Super for Siegels, not so much DC

A federal judge this week ruled the heirs of Jerry Siegel own part of the copyright to Superman, co-created by Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Now, this case mainly involves the first Superman story in Action Comics #1, which Siegel and Shuster sold to DC (for $130!), and the character points and story elements therein. But how much of what DC did with the character since was based out of that story? It could also only pertain to money being owed the Siegels for product only after 1999, when DC's copyright protection would have terminated. But that's a ton of product and money at stake, and product decisions could conceivably have to be OK'd by the Siegels and Shuster estate holders (after 2013).

Comic book writer Warren Ellis is not one for hyperbole, but called the ruling "fucking immense."

There's been numerous cases of comic book creators, or their heirs, challenging publishers over the rights to characters, especially with the boom of comic book-based films. Although the specific cases differ, and most may not be able to overcome the work-for-hire hurdle as was done in the Siegel case, most of these people were royally screwed. Hopefully this will lead to more getting their due.

It is amazing to think about Superman product possibly having to be run through the Siegel and Shuster estates — not unlike Star Wars comics, games, etc. running through Lucas — and further down the road, the Superman copyright being in the public domain. Assuming copyrights aren't extended by then. It's no accident Mickey Mouse isn't already public domain.

I'm no lawyer, but the detailing of the ruling and possible ramifications make for interesting reading. The article at the top breaks it down in non-legalese. More here, with some interesting comments in the forum. Yet more here.

Note: The image at the top is from All Star Superman #8, which came out Wednesday, the same day the ruling was announced. All Star Supes is written by Grant Morrison. Is this more Morrison magic via comics at work?

And the law won?

Well, not yet it didn't. And even if much of his remaining time in office is spent on vacation, Bush has nine months to figure a way around a House bill disallowing immunity for telecom companies who helped the government spy on Americans. But still, the House made a good call, and it apparently puts Bush in a bit of a quandary:

President Bush has repeatedly claimed that there's an urgent national security need for new spying legislation. But he also says he'll veto any surveillance bill that does not grant retroactive immunity to the companies that turned over phone records and access to internet cable fibers to the government.

Bush argues that the participating companies were patriots, and that they would stop complying with lawful court orders in the future if not freed from the lawsuits accusing them of conducting illegal surveillance for Bush.

But it will likely be politically difficult to veto a bill containing new spying powers Bush himself says are vital to American's security, simply because a couple of deep-pocketed corporations are facing lawsuits for violating federal privacy laws.

So a tough decision. Lucky for Bush he's the decider. Via.

Exiting The Wire

Normally a review of a TV show episode might be fodder for my other blog, but this AV Club review of the final episode of The Wire is a good read, with good insights on the fifth season overall too.

Reviewer Scott Tobias takes issue with aspects of the Scott Templeton story, in which a Baltimore Sun reporter fabricates elements of or whole stories. I'd agree that even the biggest toolbox managers at a paper would not just dismiss Metro editor Gus' claims about the made up information, out of fear of embarrassment if nothing else. Tobias sees the portrayal of the two managers of the paper as the thinly-disguised rage of creator David Simon toward his two former bosses at the Sun. Maybe so.

I'd agree that overall though, the Sun story hit the right notes in terms of the corporate-run office environment — the "more with less" pep talk bullshit, morons making the decisions, good people pushed out or canned. I can't speak as to the focus on awards in big city papers, but it wouldn't surprise me, especially as a vehicle for advancement for the senior editors as well as the people actually doing the stories.

In interviews before the fifth season started I saw Simon and other former journalists attest to the fact fabrication occurred (though maybe more so back in the day), and not just the big cases everyone knows about. I'd think this would be easier to pull off at a big paper like the Sun or the Philadelphia Inquirer, where the subjects may be less willing to call and complain about small fabrications, and the machine may be too big to keep track of. Small fabrications would obviously be a lot harder to catch, and thus more realistic than in this season, but the story was consistent with other stories in The Wire in that respect. It might have been overblown for effect, and for the sake of plot, but Hamsterdam, Omar and several other elements of the show could be viewed similarly.

That the Sun storyline caught as much flack as it did in the media, to me, was just because reviewers worked in newspaper and magazine offices. They didn't know shit about street drug dealings or the inner workings of a big city port, so overblown plot elements in those settings got off easier.

McNulty fabricating the homeless killings, at first, actually bothered me a lot more until put in the context of some of the other over-the-top elements in the show. I was flinching along with Bunk when he starts manipulating the body of his first phony victim. Also, I still don't completely buy Freeman being OK to make busts on completely false paperwork. Interesting that as smart as Freeman was set up in the show, Levy (with a little help from Herc, who turns out to maybe be the biggest influence on the season's events while getting very little screen time) quickly figures out the cops' ploy, and would have made all that police work for naught if his own dirt wasn't in play.

Anyway, check the last episode review. I haven't been to the AV Club in a while, but will have to check it more often. Good stuff.

Oh, if wondering about the significance of the last episode's "-30-" title, someone in the comments on the article points out that's what reporters, I assume at the Sun, would stick at the end of their stories when filing them.

Chris Ware posts up

As soon as I saw this cool poster for The Savages I recognized the work of writer/artist Chris Ware who, based on his work and the from what I know of the film, seems a good fit. He talks about it briefly here.

Raaaasl, daaaasl!

Jeff Smith's new project, the self-published RASL, looks like it will be interesting.

The first issue introduces RASL, an art thief using a dimensional-hopping suit to aid him in his heists. The jumps take a toll, however. Not good when RASL discovers he's jumped to the wrong dimension where a gun-toting alien-looking guy's on his trail.

I never read Bone or Smith's Shazam mini from DC, but RASL definitely has a cool sci-fi vibe to it along with some sweet and simple black and white interior art. Promising stuff.

UPDATE: Interview and preview pages here. Also, how many comics about art thieves are out there? Give it a look.