Public Knowledge: Supercopyright Turns On Its Creator
Outside of comic books, it is exceedingly rare to see a villain receive literal and poetic justice at the hands of its own creation. So when I read that Time Warner must now share the copyright for Superman [http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/8131] with the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerome
Outside of comic books, it is exceedingly rare to see a villain receive literal and poetic justice at the hands of its own creation. So when I read that Time Warner must now share the copyright for Superman with the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerome Siegel, I couldn’t help but give a healthy chuckle. The cause of action flows directly from a provision of the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) of 1998, which Time Warner (along with other studios) pushed through Congress with all their lobbying might. Granted Time Warner never supported this provision, which was a sop to folks and their heirs who sold copyrights when they thought they were only giving away 23 years plus a 23 year renewal, but TW regarded that as an acceptable risk for the billions upon billions of dollars it gained from yet another windfall in copyright land.