Warner Bros. won another battle in its long-running struggle with attorney Marc Toberoff and the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel as U.S. District Judge Otis Wright III ruled that a 2001 agreement between DC Comics and the Siegel estate is binding.  Coupled with Warner Bros. victory in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in January (see "Warners Scores Another Big Win in Superman Case"), it appears that the studio is safe for the present, though Judge Wright’s decision did not deal with what he termed "the lingering issue of what to do with Superboy and the early Superman ads."

 

Judge Wright also apparently left the door open for the Siegel heirs to attempt to rescind the 2001 agreement on the grounds that DC had breached the terms of the agreement, which is essentially the strategy that Toberoff and the Siegel heirs adopted in the wake of the Appeals Court decision in January (see "Siegel Heirs Litigation Continues"). 

 

In his opinion, Judge Wright appeared to take notice of plaintiffs new legal tack stating: "Subsequent events may have affected the present enforceability of that contract, as by a material breach followed by an effective rescission of the deal"... but, as he also pointed out in a phrase that could well engender another lawsuit, "The Siegels’ breach and repudiation defenses do not affect the enforceability of the agreement, but rather constitute grounds for termination or a breach-of-contract action."

 

So in spite of the fact that Warner Bros. won this round, it appears even more likely that this legal battle will continue in the courts, the modern IP version of the interminable Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce suit in Dicken’s Bleak House.