2005 Comic Book News Archives
March 3, 2005: Battle for Superman Ownership Explained
Newsarama have published a very interesting and well-researched article looking at the state of affairs in regards to the Superman Copyright battle and gives some explanations in laymen's terms to help fans understand what's going on. Here's a few excerpts from their article...
- Newsarama has obtained copies of both complaints filed by the Siegels, as well as the responses and counterclaims filed by Warner Brothers.
The Superman complaint filed by Toberoff (the Siegel's lawyer) alleges that the defendants have refused to honor the termination notice, which became effective on April 16, 1999.
Recapping the legality of the Siegels' action, under the Amendment made to the Copyright Act in 1976, original creators, or their heirs, have a five year window, during which, they can file a notice of termination of the transfer of copyright, that is, they can effectively end the transfer of the copyright that they originally made with a publisher or other corporation which would have been able to exploit the property in a way unavailable to the creator. The window for filing the termination notice opened after the 56th year of copyright, for Superman, this was 1994 - 1999. The Siegels filed their paperwork in 1997, and after an automatic two year wait, the termination became effective in 1999.
Under current Copyright law the copyright to Superman lasted for 28 years from its creation, that is, 28 years from its (alleged) date of registration on April 18, 1938. Siegel and Superman co-creator Joe Shuster had transferred the copyright to National Periodical Publications (later, DC Comics) in 1938. Siegel and later Shuster had fully created the character and world of Superman prior to the transfer, therefore "Superman" was not a "work made for hire."
The copyright for Superman was renewed for another 28 years by DC Comics in 1966. After that, the property would enter the public domain. While the 1976 amendment to the Copyright Act greatly extended the lives of copyrights (they now stand at life of the author plus 70 years), it added a final period of copyright extension of 19 years to properties created before 1978. Therefore, Superman's copyright was up for renewal in: 1966 + 19 = 1994. Which is when Congress mandated that there should be a five year window open for creators to terminate the transfer of the copyright, and regain control of their property.
In 1998, Congress passed the Sonny Bono Amendment, or Copyright Extension Term of 1998, which added another 20 years to pre-1978 copyrights. The 1998 Amendment also allowed executors, rather than only direct descendants and/or widow(ers) to file paperwork to terminate the transfer of copyright. This last addition allowed for, as reported, Joe Shuster's nephew, Mark Peary, to file notice for his uncle's share of Superman. Peary filed his paperwork in November of 2003, and by law, the termination will go into effect in 2013 (the next point at which the copyright would be up for renewal, that is, 1994 + 19 = 2013). That is, in 2013, if upheld by the Court, neither Warner Brothers nor any of its companies will own the copyright to Superman.
2005 Comic News
Listed below are all the Comic News items archived for 2005.- January 7, 2005: Loeb Talks About Supergirl
- January 10, 2005: Dwayne McDuffie Talks Up-Coming Justice League Unlimited
- January 16, 2005: Superman Comics Amongst Best Sellers for 2004
- January 26, 2005: Karl Kerschl Signs 2-Year Exclusive Contract with DC
- January 27, 2005: Dan Didio Talks About DC Countdown
- February 9, 2005: Three Issues of JLA's Sydnicate Rules Have Sold Out
- February 15, 2005: Superman Copyright Lawsuit Explained
- February 20, 2005: DCU Panel at WonderCon
- February 23, 2005: Superman #213 Sold Out at DC Comics
- March 1, 2005: Superman Comics Return to Argentina
- March 3, 2005: Battle for Superman Ownership Explained
- March 8, 2005: Superman #215 to Feature Second Cover
- March 20, 2005: Superman Panel at Wizard World LA
- March 21, 2005: Kennedy Talks Superman: Infinite City
- March 22, 2005: Comic Buyer's Guide Honors DC Comics Talent
- March 25, 2005: Lee Bermejo Talks Lex Luthor: Man of Steel
- March 25, 2005: Superman Related Information in Wizard #163
- March 28, 2005: DC's Countdown to Infinite Crisis on Sale this Week
- March 29, 2005: Lex Luthor: Man of Steel #1 Sold Out at DC Comics
- March 30, 2005: Countdown to Infinite Crisis Sells Out, Rushed Back to Press
- March 30, 2005: Superman Stars at Comic Conventions
- April 4, 2005: Jeph Loeb Talks Supergirl
- April 14, 2005: Action Comics #1 and Superman #1 on Auction
- April 19, 2005: DC Comics Rushes Sold-Out OMAC PROJECT #1 Back to Press
- April 21, 2005: Mark Verheiden Talks Superman
- April 24, 2005: Villains United #1 Sells Out at DC Comics
- April 25, 2005: 1st Annual Shuster Awards in Canada
- April 26, 2005: Superman Artist Ed Benes Renews Exclusive Agreement with DC
- May 8, 2005: DC Comics to Unveil a New Logo
- May 8, 2005: DC Comics Rush Solicits Prelude to Infinite Crisis Special
- May 9, 2005: DC Comics Unveils New Logo
- May 10, 2005: Superman #214 Sells Out at DC Comics
- May 10, 2005: Superman/Batman #19 to be Reprinted as Supergirl #0
- May 10, 2005: Michael Turner Provides Variant Cover for Supergirl #1
- May 10, 2005: Ed Benes on Drawing Superman
- May 11, 2005: Richard Bruning on Designing New DC Logo
- May 17, 2005: Omac Project #1 Returns to Press for a New Third Printing
- May 18, 2005: DC Offers Retailers Superman Action Figure with Justice #1
- May 23, 2005: Jeph Loeb Talks Superman/Batman With a Vengeance
- May 23, 2005: DC Sends Villains United #1 Back for Third Printing
- May 24, 2005: More Superman Comics Sell Out at DC
- May 25, 2005: Jeph Loeb Talks Superman - Past, Present and Future
- May 30, 2005: Karl Kerschl Adventures of Superman Page By Page PodCast
- June 1, 2005: OMAC Units in Adventures of Superman #640
- June 6, 2005: Karl Kerschl Adventures of Superman PodCast Part 2
- June 7, 2005: The OMAC Project #2 Sells Out at DC
- June 14, 2005: Eddie Berganza to Leave Superman Books for JLA
- June 15, 2005: Superman/Batman #20 Sells Out at DC Comics
- June 15, 2005: Karl Kerschl Sketch Session - Drawing Darkseid
- June 17, 2005: Sad News for the Loeb Family
- June 20, 2005: Gail Simone Talks About Action Comics and the Core of Superman
- June 20, 2005: Villains United #2 Sells Out at DC Comics
- June 23, 2005: Paul Cassidy, the Man Credited with Putting S on Cape, Dies
- July 5, 2005: DC Comics Panels at San Diego Comic Con
- July 7, 2005: Alex Ross Talks Justice
- July 12, 2005: Identity Crisis #1 Final Printing Sold Out at DC Comics
- July 17, 2005: Superman Panel at San Diego Comic Con
- July 17, 2005: DCU Panel at San Diego Comic Con
- July 27, 2005: Greg Rucka Talks Sacrifice in Superman Books
- July 27, 2005: Parts 1 & 2 of Superman Sacrifice Storyline Sold Out at DC
- August 2, 2005: DC Sends 4-Part Sacrifice Story Back to Press
- August 3, 2005: Karl Kerschl PodCast on Creation of Adventures of Superman #642
- August 9, 2005: Jeph Loeb Talks About Supergirl
- August 9, 2005: DC Lowers Prices on First Two Showcase Collections
- August 9, 2005: Greg Rucka's HorCast #14 PodCast Online
- August 10, 2005: DC Announces Collected Editions for Nov-Dec 2005
- August 14, 2005: New Printing of Supergirl #1 Follows One-Day Sellouts!
- August 16, 2005: DC Announces Michael Turner Supergirl Variant Covers
- August 16, 2005: Press Release - Horhaus.com PodCasts
- September 12, 2005: Adventures of Superman #643 Back to Press
- September 13, 2005: Supergirl #1 Gets Third Printing
- September 13, 2005: Infinite Crisis #1 Preview
- September 14, 2005: HorCast #20 - A Chat with Eddie Berganza
- September 15, 2005: Jeph Loeb on Superman Returns, Infinite Crisis, and Supergirl
- September 20, 2005: Justice Prevails as Justice #1 Sells Out at DC
- September 22, 2005: HorCast #21 - Eddie Berganza Chat Part 2
- September 29, 2005: Justice #1 Gets Second Printing
- September 30, 2005: All-Star Superman Preview
- October 3, 2005: Neal Adams Covers All-Star Superman
- October 15, 2005: Gail Simone and John Byrne Leave Action Comics
- October 18, 2005: Gail Simone Talks Leaving Action Comics
- October 19, 2005: Neal Adams Provides Variant Cover for All Star Superman #1
- October 20, 2005: DC Comics Announced Variant Cover for Supergirl #4
- October 26, 2005: Mark Verheiden Moves to Superman/Batman
- October 30, 2005: Gail Simone Talks JLA Classified #16
- October 30, 2005: Mark Waid Talks Superman Returns and Birthright
- November 2, 2005: Armageddon Expo - Auckland New Zealand October 22-24, 2005
- November 9, 2005: Crisis Counseling with Dan Didio
- November 15, 2005: Marv Wolfman Talks Infinite Crisis Secret Files 2006
- November 27, 2005: Greg Rucka to Take Over Supergirl
- November 30, 2005: DC Comics Superhero Stamps in 2006
- December 14, 2005: Supergirl Joining the Legion of Superheroes
- December 19, 2005: Josh Middleton Talks Shazam/Superman First Thunder
- December 20, 2005: Meltzer to Relaunch JLA Comic Title
- December 21, 2005: Second Printing for Justice #2
- December 22, 2005: Brad Meltzer Talks Taking on the JLA
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