In a ruling this week, U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II denied a motion by attorney Marc Toberoff to strike a number of claims from DC Comics' suit against him (see “Studio Sues ‘Superman’ Mouthpiece”), allowing the suit to proceed and giving DC another small, but important victory in the suit.  The suit filed by DC alleges that Toberoff interfered with agreements between DC and the Siegel and Shuster heirs on the rights to Superman.  The motions by Toberoff were under a California “Anti-SLAPP statue,” which seeks to protect from plaintiffs using the threat of litigation in violation of rights such as free speech.  The ruling doesn’t say anything about DC’s claim, just that Toberoff’s activities weren’t “protected” by the California statute.

DC also had a win in June, when the judge ruled that the company could use documents that Toberoff alleged were stolen from his office in pursuit of its case (see “DC, Warners Can Use Stolen Docs”).

DC’s suit against Toberoff is just one front in a sprawling legal battle over the rights to Superman, a battle that seems to be tilted toward the heirs (see, for example, “Siegel Heirs Win Superman Case”), with ferocious counterattacks by Time Warner (see “DC, Warners Shamed”).  The Toberoff suit is now moving forward toward trial so for now, at least, DC is advancing on this front.