AnotherUniverse.com, a website devoted to
comic books and science fiction, has reported that the widow and daughter
of Jerry Siegel, co-creator with Joe Schuster of Superman, have filed
papers with the U.S. Copyright Office which have the effect of returning
50% of the rights to the character of Superman to them. (Apparently, DC
will retain 50% interest in the rights unless the family of Joe Schuster
files similar papers. Whether the Schuster family, or representative, will
do so is not known.) The papers, filed on April 3, 1997, led to a reversion
in April of this year. This came about because, according to
AnotherUniverse.com, "In recognition of the weak bargaining positions
authors have early in their careers, the Copyright Act provides for a
termination of any grant of transfer of copyright. For grants of transfer
of copyright made prior to January 1, 1978, termination may be effected at
any time during a five year period which begins at the end of the 56 years
from the date the copyright was originally secured. In the case of
Superman, that period began in 1994 (1938 + 56 years). Also according to
the statute, parties have to give a 2-year notice of the termination, which
is why the papers were filed in 1997 with the Copyright Office." Neither DC
nor the Siegel family have commented. Under current copyright law, the
copyright to Superman will expire in 2033 at which time the character will
enter the public domain. However, the copyright law has been changed in the
past, and it's very possible it will be changed again.