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Warner Bros. Wins Copyright Battle over Superman

By Jan Wolfe
January 31, 2013

O'Melveny & Myers scored a big win for Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc. in January 2013 in the company's ugly copyright battle with the heirs to the creators of Superman. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided that the heirs of now-deceased Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel signed away their rights to the Man of Steel in a 2001 agreement with Warner Brothers. Larson v. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., 11-55863.

The Siegel family, represented by controversial Hollywood attorney Marc Toberoff, had argued that the 2001 deal wasn't binding. The Ninth Circuit rejected that argument, noting that Siegel's lawyer at the time called the agreement a “monumental accord.”

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