Hey folks, Harry here... Moriarty sent me this link wanting to read my take on an article in the New York Times regarding a monumental court ruling over the goldmine known as SUPERMAN.

You see Siegel and Shuster sold the rights to Superman "to have and hold forever," for a grand prize of $130 - which must've felt like a kingly sum in 1937 - bet it must've felt like untold riches at that time. However, the money generating power quickly dwarfed that sum and if SUPERMAN has a power beyond all his other alien abilities - it's his ability to create sums of money that even he couldn't leap in a single bound.

Now DC wasn't evil... forever. For 30 years - the creators of Superman got ass. But then received pay-outs of $20k and then later that was raised to $30k a year. Meanwhile - SUPERMAN's profits soared faster than a speeding bullet.

The relatives of Mr. Siegel are now part owners of the character of SUPERMAN - and owed a cut from all SUPERMAN properties created post-1999. This could complicate the sequel to SUPERMAN RETURNS as well as JUSTICE LEAGUE... but honestly - Warners isn't stupid - they know the financial power of the character and will continue to exploit the man of steel as only a bald mastermind would. It's just that justice and fairness is being brought to the family of Siegel.

Now what does this say about other creators that perhaps didn't get their fair share by indenturing their creations to untold eons of slavery? To me... the question comes to mind... Would Ub Iwerks' estate be owed a percentage of Mickey Mouse related profits? And would a judge rule to that family? What about the creators of all those other characters in comics... The Jack Kirby estate? Steve Ditko? Is it possible for the creators to regain control and profit from their creations? This ruling certainly seems to establish that precedent. And it is a powerful (and just ruling).

This could very well be the beginning of a mighty precedent that could very well reverse a great injustice that creators have suffered to see their characters brought to light. But at least one judge in California has ruled for creator's rights. Warners will appeal, of course - but in a way - Superman is returning to Jor-El - and maybe Krypton didn't explode afterall. Just maybe this is a miracle.