This falls under the Holy Shit, Check This Out Department: The New York Times reported today that Judge Stephen Larson of the Central District of California had delivered a whopping 72 page ruling on the matter of who owns the copyright of Superman, establishing that “Action Comics” #1, the first appearance of Superman, was not considered to be a product of work-for-hire, making the copyright for that issue (and, naturally, the character of Superman) eligible for termination by Siegel’s heirs. What that means in simpler terms — the Siegel’s now own half of the Superman copyright.

We could see Superman enter the public domain in 2033, which would be an interesting thing. Of course, DC will appeal on the basis that this should be a work-for-hire deal, but per the story up above it doesn’t seem like it completely and totally.

Wow. A DC without a Superman.