UPDATE: Warner Bros. Staves Off Superman Copyright Challenge

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After a protracted battle between the company that claimed the copyright of Superman against the estates of the creators of the comics superhero that rivaled the epic struggles the Man of Steel fought against criminal mastermind Lex Luthor, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit last week voted 2-1 in favor of Warner Bros, according to Deadline.com.

With Judge Sidney Runyan Thomas dissenting, Judges John Sedwick and Stephen Reinhardt upheld the trial court decision for the entertainment conglomerate against the heirs of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, ruling Warner Bros. is the copyright holder of Superman and his alter ego, intrepid Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent. The case, DC Comics v. Pacific Pictures Corp. et al. (Case No. 12-cv-57245), has been closely watched by the perpetually pre-adolescent staff of this blog (see "TUOL" post 8/17/09).

In a 12-page Memorandum of Law, the appellate court reaffirmed that DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros., holds the copyright to Superman, seemingly removing any further obstacles to the studio producing more Superman and Superboy films.

That is, unless, as Superman addicts everywhere know, the decision actually was rendered by the Bizarro-9th Circuit Court of Appeals.