Jerry Siegel wins Superman rights

The seemingly endless legal struggle over who owns the rights to Superman has just taken another turn.

As part of the ongoing court action, a judge has ruled that the Man Of Steel's co-creator (or his family, at least) owns the rights to more of his iconic elements, or anything created in the first two weeks of the newspaper strips and early Action Comics.

What does that mean for Warners and DC Comics? Well, Siegel's estate now owns the rights to Supes' Kryptonian origins, his parents, his childhood and his arrival on Earth.

That's in addition to last year's victory, which awarded them control over his costume, Lois Lane, his Clark Kent alter-ego and most of the Daily Planet elements.

Plus there's the issue of money that the companies might owe the creators since 1999, the year that previous rulings have said that their share of profits must start.

So does Warners and DC own anything now? Yes - they still claim Lex Luthor, Jimmy Olsen, Superman's powers and, in the most ironic twist, the idea of Kryptonite.

But now the Siegel and Schuster estates will own everything starting in 2013, and the power to set up Super-projects elsewhere.

If the studio wants to make a new film based on the character, Warners will have to start work by 2011.

Between this, the Watchmen feud, the Get Smart issues and the Dukes Of Hazzard mess, Warners must feel like it ran over a judge's cat in a past life...

[Source: Variety ]

So who - if anyone - should get a crack at Superman. Any ideas?

James White is a freelance journalist who has been covering film and TV for over two decades. In that time, James has written for a wide variety of publications including Total Film and SFX. He has also worked for BAFTA and on ODEON's in-cinema magazine.