The long-running case over rights to the Man of Steel takes another twist. On the verge of what could be a blockbuster court decision determining whether Warner Bros. and its sister company DC Comics can hold onto a good portion of the copyright over the lucrative Superman franchise, the studio has delivered a new twist.
Now this week, as a judge prepared to hand down a decision pertaining to the validity of a termination notice served by the Shuster estate, Warner Bros. and its lead lawyer Daniel Petrocelli asked a California federal judge for terminating sanctions arising from alleged efforts by Toberoff to hide pertinent information in the case.
If accepted by the court, Warners' theory could tip the case in the studio's favor.
But Toberoff tells THR the move is another distraction by a studio on the defensive.
The dispute emanates from what happened back in 2001.
At that time, the heirs of the Superman co-creators were being represented by another attorney, Kevin Marks of Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown. At that time, Warners had been served with a termination notice from Jerry's daughter Laura Siegel and entered into negotiations with the estate to resolve the dispute and keep the Superman franchise. Warner Bros. offered $3 million and thought it had a deal.
But then Toberoff came along.
The Siegels and Shusters signed up with him, and the aggressive attorney unleashed fury on the studio, attaining success in 2008 when a federal judge in California determined that the termination notice from Siegel was valid, but only applied to the first editions of the Action Comics that first told Superman's story. (The scope of the termination is on appeal at the 9th Circuit.)
Warners is now asking for termination sanctions, plus the appointment of a Special Master to investigate any misconduct.
Toberoff believes that Warners is attempting to dress up discovery requests into something nefarious. His opposition papers will be coming soon.
The Superman property is extremely important to Warner Bros. Not only is the studio in the middle of production on next summer's big-budget Man of Steel, directed by Zack Snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan, the character could be at the center of a new series of Justice League movies utilizing Warners' DC Comics characters in the same way Marvel has made successful films based on its universe.
Read More: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/warner-bros-wants-superman-litigation-378339
Read Motion: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/custom/Documents/ESQ/toberoff.pdf
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