Forget about Superman’s Never Ending Battle for Truth, Justice and the American Way, how about his Never Ending Copyright Litigation?
The latest ruling in the long running case sees the family of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel being awarded the rights to more aspects of the Superman mythology, including some elements from the earliest issues of Action Comics and the Supes newspaper strips. According to Variety the ruling gives the Siegels ‘Superman’s origins from the planet Krypton, his parents Jor-L and Lora,
Superman as the infant Kal-L, the launching of the infant Superman into
space by his parents as Krypton explodes and his landing on Earth in a
fiery crash.’
Interestingly, while the Siegels get Krypton, DC gets Kryptonite, which was introduced in a radio serial.
The latest elements join the Siegel’s ownership of things like ‘the basis of the Superman character, including his costume, his alter-ego as reporter Clark Kent,
the feisty reporter Lois Lane, their jobs at the Daily Planet newspaper
working for a gruff editor, and the love triangle among Clark/Superman
and Lois.’ DC has Perry White and Jimmy Olsen, Superman’s vision powers, his ability to fly and Lex Luthor.
All of this is about figuring out what DC/Warner Bros owes the Siegels out of their Superman profits since 1999, when the family started getting aspects of the rights back. This means you shouldn’t worry about the next issue of The Adventures of Superman featuring a Supes who comes from planet Kryptgor. The biggest changes will (maybe) come in 2013, when the entirety of the character reverts to the Siegels.