2013 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News Archives

December 13, 2013: Toberoff Petitions for Rehearing in Superman Copyright Case

Superman Court Case Unwilling to accept the 9th Circuit Court's decision on November 21st to grant Warner Bros. complete copyright ownership of Superman, lawyer Marc Toberoff has submitted a 43-page petition calling for the case to be reheard.

    "The Opinion warrants rehearing or rehearing en banc because it contravenes Congress' clear objectives, and this Court's carefully-circumscribed decisions," says the 43-page petition (read it here) filed Tuesday, citing the 1976 Copyright Act. Last month's 2-1 opinion reaffirmed a District Court decision supporting DC Comics and its corporate parent WB's position that Mark Peary of Joe Shuster's estate couldn't file a copyright termination notice in 2003. WB claimed that a 1992 agreement with Shuster's siblings, in which they were to be compensated $25,000 a year for life, already delivered all their Superman rights to the company. Leaning heavily on dissenting Judge Sidney Runyan Thomas's opinion, Toberoff and fellow attorney Keith G. Adams say it isn't that simple.

    "The Opinion contravenes Section 304(c)(5) (of the Copyright Act), and this Court's careful holdings ... by construing a 'boilerplate' release in an irrelevant 1992 pension agreement with siblings, who held no termination rights, to eviscerate the Estate's valuable termination right," the wide ranging petition adds.

Read more about this latest development at Deadline.com.

It should be noted that the upcoming Superman/Batman movie can move ahead regardless of whether or not Toberoff's petition for a rehearing is successful.



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