2010 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News Archives

August 16, 2010: Lawyer Behind Siegel/Shuster Lawsuit Sued

Many sources across the internet are now reporting on the impending suit against Marc Toberoff, infamous lawyer to the Siegel and Shuster families in their quest to gain control over the Superman copyright.

In May, a suit was filed against Toberoff and his clients, accusing him of souring relationships with the heirs in order to gain Superman copyright control.

Variety reports:

    Toberoff's attorney, Richard Kendall, filed motions on Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles seeking to dismiss the suit. Among other things, he cited protections from California's "anti-SLAPP" laws, designed to curb lawsuits filed with the intention of intimidating the opposition by delay and legal expense. (SLAPP stands for "strategic lawsuit against public participation").

    DC Comics and Warner Bros. stand to lose a great degree of control over Superman in 2013, putting in doubt their ability to exploit the character onscreen and in a host of other projects.

    A provision of the Copyright Act allows creators and their heirs and estates to recapture their creations under certain circumstances, regardless of whether the rights were signed away in prior agreements.

    With two U.S. District Court decisions in 2008 and 2009, Toberoff successfully recaptured key portions of the "Superman" storyline for the Siegel heirs. Toberoff also represents Shuster's nephew, Mark Warren Peary, executor of the Shuster estate, which is seeking to recapture the other half of the rights in 2013.

    "The transparent purpose of DC's lawsuit against Mr. Toberoff is to re-litigate the issues that DC has already lost, disrupt the relationship between Mr. Toberoff and his clients, and delay the final reckoning between DC and Mr. Toberoff's clients," Toberoff's attorneys wrote in their motions.

    DC Comics, represented by Daniel Petrocelli, in May accused Toberoff of having an ulterior motive that went beyond legal representation and claimed that he had wrested a 47.5% stake in the heirs' claimed rights, while the Siegel heirs get 27.5% and the Shuster estate gets 25%.

    The suit accuses Toberoff of preventing the Siegel and Shuster heirs "from freely entering into agreements with DC Comics -- even if it was in their respective economic interest to do so."

    But in his filings, Toberoff said that, for at least the past five years, he has only been on retainer with the Siegel heirs and Shuster's executor.

    According to Toberoff, the Siegel heirs in October 2002 did enter into an agreement with IP Worldwide, a joint venture he formed with Endeavor partner Ari Emanuel for the purpose of acquiring and packaging intellectual property rights. But that agreement expired in 2005.

    And in 2001, Toberoff's "loan-out" company, Pacific Pictures Corp., entered into an agreement with Peary and Shuster's sister, Jean Peavy, to retrieve, enforce and exploit Shuster's creations. But those agreements were cancelled in 2004.

Variety's website requires you to sign up to view the rest of the article, which can be found here.

Also reporting on the suit are IGN and the New York Times.



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