‘Superman’ creator’s estate is suing Warner Bros. to block release of James Gunn’s movie

nme.com:

Superman creator Joseph Schuster’s estate is reportedly suing Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Comics over the release of James Gunn‘s upcoming movie starring David Corenswet.According to Deadline, the lawsuit claims that DC Studios does not have the proper rights to release the new film in selected “key territories” such as England, Canada, Ireland and Australia.If the lawsuit isn’t settled before the scheduled release date of July 11, it is possible the movie’s release could be delayed in the aforementioned territories.

However, Warner Bros. has insisted that there is no merit to the claim made by Schuster’s estate.In a statement, a Warner Bros.

Discovery spokesperson said: “We fundamentally disagree with the merits of the lawsuit, and will vigorously defend our rights.”Though Schuster and fellow Superman co-creator Jerome “Jerry” Siegel signed over worldwide rights to the character to DC Comics in 1938, the lawsuit claims international copyright law stipulates that “such assignments are automatically terminated 25 years after an author’s death”.“Shuster died in 1992 and Siegel in 1996.

By operation of law, Shuster’s foreign copyrights automatically reverted to his estate in 2017 in most of these territories (and in 2021 in Canada).