Warner Bros. has successfully defended its ownership of “Superman” rights after a judge dismissed a copyright lawsuit, clearing the way for the global release of the upcoming film from James Gunn and DC Studios.
Mark Peary, the nephew of late “Superman” co-creator Joe Shuster, had filed the suit in January, claiming that Shuster’s estate had the right to terminate “Superman” copyrights in the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland and other territories.
In a ruling on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman held that the court has no authority to address the estate’s rights under foreign laws.
“The Court concludes that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over this case; the case therefore must be and is dismissed,” Furman wrote. “Accordingly, the Court need not and does not address Defendants’ alternative argument that the case should be transferred to another federal district. Additionally, given the Court’s lack of jurisdiction, Peary’s motion for a preliminary injunction must be and is denied as moot.”
“As we have consistently maintained, DC controls all rights to Superman,” a WBD spokesperson said in a statement.
This latest lawsuit is far from the only one the Superman co-creator’s estate has sought in years past. The first litigation regarding rights to DC Comics’ most recognizable hero dates all the way back to 1947.
Both WBD and DC Comics have a lot riding on the success of the film as it’s the first step in a new shared universe after Gunn and Peter Safran were brought in to helm DC Studios and start a new slate of films and TV using the company’s comic book roster.
“Superman” releases July 11 and stars David Corenswet as Superman/Clark Kent. He’s joined by Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor and María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer. Other famous DC Comics superheroes appearing in the film are Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardener and Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific.
