Those responsible for the estate of one of the Superman co-creation processed Warner Bros. Discovery before the release of the new movie, “Superman”, part of a relaunch of the DC Comics franchise.
The lawsuit was filed on Friday at a federal court in New York by the heirs of the illustrator Joseph Shuster’s estate, who created the famous superhero alongside writer Jerome Siegel.
The action claims that Shuster and Siegel have licensed their rights to the character for Detective Comics, predecessor of DC Comics, now a Warner subsidiary. The process says that, under British law, Shuster’s rights passed to their estate in 2017, 25 years after his death.
The estate accuses Warner not to pay royalties to use Superman in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and other countries outside the United States.
Superman’s new film, directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet, is due to be released in July in theaters. Litigation may impair the international distribution of production.
Those responsible for Shuster’s estate call for indemnities and a prohibition of Warner to portray Superman without a license.
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“We disagree fundamentally from the merits of the process and defend our rights vigorously,” said a Warner spokesman.
