Warner Bros. Discovery convinced a U.S. judge to dismiss a lawsuit over rights to the iconic character Superman, lifting a legal headache before the company releases its new “Superman” movie this summer.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in New York that his court lacked jurisdiction over the copyright claims brought by the estate of Superman’s co-creator, the illustrator Joseph Shuster.
The lawsuit against Warner and its DC Comics subsidiary, part of a over the rights to Superman, had sought damages for the superhero’s unauthorized use in the U.K., Canada, Australia and other countries.
A Warner spokesperson said the company was pleased with the decision.
“As we have consistently maintained, DC controls all rights to Superman,” the spokesperson said.
The estate’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The estate in New York state court on Friday.
Shuster created Superman with writer Jerome Siegel and licensed the character to DC’s predecessor Detective Comics. Shuster’s estate’s lawsuit, , said that the rights to Superman reverted to the estate under British law in 2017, 25 years after his death.
The estate accused Warner of failing to pay royalties to use Superman in countries that follow U.K. law on copyright reversion, which also include India, Israel and Ireland.
Furman agreed with Warner on Thursday that the case should be dismissed because it was “brought explicitly under the laws of foreign countries, not the laws of the United States.”
Warner’s new Superman movie, directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet, is scheduled to be released in July.
(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Topics Lawsuits
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