New ruling in the Siegel case (with trial dates)

The judge in the Siegel case has issued a new order pertaining to both the Superboy and Superman lawsuits. Click the link for a copy. I'll have more to say over at Blog@ when I finalize my Superboy post, which I began drafting last night.

The order in a nutshell:

• The parties are to spend the next 60 days negotiating a settlement
• After the 60 days is up, the parties are to file a joint report on what happened
• If they don't settle, the trial in the Superman case is scheduled to begin on November 4, 2008
• The court is setting aside ruling on the remaining issues in the Superboy case, along with setting the Superboy trial dates, until after the Superman trial is over

This emphasis on settlement is consistent with contemporary court practice, particularly in the Ninth Circuit, which was an innovator in the field. On a personal note, the Circuit judge for whom I clerked, the Hon. D.W. Nelson, pioneered this judicial movement--click here for a guest blog post in which she talks about her experience as a leader in ADR--Alternative Dispute Resolution--as well as her work in spearheading women's equality in the legal profession.

If you read the order (go ahead--it's short), you'll see that it highlights the two issues we've focused on as being unresolved: "1) Post-termination alterations to pre-termination derivative works and 2) Mixed use of trademarks and copyright."

As I was re-reading the judge's earlier rulings this past week, it became clear that the Superman ruling had changed the landscape considerably for the Superboy case, so much so that I'd decided to make that the subject of its own post. Again, it's a fascinating issue not only for comics, but anyone whose work involves developing copyrighted and trademarked material. Watch Blog@ for more details.