Seventy years ago, in what might be described as the worst business transaction in history (at least among those not negotiated by the Cuyahoga County Commissioners), Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster, the Glenville natives who created the original Superman character, sold all rights to the superhero to Detective Comics for $130.
Approximately $3 billion later, their still curse them at family gatherings...
But last weekend, Siegel’s heirs received some good news. In an unexpected ruling, a federal judge in California deemed that Detective Comic’s exclusive ownership expired in 1999, and the company now shares control of the copyright with the Siegel and Shuster heirs. No one is sure of the dollar figure the ruling amounts to, but it no doubt pays better than cleaning rooms at the Holiday Inn.
“This is probably the first good news [Siegel’s wife] has received regarding Superman in 70 years," Siegel’s lawyer told Bloomberg News after the ruling. -- Rebecca Meiser
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