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November 4, 2015: Siegel Case for Superman Rights Argued on Appeal... Again

Superman Court Case It appears to be a never-ending battle over the rights to Superman, with attorney Marc Toberoff appearing on behalf of Laura Siegel Larson (Jerry Siegel's daughter) in front of a panel of judges yesterday appealing the court's decision to grant ownership of the character to Warner Bros.

    The session opened with Judge Schroeder adding a sharp "Again" to Judge Pregerson's observation that Laura Siegel Larson v. Warner Bros. Entertainment "is the case that involves Superman," and her offhand comment was telling - all three members of the panel gave the impression that they felt the question of whether the appellate court's prior ruling that 2001 agreement was a settlement had indeed resolved the issues that Siegel attorney Marc Toberoff is trying to revive.

    The questioning began with a rigorous inquiry from Judge Michelle Friedland, a former corporate attorney who seemed to have little sympathy for Toberoff's attempt to show that when the 2001 settlement agreement didn't actually transfer any rights. There was a little more breathing space given to the issue of whether Warner Bros. was prejudiced (i.e., harmed) by Toberoff's failure to raise a certain claim until after the earlier decision by the appellate court, but without going into detail here, it's a technical matter where there's a well-established line of argument vis a vis judicial efficiency and fairness that would support a decision to preserve the status quo.

    Warner Bros. attorney Daniel Petrocelli was himself grilled on a couple technical issues, but in each case he succeeded in relating his arguments back to the core doctrinal and policy points set forth by the judges - at one point, after Petrocelli recited settlement language showing that the contract did indeed track established precedent in regard to heirs using termination as a leverage to secure a favorable deal, there was a silence in the courtroom that in any other context would have ended with a mic drop.

Read Jeff Trexler's full report at ComicsBeat.com.


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