Siegels Try New Strategy In Superman Legal Battle

[adkal]

There is an agreement in place. What the court ruled was that the Siegels had to abide by that agreement.

But has DC actually fulfilled any part of their part of the agreement? Have they, for example, given the Siegels the US$3 million upfront payment? Have they been paying the Siegels for the past 12 years?

That is what I'm referring to - as far as the Siegels are concerned there is no agreement; that the Court has now said that there is doesn't mean that 'nightrider''s assertion that they have been 'getting plenty' is right.

[lovelikewinter]

But has DC actually fulfilled any part of their part of the agreement? Have they, for example, given the Siegels the US$3 million upfront payment? Have they been paying the Siegels for the past 12 years?

That is what I'm referring to - as far as the Siegels are concerned there is no agreement; that the Court has now said that there is doesn't mean that 'nightrider''s assertion that they have been 'getting plenty' is right.

DC has indicated they had the money set aside, the constant legal action has prohibited them from paying.

[Mat001]

Once DC started giving Siegal and Shuster their pensions and restored byline, was there ever any complaints from them again? Or was it just the heirs?

Prior to his death, Jerry Siegel had every intention of filing the copyright termination notice which went into effect between April of 1994 and April of 1999, a five year window. Unfortunately, his health started to deteriorate in 1995 and worsened in 96, before his death. Joanne Siegel filed the suit in April of 1997 and had to wait two years, before it could go into effect. Because of the nature of the 1976 revision of the copyright law, even the heirs to the estate could terminate the rights before they were set to go into the public domain.

I hope the Siegels and Shusters aren't paying Toberoff top dollar for losing all these cases and appeals.

I don't know how the agreement works if they lose their appeals, but Toberoff was supposed to get like thirty five to forty percent of the copyright, which is very valuable.

The estates are getting PLENTY of something. They just want more along with their greedy lawyer.

If you were in their shoes, you'd want what you'd feel it was worth.

This reeks of desperation to me. Like the Siegels are basically saying "we went all in on this and we can't give up now".

That's what an appeal is. What is going on here is no different if you were fighting the death penalty, or if you lost a case unfairly and wanted a different judgment.

I still think this will ultimately lead to some restructured agreeement between the two sides. It's a shame, however, that the Siegels got a lawyer who is more interested in his needs than theirs.

That's only going to happen if they win their appeal. The restructured agreement in place right now, was the one agreed upon over ten years ago. All that is missing from that was filling out the paperwork.

Wait, DC are still providing for them even though there's currently no agreement in place?

I'll need to double check on this...

I'm not sure if they've been getting anything from DC since April of 1999, or when the agreed upon deal was not formally made official. I don't know if it falls under a category like losing workmen's compensation if a lawsuit is filed.

[Leocomix]

Now if only all the so-called Superman fans that called for a boycott of OSC could put as much weight on this worthy cause to get the Siegels their due...

[kingaliencracker]

That's what an appeal is. What is going on here is no different if you were fighting the death penalty, or if you lost a case unfairly and wanted a different judgment.

I'm fully aware of what an appeal is - and no, an appeal is not a "last act of desperation", at least not always.

What I meant by my post was that the court's ruling was the nail in the coffin sort of speak in terms of this legal battle, but now the Siegels are going to try and "Pai Mei" their way out of said-coffin. I'm guessing they're hoping that DC doesn't want to protact this any further than it already has gone, and will try and just give them a better agreement.

[adkal]

Now if only all the so-called Superman fans that called for a boycott of OSC could put as much weight on this worthy cause to get the Siegels their due...

And so we come back to a question I asked last year:

What is their 'due'?

[adkal]

DC has indicated they had the money set aside, the constant legal action has prohibited them from paying.

I'm not sure if they've been getting anything from DC since April of 1999, or when the agreed upon deal was not formally made official. I don't know if it falls under a category like losing workmen's compensation if a lawsuit is filed.

Neither of which is anything like what 'nightrider' asserted - so were they wrong in making such an assertion?

Has the Siegel estate been 'running on empty' these past 12 or 13 years?

[Lexrules]

Now if only all the so-called Superman fans that called for a boycott of OSC could put as much weight on this worthy cause to get the Siegels their due...

They have plenty, Jerry and Joe are dead, That is all that should have gotten paid because they created the character. Everyone else deserves nothing. Once the creators died that should have been it.

[Last Son]

Now if only all the so-called Superman fans that called for a boycott of OSC could put as much weight on this worthy cause to get the Siegels their due...

I wouldn't mind so much if giving the Siegels their due didn't mean the end of Superman as we know him. Call me selfish but I'd like my favorite superhero to continue to exist.

Btw, have you ever had a thing to say about the character before this whole OSC business started up?

[Hound of UIster]

Now if only all the so-called Superman fans that called for a boycott of OSC could put as much weight on this worthy cause to get the Siegels their due...

What do the Siegel have to do with a guy who has come out in support of arbitrarily brainwashing and imprisoning a large segment of the US population due to their sexuality?

[Last Son]

That's another thing. Doesn't Card support anti-sodomy laws too?

[dupersuper]

I'll just go ahead and assume my work computer won't let me click on the link...