The Adventures of 'Superman': A Narrative Worth Mediating

Authors

Jeffrey Zeman, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Abstract

Summer, 2013. The world will believe, again, a man can fly. Most likely, anyway. Maybe. Fingers crossed.

The rights to Superman and his stories are the subject of a long-developing and heated dispute between publisher DC Comics ("DC") and the estate of Jerry Siegel, co-creator of the iconic character. While a much-talked-about reboot of the movie franchise enters preproduction, the latest round of lawsuits involves DC suing the Siegel family's attorney. The publisher claims attorney Marc Toberoff has wrongfully interfered with "contractual rights and other interests" by advising the families of Siegel and his cocreator, Joe Schuster, to reclaim the copyright previously assigned to DC, pursuant to the termination provisions of the Copyright Act of 1979. Toberoff has already failed in a motion to dismiss under California's anti-SLAPP law, but continued animosity between these parties is in the interest of neither.

Disciplines

Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | Intellectual Property Law | Law

Recommended Citation

Jeffrey Zeman, The Adventures of 'Superman': A Narrative Worth Mediating, 13 Cardozo J. Conflict Resol. 355 (2011).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cjcr/vol13/iss1/14