Editing Superman (section)

===Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster===
{{Main|Copyright lawsuits by Superman's creators}}
In a contract dated March 1, 1938, [[Jerry Siegel]] and [[Joe Shuster]] gave away the copyright to Superman to their employer, [[DC Comics]] (then known as Detective Comics, Inc.){{efn|National Allied Publications was founded in 1934 by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. Due to financial difficulties, Wheeler-Nicholson formed a corporation with Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz called Detective Comics, Inc. In January 1938, Wheeler-Nicholson sold his stake in National Allied Publications and Detective Comics to Donenfeld and Liebowitz as part of a bankruptcy settlement. On September 30, 1946, these two companies merged to become National Comics Publications. In 1961, the company changed its name to National Periodical Publications. In 1967 National Periodical Publications was purchased by Kinney National Company, which later purchased Warner Bros.-Seven Arts and became Warner Communications. In 1976, National Periodical Publications changed its name to DC Comics, which had been its nickname since 1940. Since 1940, the publisher had placed a logo with the initials "DC" on all its magazine covers, and consequently "DC Comics" became an informal name for the publisher.|name=dccomicshistory}} prior to Superman's first publication in April. Contrary to popular perception, the $130 that DC Comics paid them was for their first Superman story, not the copyright to the character — that, they gave away for free. This was normal practice in the comic magazine industry and they had done the same with their previous published works ([[Slam Bradley]], [[Doctor Occult]], etc.),<ref name=Jones2004p125/> but Superman became far more popular and valuable than they anticipated and they much regretted giving him away.<ref>{{harvp|Ricca|2014}}. ''Super Boys'', p. 150: "It was then Donenfeld who not only now owned the property, but received the lion's share of the profits; whatever Jerry and Joe got was parsed out by him."</ref> DC Comics retained Siegel and Shuster, and they were paid well because they were popular with the readers.<ref>{{harvp|Ricca|2014}}. ''Super Boys'', p. 155: "[Harry Donenfeld] knew readers had become accustomed to Siegel and Shuster's work, and he didn't want to risk upsetting a secret formula that he still didn't completely understand, especially when it was selling so well."</ref> Between 1938 and 1947, DC Comics paid them together at least $401,194.85 (equivalent to ${{sigfig|{{sum
|{{Inflation|US|4530|1938}}
|{{Inflation|US|8612.21|1939}}
|{{Inflation|US|38080.42|1940}}
|{{Inflation|US|56573.48|1941}}
|{{Inflation|US|63776.46|1942}}
|{{Inflation|US|61489.90|1943}}
|{{Inflation|US|57638.52|1944}}
|{{Inflation|US|48794.46|1945}}
|{{Inflation|US|49938.58|1946}}
|{{Inflation|US|11148.82|1947}}
}}
|3
}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref>{{harvp|Tye|2012}}. ''Superman'', p. 119: "In the ten years from 1938, when the first Action was published, to the filing of the suit in 1947, Jerry and Joe were paid [...] a total of $401,194.85."</ref><ref>Exhibit Q (Docket 353–3) in ''Laura Siegel Larson v Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., DC Comics, Case no. 13-56243'' (Scans available from [https://www.dropbox.com/s/sk076sjuybozjlm/Siegel%20%26%20Shuster%20earnings%201937-1947.pdf?dl=0 Dropbox] and [https://www.scribd.com/document/382772026/Siegel-Shuster-Earnings-1937-1947 Scribd]). Originally submitted as an exhibit in ''Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster vs. National Comics Publications Inc. et al. (New York Supreme Court 1947)''</ref>

Siegel wrote most of the magazine and daily newspaper stories until he was [[conscription|conscripted]] into the [[United States Army]] in 1943, whereupon the task was passed to ghostwriters.<ref>Jerry Siegel. ''The Life and Times of Jerry Siegel'' (unpublished memoir, written c.1946; Scans available at [https://www.dropbox.com/s/ljcvk08p49rqbmw/The%20Life%20and%20Times%20of%20Jerry%20Siegel.pdf?dl=0 Dropbox] and [https://www.scribd.com/document/382854862/The-Life-and-Times-of-Jerry-Siegel Scribd]{{Dead link|date=April 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}): <br />"While I was in service, the majority of SUPERMAN's adventures were ghost-written by writers employed by DETECTIVE COMICS, Inc.</ref><ref>Jerry Siegel, in a 1975 interview with Phil Yeh for ''Cobblestone'' magazine.  Quoted in [https://books.google.com/books?id=WCmjvlWSngsC&dq=While+I+was+in+the+service+they+started+ghosting+the+Superman+scripts%2C+because+obviously+I+couldn%27t+write+them+while+I+was+away+in+the+service&pg=PA49 ''Siegel and Shuster's Funnyman'' by Tom Andrae and Mel Gordon] on page 49.: <br />"While I was in the service they started ghosting the Superman scripts, because obviously I couldn't write them while I was away in the service."</ref> While Siegel was serving in Hawaii, DC Comics published a story featuring a child version of Superman called "[[Superboy]]", which was based on a script Siegel had submitted several years before. Siegel was furious because DC Comics did this without having bought the character.<ref>{{harvp|Ricca|2014}}. ''Super Boys'', p. 223: "Jerry felt angryand instantly very isolated: ''Harry had gone ahead and okayed the title without telling him—or paying for it''?"</ref>

After Siegel's discharge from the Army, he and Shuster sued DC Comics in 1947 for the rights to Superman and [[Superboy]]. The judge ruled that Superman belonged to DC Comics, but that Superboy was a separate entity that belonged to Siegel. Siegel and Shuster settled out-of-court with DC Comics, which paid the pair $94,013.16 ({{Inflation|US|94013.16|1948|fmt=eq}}) in exchange for the full rights to both Superman and Superboy.<ref name=Sergi2015/> DC Comics then fired Siegel and Shuster.<ref>{{harvp|Ricca|2014}}. ''Super Boys'', p. 226: "Jerry and Joe got a final check—and were promptly shown the door by National."</ref>

DC Comics rehired Jerry Siegel as a writer in 1959.

In 1965, Siegel and Shuster attempted to regain rights to Superman using the renewal option in the [[Copyright Act of 1909]], but the court ruled Siegel and Shuster had transferred the renewal rights to DC Comics in 1938. Siegel and Shuster appealed, but the appeals court upheld this decision. DC Comics fired Siegel once again, when he filed this second lawsuit.<ref>{{harvnb|Ricca|2014}}</ref>

In 1975, Siegel and several other comic book writers and artists launched a public campaign for better compensation and treatment of comic creators. Warner Brothers agreed to give Siegel and Shuster a yearly stipend, full medical benefits, and credit their names in all future Superman productions in exchange for never contesting ownership of Superman. Siegel and Shuster upheld this bargain.<ref name=Ricca2014/>

Shuster died in 1992. DC Comics offered Shuster's heirs a stipend in exchange for never challenging ownership of Superman, which they accepted for some years.<ref name=Sergi2015/>

Siegel died in 1996. His heirs attempted to take the rights to Superman using the termination provision of the [[Copyright Act of 1976]]. DC Comics negotiated an agreement wherein it would pay the Siegel heirs several million dollars and a yearly stipend of $500,000 in exchange for permanently granting DC the rights to Superman. DC Comics also agreed to insert the line "By Special Arrangement with the Jerry Siegel Family" in all future Superman productions.<ref>Exhibit 2 (Docket 722–1) in ''Laura Siegel Larson vs Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., DC Comics, case no 13-56243''.</ref> The Siegels accepted DC's offer in an October 2001 letter.<ref name=Sergi2015/>

Copyright lawyer and movie producer [[Marc Toberoff]] then struck a deal with the heirs of both Siegel and Shuster to help them get the rights to Superman in exchange for signing the rights over to his production company, Pacific Pictures. Both groups accepted. The Siegel heirs called off their deal with DC Comics and in 2004 sued DC for the rights to Superman and Superboy. In 2008, the judge ruled in favor of the Siegels. DC Comics appealed the decision, and the appeals court ruled in favor of DC, arguing that the October 2001 letter was binding. In 2003, the Shuster heirs served a termination notice for Shuster's grant of his half of the copyright to Superman. DC Comics sued the Shuster heirs in 2010, and the court ruled in DC's favor on the grounds that the 1992 agreement with the Shuster heirs barred them from terminating the grant.<ref name=Sergi2015/>

Under current US copyright law, Superman is due to enter the US public domain on January 1, 2034.<ref>{{harvp|Sergi|2015|p=214}}</ref>{{efn|See [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_States_Code/Title_17/Chapter_3/Sections_304_and_305 USC Title 17, Chapter 3, § 304(b) and § 305]. Because the copyright to ''Action Comics'' #1 was in its renewal term on October 27, 1998 (the date the Copyright Term Extension Act became effective), its copyright will expire 95 years after first publication and at the end of the calendar year.}} However, this will only apply (at first) to the character as he is depicted in ''[[Action Comics]]'' [[Action Comics 1|#1]], which was published in 1938. Versions of him with later developments, such as his power of "heat vision", may persist under copyright until the works they were introduced in enter the public domain.<ref>{{cite AV media|people=Scott Niswander |date=July 22, 2015 |title=Why Isn't SUPERMAN a PUBLIC DOMAIN Superhero?? |medium=YouTube video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzZIQJMYKc8 |access-date=May 21, 2016 |time=3:03~3:33 |publisher=NerdSync Productions |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161122232638/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzZIQJMYKc8 |archive-date=November 22, 2016 }}</ref> Lois Lane, who also debuted in ''Action Comics'' #1, is expected to enter public domain in 2034, but supporting characters introduced in later publications, such as [[Jimmy Olsen]] and [[Supergirl]], will pass into the public domain at later dates.