For those of you that haven’t heard the news, a judge has ruled that Time Warner are no longer the sole proprietors of the Superman franchise – with the heirs of co-creator Jerome Siegel having an entitlement to the share of the US copyright. The copyright covers only a portion of the Superman creation – that being the fundamental elements – the costume, Clark Kent, Lois Lane.

In short, this means that Time Warner may now be liable, pending a court appeal, to pay out for Superman Returns. This ruling may also lead the Shuster’s to follow suit (the other half of the Superman creation team) and claim another large portion of the copyright. Ultimately it all puts the future of The Man of Steel into jeopardy, not to mention the already troubled Justice League film.

NYTimes