Legal Matters

News reports are circulating that the Siegel and Shuster heirs have asked the lower court to dismiss DC's copyright lawsuits. What actually happened is...

In a troubling case, a Missouri man bas been sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of obscene images of children.

In 2008, the Siegel family won a historic courtroom victory. So why did they risk it all on an appeal? An encounter between Jerry Siegel's widow, Joanne,  and Super Boys author Brad Ricca provides a telling clue.

Among the many thoughtful questions raised in my discussion with the Superman Homepage earlier this week was whether the Siegel lawsuit prompted changes to Superman's uniform....

As we reported last night, the story of Platinum Studios, the bizarre IP company founded by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg on his peripheral involvement in having published the MEN IN BLACK comic book, has gotten seriously bizarre, with shareholders and acting president Chris Beall banding together to attempt to oust Rosenberg from the company after a series of what they claim are flagrantly fraudulent money shifting and credit card embezzlement—all from the coffers of the publicly traded company. While we don't know the whole story, we can piece together some of it.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a 2001 agreement between Joanne Siegel and WB supersedes the Siegel estate's 2008 victory in...

Let's start the year out with a return to comics' original sin: Daniel Best reprints Truth, Justice, & The Corporate Conscience by Steve Gerber, an article from WAP, a creator's rights newsletter published in the 80s by Gerber, Steven Grant and Frank Miller. Gerber, for those who don't know, was a very influential writer for Marvel in the 70s who eventually sued for ownership of a character he co-created, Howard the Duck. He lost the suit, but never the anger. He died in 2008.

Given the lively discussion of what folks don't want to see on The Beat, I couldn't resist noting that an attorney representing Smallville co-creators...

Over the past year creators' copyright crusader Marc Toberoff took some serious hits in the various Superman and Kirby lawsuits. Yet there was also a deceptively routine procedural matter that could have already assured him a victory in the Siegel estate's Superman appeal.

You might hear today that the district court judge has handed Toberoff another stunning defeat this week, "a doozy and an outright win for DC."  It's actually a win for Toberoff, at least procedurally. Here's what happened. 

Some quickies from the mailbag and around:

One of the ugliest comics related stories of recent years reached a resolution with artist Josue "Justiniano" Rivera's sentencing to 10 years in prison...