July 9th, 2009 4:36 pm

Warner Bros. and DC Comics win ‘Superman’ case

Warner Bros. and DC Comics have won a favorable ruling in a law suit filed by the heirs of ‘Superman’ co-creator Jerome Siegel.

According to Variety, Warner Bros. and DC Comics have won a favorable ruling in a law suit filed by the heirs of ‘Superman’ co-creator Jerome Siegel.

In a decision announced Wednesday, U.S. Judge District Court Judge Stephen G. Larson found that the license fees Warner Bros. paid to  DC Comics (also a TimeWarner company) did not represent “sweetheart” deals as they weren’t below fair market value.

The ruling means the heirs Jerome Siegel will only be able seek profits from DC Comics (which received $13.6 million from Warner Bros. for the 2006 release of “Superman Returns”) rather than from Warner Bros. as well.

The heirs had accused Warner Bros. of making “sweetheart” deals with DC in 1999 for feature film rights and again in 2000 for television rights for ‘Smallville’.

The feature rights included $1.5 million upfront, $18.5 million for option extensions over 31 years and 5% of first-dollar worldwide distributor gross or 7.5% of domestic gross (whichever was larger), while the television rights included $45,000 per episode, 3% of first-dollar gross for the first $1.5 million and 5% thereafter.

Larson said in his 30-page ruling that there was “insufficient evidence that the ‘Superman’ film agreement between DC Comics and Warner Bros., whether judged by its direct economic terms or its indirect ones, was consummated at below its fair market value.”

In a statement released by both the companies, ”DC Comics and Warner Bros. Entertainment are very gratified by the court’s thorough and well-reasoned decision in this matter.”

“The decision validates what DC and Warner Bros. have maintained from the beginning, which is that when they do business with each other, they always strive for — and achieve — fair market value in their transactions. We are very pleased that the court found there was no merit to plaintiffs’ position that the Superman deals were unfair to DC Comics and, by extension, the plaintiffs.”

Warner Bros. chairman Alan Horn had testified that he hopes to make another ‘Superman’ movie but added that the property wasn’t under development at the studio, that no script had been written and that the earliest another “Superman” pic could be released would be in 2012.

The court ruled that if Warner Bros. does not start production on another ‘Superman’ film by 2011, the Siegels may be able to sue to recover their damages.

The Siegel heirs and the heirs of co-creator Joe Shuster will own the entire ‘Superman’ copyright in 2013, when both Warner Bros. and DC Comics rights to the franchise lapse.

Source: Variety