to ignore since DC Comics took in $13.6 Million profit from being tied into the Superman Returns movie ALONE. Of course that does NOT include DC Comics profits from the TV rights for Smallville (Around $18.5 Million) and any other format that Superman appears in. (Which includes the animated shows, direct-to-DVD, books or games). So there is some serious money being talked about in regards to the heirs. Even if it's simply a 1% of the profits that are supposedly handed over to the family, you are looking at Millions of dollars being handed out. While a lot of people would just give them a 1% and be done with it, the family is actually seeking roughly 5% of the profits from ALL formats that use the Superman character. And while the TV show Smallville can run up to $45,000 per episode in TV rights, you can see how this is something that will quickly run into Millions of dollars for DC Comics. So, it's no surprise that they will fight to keep as much as possible.
Both companies released a joint statement in a letter that stated: "DC Comics and Warner Bros. Entertainment are very gratified by the court's thorough and well-reasoned decision in this matter. The decision validates what DC and Warner Bros. have maintained from the beginning, which is that when they do business with each other, they always strive for -- and achieve -- fair market value in their transactions. We are very pleased that the court found there was no merit to plaintiffs' position that the Superman deals were unfair to DC Comics and, by extension, the plaintiffs"
There is another court date for Dec. 1, to determine how much the heirs could receive. Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen G. Larson ruled for the family giving them roughly half the copyright for Superman material.
But what we have now is something that is really strange. It seems that Judge Larson also ruled that if Warner Brothers doesn't start production on another Superman movie by 2011, the Siegel family will be able to sue again for recovering further damages. The Siegel family are also looking forward to seeing how much the courts will award them in money. Which is an odd situation for Warner Brothers to be in, since it was also reported that Brandon Routh's contract to PLAY Superman in any future films has expired. (Click here for story) Being court ordered to start up another movie production, when all the major players of the last film are either working on something else or no longer signed to be part of it makes it odd for Warner Brothers. I guess that makes the Superman: The Man of Steel (rumored title) project back in action..... unless, they want to pay more.
I personally hope that the reboot rumors for this movie are true. It's time to get Superman back in the skies again.
Add a Comment
13 Comments
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Comment by Kevin French on July 14, 2009 at 1:37am - I'm not totally up on all of Supes' enemies, but Brainiac would be nice to see in a movie. But does it really have to be just Superman? Could they, for example, make it a Superman & Batman movie, or have it be about lesser-known DC heroes trying to rescue Superman?
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Comment by Mike M. on July 12, 2009 at 3:31pm -
I think this will be another reboot.
But more importantly, I think America needs to look at its copyright laws. When is Superman going to be in public domain? (my guess is never.) What safety factors are in place to stop companies from ripping off creators like Siegal and Shuster? after the Sonny Bono/Mickey Mouse Copyright act, it seems that people aren't allowed to use anything, even long after the writers have died.
I also hope they give Superman someone besides Lex to fight.
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Comment by hewylewis on July 12, 2009 at 1:56pm
- They better get Brandon to play Supes again! He was so good!!
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Comment by johnny michael neill on July 12, 2009 at 1:29pm - I would like a Superboy movie, set in the early nonexistant, color saturated, 1960's, completely told by Krypto's point of view, including voluminous accounts of inner monologue. Those comics had the greatest covers ever. A "Dial H for Hero" short at the end would fully recreate my childhood yearnings.
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Comment by jaz mayor on July 11, 2009 at 6:57am - I don't think they'll just put another one out there with special effects and no script... oh wait they did with transformers. Hey if they can improve on superman returns (which hould be easy) I'm all for it. No Brandon Roth.
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Comment by jurhead on July 10, 2009 at 10:36pm - Do we really want another Superman movie knowing that it will be forced and rushed? I didn't read this as necessarily a good thing. Hopefully they will get away from the Richard Donner formula and do something original this time.
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Comment by Jay Perry on July 10, 2009 at 6:15pm -
they have plenty of good super man villians.Brainiac would be a good choice to start the villian spree.
Or if their talkin re-boots,bring back general Zod.
With todays cgi,it could be awesome.
that's as close as we have right now.
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Comment by Witten on July 10, 2009 at 5:26pm - i do want another superman movie and 2011 is plenty of time to start production i assume. so there's no need to rush this on out quickly.
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Comment by Jon on July 10, 2009 at 4:16pm - The only problem with a world's finest movie, is explaining to the general audience why Superman would need Batman around at all. A guy who can see through buildings doesn't need to sneak around gathering clues, and a guy who's learned every fighting style ever still can't hold a candle to a guy who can cause tornadoes by twirling his finger.
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Comment by NightFire on July 10, 2009 at 11:02am - BRING BACK SUPERMAN !!
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