Jerry Siegel's Daughter Affirms The Ongoing War With Warner Bros.

Jerry Siegel's Daughter Affirms The Ongoing War With Warner Bros.

Laura Siegel Larson finally breaks her silence, and offers a look into the continuing war with Warner Bros. Hit the jump to read the letter she addressed to all the loyal fans of the Man of steel, and of course her father.

News
By lanternstorm - Oct 15, 2012 10:10 PM EST
Filed Under: Superman
Source: hollywoodreporter.com

In a letter sent out to Superman fan's Laura Siegel Larson (daughter of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel) breaks her silence to Superman fans after Warner Brothers filed law suits against the Siegel family, the estate of Joe Shuster and their attorney (Marc Toberoff) for attempting to interfere with contractual hold on the franchise. Below is the letter she sent...

LSL Open Letter 10.11.2012-1

In this article, Mrs. Larson accuses Warner Brothers of stealing documents from the desk of her attorney after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the family of Superman's creators.

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tazmaniak
tazmaniak - 10/15/2012, 10:20 PM
^That's pretty shortsighted.
Shua
Shua - 10/15/2012, 10:21 PM
I read the whole thing, very impressed that she would be this public with her message. Unfortunately Warner Bros. has a lot of power behind them, and large corporations rarely see justice over issues like this. I remember a while back when the idea was brought up of the Siegel's regaining the rights and potentially introducing him into the marvel universe. It was just an idea but that would be a history making decision that could alter the comic companies as we know them.
Knightrider
Knightrider - 10/15/2012, 10:24 PM
Who knows who is telling the truth as I'd heard they had a deal until this laywer came on board, and since has been impossible.

Again who knows, hope they sort it. What will they do if the family win the rights, sell to Marvel, make their own comic, it really is anyone's guess.
luffycapri
luffycapri - 10/15/2012, 10:43 PM
Family needs the rights back fast , wb and dc are f$%king every thing about superman up, there making him to dark and to human when he's ment to he like god Jo one can relate to.
thalidomide
thalidomide - 10/15/2012, 10:55 PM
Way to go DC!!
FlixMentallo21
FlixMentallo21 - 10/15/2012, 11:07 PM
Could someone give me the address of the courthouse this case is taking place in? I have a letter for both sides to read. One that could at least try to get them to settle the way that should be done.
jimpinto24
jimpinto24 - 10/15/2012, 11:12 PM
I credit Jerry Siegel's daughter for standing up to WB!
FoxForce5
FoxForce5 - 10/15/2012, 11:21 PM
From what I've seen of this case for the last couple of years, WB did screw the family out of a lot of money that should have been there's but these things do get complicated so I guess the court just has to hear everything and will hopefully do what's correct.

Note: "correct" doesn't alwmean "morally right" - it just means what should be, based on all the contacts and negotiations over the years.
ArtisticErotic
ArtisticErotic - 10/15/2012, 11:25 PM
So what would she do with the character if she got the wrights back?

SanFranLand
SanFranLand - 10/15/2012, 11:31 PM
Somebody needs to start a campaign or petition to right this wrong. As a musician and artist I see first hand how difficult it is to make money off of art. The mans wife never had the chance to live well from her husbands work in life.
Tony93
Tony93 - 10/15/2012, 11:33 PM
at least give her some damn money..
GLprime2814
GLprime2814 - 10/15/2012, 11:38 PM
Well money is power and what has more power than owning the rights to one of the worlds most recognizable fictional character, the only thing I would be afraid of is that the family would sell it to whoever gave them the best offer from the wrong people, and probably ruin it.
MDHENDRICKS
MDHENDRICKS - 10/15/2012, 11:39 PM
Even if these money hungry individuals win DC/Warner will still own the international trademarks like the S shield since the lawsuit only pertains to the copyrights. I can't believe people are falling for the this champion of the oppressed bs yeah that's why the lawyer has a stake in this too, funny she didn't mention that the lawyer gets a portion of the rights if they win. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster gave up all rights and future earnings from Superman when they sold it to DC in the 30's. Also note that the same lawyer is representing Jack Kirby's family in a lawsuit against Marvel.
WruceBane
WruceBane - 10/15/2012, 11:44 PM
yeah, even if copyrights don't fully revert to the creators' families, if, in a court of law they are found to be entitled to profits...then give them some of the fricking profits.

i hadn't heard about hypothetically letting Marvel run with the Superman property in the even the family got the rights back, but that would be hysterical.

and probably ill-advised. I imagine Marvel could be just as ruthless. in the unlikely event the families get full rights to the Superman property, they'd be better off creating an independent company of which they have a controlling share, and "loaning" the character to whatever company a board of directors saw fit, for a contractually agreed upon amount of time.
ArtisticErotic
ArtisticErotic - 10/15/2012, 11:44 PM
Like I said I just want to know what they would do with the character that DCs best writers haven't already done with the character??

Is it the character they want and love or is it just the money that comes along with it?
MDHENDRICKS
MDHENDRICKS - 10/15/2012, 11:52 PM
She fails to mention that her father and DC came to an agreement in the 70's where he and Shuster would get 20 thousand dollars a year plus health benefits for the rest of their lives, mind you this was after Superman was almost cancelled and before the movie reignited interest in the character. Also her dad died in 1996 and the first version of this lawsuit was filed in 99 three years after his death. The heirs are just gold diggers who just want what they had nothing to do with.
Banner
Banner - 10/16/2012, 12:00 AM
@ArtisticErotic, if you created Superman and Warner/DC earned billions because of it, what would you do? eat peanuts?
Happy11
Happy11 - 10/16/2012, 12:04 AM
Do you honestly think either side is just interested.in superman it's all about money and that's whats really sad
thebug022
thebug022 - 10/16/2012, 12:14 AM
This is redculous. How much money does WB have at their disposal? BILLIONS! Most of which isn't even from DC Comics based projects. The Seigel's aren't asking for everything, just fair compensation. If WB/DC were to give them HALF of Superman's profits, it wouldn't even make a dent! Stop being so greedy WB/DC! This guy gave you EVERYTHING! Show some respect.
LP4
LP4 - 10/16/2012, 12:18 AM
I'm siding with DC/WB on this
rbfn04
rbfn04 - 10/16/2012, 12:36 AM
With what DC/WB been doing to the character, I hope they lose ALL RIGHTS to it...
venkman83
venkman83 - 10/16/2012, 12:46 AM
the family is nothing but bean counters and gold diggers. dc made deals with the creators long before the creator's kids started asking for money.

on the other hand dc doesn't seem to know what to do with superman comics these days. the character is a mess and all over the place.

MARVEL SHOULD JUST GET THE RIGHTS. hahaha
DCjohnny
DCjohnny - 10/16/2012, 12:55 AM
ok even if she gets the rights .... what is she planning to do with superman.... if she is going to start her own comic.... superman will be doomed.... lot of fan will be disappointed and if she gives it to Marvel oh my god there will be an epic War between DC/WB , Marvel, and Laura Siegel Larson.... hell man..... i just want superman to be in DC comic universe....
rbfn04
rbfn04 - 10/16/2012, 12:57 AM
@dcjohnny lot of fans are disappointed with what DC/WB is doing to Superman now, son.
RamonSuarez
RamonSuarez - 10/16/2012, 1:03 AM
I don't even care about the details involved in the case. A court ruled in the Seigels' favor - Warner should give them their share. Period.

And, yes, I will side with the "little guy"/"creator" plantiff over the conglomerate defendant every time because talent so often gets screwed over in intellectual property matters like this.
RamonSuarez
RamonSuarez - 10/16/2012, 1:10 AM
The fascinating aspect of the corporate apologists' argument here is how they overlook the basic fact that the Seigels were well in their *legal right* to recapture part of the Superman copyright from Warner Bros under the Copyright Act. The U.S. District Court has upheld the 1999 verdict. Period. Its Warner Bros. who trying to stall the legal process.
RamonSuarez
RamonSuarez - 10/16/2012, 1:17 AM
Lastly, the concluding paragraph of Ms. Siegel Larson's letter hits on an important point that no one has mentioned. Warner Bros. executives are fighting this verdict tooth and nail in and out of court because they know its about more than just compensation. If were as simple as giving the Siegel's their money, I'm the executives would have negotiated a deal already. But the fact is that if the Siegels do win, get their money, and copyright entitlements every other comic artist/creator will be emboldened to seek similar compensation in court. It will open a whole new can of worms for Warner Bros., Marvel, etc. down the road. That's why executives will do anything to stop the Siegels.
DCjohnny
DCjohnny - 10/16/2012, 1:18 AM
@rbfn04
you r saying that dc is not going any thing now.... this happens to all the comic characters, not every time the story is gonna be awesome... right now its happening to superman... but wait till "h'el on earth" series,.....( i think it will be great)
rbfn04
rbfn04 - 10/16/2012, 1:21 AM
@dcjohnny right now is a trick to avoid the law suit. Changing the character just enough so it doesn't fall into it. Also, been a while since DC did something good with the Godfather of super heroes
Amazo
Amazo - 10/16/2012, 1:31 AM
Your father is dead.YOU created frick all! Greed.Plain and simple.Let the company that bought the character exercise their right to publish stories for the fans (that you are desperate to co-opt to your side).The folks that made the character a hot property by buying the books in the first place.
NovemberGrey
NovemberGrey - 10/16/2012, 1:31 AM
Yea yea, while I do love to side with the lil guy anyday against corporate greed, there's alot of bullshit being piled up on both sides. The fact is the family did win PARTIAL ownership already, so that is that, WB is stalling of course, HOWEVER in the initial deal, Seigel sold his rights to DC, end of story. Then later sued for the rights back, and settled then sued yet again... This current lawsuit was brought up AFTER his death. At the end of the day the daughter just wants money.

So while I do agree that the creator deserves a large portion of the profits, you can't just make a deal that works in the moment, then later at a more convenient time change your mind and sue for rights back, which is essentially what they've done over and over.

People make bad business deals and decisions all the time. If he wanted to retain ownership, he should have never sold the rights to begin with, but they did so they could make some money and build a career, that's life, quit playing the victims.
LP4
LP4 - 10/16/2012, 1:32 AM
@RamonSuarez- Not to start anything but aren't you just "siding with the little guy" against DC/WB because you tend to lean more for Marvel. Just an honest observation
titansupes
titansupes - 10/16/2012, 1:32 AM
These people can [frick] off. Can't believe so many fans are supporting this trash. They had a deal in place, and their bloodsucking lawyer (who happens to own a shityy production company) gets in and wants a stake. Give them SOME money, and tell them to get [frick]ed.
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