COLUMBUS  – Faster than a speeding bullet, the bill to create a Superman license plate has passed the Ohio House and now moves on to the Ohio Senate.

State Rep. Bill Patmon (D-Cleveland) said H.B. 339 was unanimously passed out of committee in early March, and has continued movement through the legislature.

Patmon, who introduced H.B. 339, provided sponsor testimony on the bill to honor the creators of Superman with Superman-themed Ohio license plates.

“This legislation is, and always has been, about heroism, support, strength and caring for our fellow man, woman or child,” Patmon said, of the recently passed bill.

The license plates will be designed to commemorate Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, the two men responsible for the original interpretation of Superman in comics.

The humble beginnings of Superman began with two young Jewish-American gentlemen in the years shortly before World War II.

Since then, the young men and their creation have been recognized throughout the world for the birth of the world’s most famous super hero and the only one with roots in Ohio.

The license plates will be inscribed with the words “Ohio, Birthplace of Superman” and will be marked with a design selected by the entity that owns Superman’s name.

The license plates will also bear county identification stickers.

Source: http://www.wkyc.com/news/state/article/245131/23/Bill-for-Superman-license-plates-passes-Ohio-House

Yesterday saw a reported description leak for a couple scenes for the new Superman movie, the Man of Steel.

Our source who has been filling us in on this movie, in addition to The Dark Knight Rises and more, got back to us saying that the description was indeed the one and the same as the one he provided us at the end of April where Zod was said to threaten and warn Superman.

The new description first appeared on the IMDb message boards with the original poster since coming out revealing his involvement in the film industry, including his name, Jonathan Rothbart, listed on IMDb as a visual effects supervisor for various movies.

I have been given the clear, this information isn’t secret, I can disclose what I please. It wasn’t a conference, perhaps I was a tad misleading in that regard. It was a gathering, banquet of sorts, of VFX artists on WB payroll. For the poster with ties into the business, ask around, it was a limited invitation event, but someone else out there has got to be able to verify the event took place. It was at the Langham Huntington in Pasadena. We were served a Caesar salad followed by smoked salmon. I can assure you this event took place. WETA presented a long sizzle reel, the Man of Steel clips were just part of it. And finally, the proof you’ve all be waiting for. My name is Jonathan Rothbart. I’ve been working in effects my whole life. My first major film was part of a massive team on Empire Strikes Back. I still have my shirt from the film, one that ONLY those involved with the production would have. I did freelance work with ILM for a while early in my career then settled into a great job at an effects house called The Orphanage. I have a great relationship with WB, and I was honored to be invited to the event. I under skepticism, I do. But you’ll see the exact shots I spoke of, to a tee, in the finished film. And I’ll come back to these boards and prove it. I guarantee someone else will speak about this footage at some point today, just wait for the news to break.

The leak comes at an interesting time as Zack Snyder is due to talk about the Man of Steel, this Friday, May 20th, at the HeroComplex Film Festival.

Stay tuned to Cosmic Book News as more on the Man of Steel develops.

Man Of Steel flies into theaters June 14th, 2013 directed by Zack Snyder starring, Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel, Diane Lane as Martha “Ma” Kent, Kevin Costner as Jonathan “Pa” Kent, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Michael Shannon as Zod, and Russel Crowe as Jor-El.

Source: http://movies.cosmicbooknews.com/content/superman-man-steel-2013-new-scene-footage-description-legit-were-told

You’d think that between Batman’s utility belt, Wonder Woman’s invisible jet and Superman’s icy breath of righteousness, the Justice League would be able to get something done on a big screen—especially given that The Avengers just hoovered up an obscene billion dollars in box office income.

But no. For years, Warner Bros. has struggled to bring their own answers to Iron Man and Hulk to the big screen. Here’s why you won’t be seeing such an august lineup in 2013:

Various factors have conspired to kill a live-action JLA movie, and not just in the past 12 months. This is a boondoggle that, for years, had actual script writers working on it, real actors attached to it, a director signed on to it.

The most credible attempt to bring together the world’s greatest superheroes in live-action form started in 2007. Warner Bros. hired a couple of screenwriters to draw up a story, and the studio liked it. Mad Max director George Miller agreed to direct the project; things looked pretty sunny for comic book fans worldwide. There was even a nice, fat, reported budget of something like $220 million.

The following year, when shooting was supposed to start, Warner put the show on hold because, it said, it wanted to tinker with the script. Thing is, the writer’s strike was on, so no tinkering could occur, and the options for the cast lapsed.

What kind of cast, you ask? How about Adam Brody as the Flash, and rapper/actor Common as Green Lantern? How about—wait for it—Armie Hammer as Batman? Really. Yes. This, according to reports at the time, was going to happen.

But between then and now, Warner’s attitude toward a single JLA movie has, apparently, changed. The studio indicated it wanted to keep all of its heroes separate for a few years before reconsidering a conglomerate à la Avengers. By 2010, the news was official: The JLA project, as it was, had been canceled.

Though there have been rumors that Warner Bros. has been talking about a fresh stab at a JLA, no concrete announcements have emerged. I reached out to several contacts at Warner Bros. to ask whether anything has changed, but the studio was silent on the matter. (The president of DC Entertainment has said that the comic book house has no plans of developing an ensemble movie, either.)

All that said, there is hope: The Hollywood Reporter‘s Borys Kit seem to think that a JLA movie could happen, and sooner than you think.

“Don’t be surprised,” he wrote recently, “if Warners—and [Dark Knight director Christopher] Nolan—take on a Justice League movie soon.”

Is it too late to get Armie Hammer in a leotard?

Source: http://uk.eonline.com/news/ask_the_answer_bitch/avengers_made_1_billion_will_batman/316459

Two possible scene descriptions for the new Superman movie, the Man of Steel have hit the net via the IMDbMessage Boards.

Apparently, a visual effects supervisor has posted some info about scenes involving Henry Cavill, Michael Shannon and Christopher Meloni.

Check it all out below.

None of it has been authenticated, so keep it as a rumor for now.

Stay tuned to Cosmic Book News as more on the Man Of Steel develops.

Man Of Steel flies into theaters June 14th, 2013 directed by Zack Snyder starring, Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel, Diane Lane as Martha “Ma” Kent, Kevin Costner as Jonathan “Pa” Kent, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Michael Shannon as Zod, and Russel Crowe as Jor-El.

Be sure to check out the Cosmic Book News Superman Movie Hub for even more news and information.

Here’s the info:

I’m a visual effects supervisor for the upcoming film After.Earth, the M. Night picture. I’ve also done work on Avatar, Iron Man, and Sin City. I’m on IMDb. I’ll admit I check my own page from time to time. It feels good.

I frequent this board often, I’m a huge comic book fan (as shown by the movies I’ve worked on). Last night at a VFX conference there was a sizzle reel shown by Weta. In this sizzle reel there were two beta level(most likely from a trailer) clips shown. One only about 6 seconds long, the other much longer.

The former was Clark Kent grabbing a truck with a crying man inside of it while flying through the middle of a tornado. It looked incredible. Henry Cavill can fly, and he can hold a truck in one arm. Zack Snyder brings his usual visual flair, but somehow is still unlike anything he has made before. It felt like a Superman comic. Real heroism.

The longer clip was even more stunning, but the more I think about it, slightly concerning. The clip consisted of Superman in full costume in a verbal argument with Zod in the center of Smallville with Christopher Meloni yells at them through a megaphone next to a tank. Meloni warns them he will fire if they do not surrender. While he says this Zod sizes Superman up. Shannon looks evil as he can be. Bone chilling even. And is DEFINITELY sporting enhanced muscle. Cavill’s Superman is a wonderful sight to behold in motion. Cavill’s pure size makes him the most believable Superman to date. Zod speaks in Kryptonian “Do you know your native tongue, Kal-el?” Superman looks stunned, and responds in English, “Who are you?” (there isn’t enough Superman dialogue to judge Cavill’s performance fairly, but I’d say he did well. Nothing spectacular from this clip.) Meloni curses, then into a walkie talkie orders the tank to fire. Superman hears this and turns to the tank. Zod takes this opportunity to sucker punch Superman(in Zack Snyder slow-then-fast-mo) then when the tank fires Superman rushes in front of Zod, despite the punch and catches the exploding missile near his stomach. The flames ripple around him, hit his face, his cape, his eyes. The shrapnel hits him and bounces off. The same happens to Zod to a lesser extent. Meloni’s shocked expression when they remain standing, silhouettes in a cloud of smoke, ends the clip.

It was incredible, it really was. And absolutely visually stunning, but my qualm is its typical Zack Snyder. It doesn’t look glossy like his films do. It instead has a more clean cut, colorful look. Like Thor, or Iron Man. But it is the same slow-mo styling that people expect from him. Maybe it just happens in this one scene, but it happens twice. Makes me a bit hesitant, despite the fact it looks phenomenal.

 

Source: http://movies.cosmicbooknews.com/content/superman-man-steel-2013-possible-scene-descriptions-leaked

Warner Bros. has won the rights to use what it believes could be damaging documents in its long-running legal fight to hold on to the rights to Superman.

The ruling from three U.S. Court of Appeals judges issued Tuesday came as part of the studio’s lawsuit against Marc Toberoff, a pugnacious attorney who represents the heirs of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

But Warner believes the documents will ultimately prove critical in the effort of its DC Comics division to retain the rights to the superhero, which Toberoff has asserted should revert to the Siegel and Shuster heirs in 2013.

According to Tuesday’s ruling, the documents in question were sent by an attorney who formerly worked for Toberoff to Warner Bros. prior to June 2006. A cover letter that accompanied the documents said they show that the Siegel heirs’ prior attorney threatened that, if they worked with Toberoff, he would testify that the heirs had previously reached a settlement agreement with the studio.

Warner is apparently hoping to use those documents in its fight over the Superman rights. A judge previously ruled that the Siegel heirs’ 50% interest in Superman should revert back to them, and Toberoff is trying to win a similar ruling for the Shuster heirs to take effect in 2013. That would deprive Warner Bros. of control of one of its most valuable and iconic properties.

“We are extremely pleased that the 9th Circuit unanimously found in our favor,” a Warner spokesman said in a statement. “The ruling means that defendant Marc Toberoff must now turn over critical evidence in the pending litigation against him and others.”

Toberoff had argued the documents were covered under attorney-client privilege. In a statement, he disagreed with the ruling and said it would not affect the overall dispute over the Superman rights:

“We cooperated with the US Attorney’s office to enable them to investigate the theft from our law firm of the Siegels’ and Shusters’ privileged documents. We are disappointed in today’s decision which holds that such cooperation with law enforcement by the victims of a privacy crime, itself waives privilege as to stolen documents. However, nothing in this ruling or the documents at issue will affect the merits of this case. We are considering our options as to the ruling, and will continue to vigorously defend our clients’ rights.”

In an entirely unrelated development, an unnamed bidder paid $160,000 at an online auction Tuesday for the original check that DC comics wrote, more than 74 years ago, to acquire the rights to Superman. The check was made out to Siegel and Shuster in the amount of $412.

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2012/04/warner-wins-victory-in-legal-fight-with-superman-heirs-attorney.html

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Marc Toberoff, a movie producer and intellectual property attorney, must produce documents once stolen by an employee to DC Comics. Toberoff is representing the heirs of writer Jerome Siegel and illustrator Joe Shuster, who created Superman in the 1930s.

Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, noted the long-running dispute between the estates of Siegel and Shuster and DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros.

O’Scannlain wrote that Toberoff waived an attorney-client privilege defense in litigation over the documents by handing them to a third party, a federal prosecutor.

“It may well be that encouraging cooperation with the government is an alternative route to the ultimate goal of promoting adherence to the law,” O’Scannlain wrote.

“And there are those who assert that ‘an exception to the third-party waiver rule need (not) be moored to the justifications of the attorney-client privilege.’ We disagree.

“If we were to unmoor a privilege from its underlying justification, we would at least be failing to construe the privilege narrowly. And more likely, we would be creating an entirely new privilege.”

The opinion says Toberoff approached the heirs with an offer to manage preexisting litigation over rights ceded by Siegel and Shuster to DC Comics when they joined the company as independent contractors in 1937, a year before Superman made his first appearance.

It adds that Toberoff told the heirs he would arrange for a new Superman film and created a joint venture between the heirs and an entity he owned, serving as both business advisor and attorney.

Attorney David Michaels worked for one of Toberoff’s companies for only three months in 2006 before stealing copies of several documents from the Siegel and Shuster files. He first attempted to solicit business from the heirs, and then sent the documents to executives at DC Comics.

Without reading them, DC Comics gave the documents to an outside attorney and sought to obtain them through discovery in two ongoing lawsuits over Superman.

Toberoff considered the documents to be privileged and would not disclose them to DC Comics. However, in 2007, a magistrate judge ordered certain documents turned over, and Toberoff reported the theft to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In December 2008, Toberoff produced some of the documents. In 2010, DC Comics filed a lawsuit alleging Toberoff interfered with its contractual relationships with the heirs. The cover letter, which showed a timeline outlining Toberoff’s alleged plan to make Superman his own, contained in the documents formed the basis of the lawsuit.

After Toberoff asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate Michaels, DC Comics immediately requested all documents disclosed to the office, claiming the privilege was waived when Toberoff turned them over.

Source: http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/235862-ninth-circuit-attorney-must-release-plan-to-capture-superman

Source: http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/04/17/45703.htm

Superman holds a very special place in the American culture because he was the first to start the super-hero tradition. He inspired the creation of many other heroic cartoon characters, such as, Batman, Spiderman and X-Men. Despite his significance, the creators of Superman, Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster, sold their rights to DC Comics in exchange of a $130 paycheck.

Siegel and Shuster understood that they should have sold the rights for a bigger sum of money as their American icon gave birth to a billion-dollar industry. Their heirs tried to make up for the loss by suing DC Comics and its parenting company, Warner Bros. Nevertheless, the creators didn’t receive anything until now when a DC Comics employee sold the paycheck on behalf of the heirs.

Vincent Zurzolo, co-owner of New York-based ComicConnect, was the person in charge with the organization of the auction. He told reporters that the paycheck cost $160,000 because it is “the holy grail” for comic book fans and collectors. Zurzolo further explained that the check is the document attesting the birth of the comic book industry, so it is worth all the money.

Siegel and Shuster grew up in Cleveland as childhood friends. They came up with the idea of Superman while they were in their 20s and shared the stories they created with their friends before they eventually sold the character’s rights to DC Comics. Their decision to sell was wrong as Shuster was broke when the first Superman movie was released in 1978.

The auction of the check took place months after the first issue of Action Comics was sold for $2.16 million in December. The magazine is also very important because it was the first comic book that unveiled the Superman character. Its value grew considerably as the magazine could be bought for only 10 cents when it was first published in 1938.

Source: http://www.dailygossip.org/superman-check-sold-for-160-000-3024

Warner Bros. has prevailed at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a challenge made by one of its legal adversaries, Marc Toberoff, who represents the estates of Superman co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, over the use of stolen documents.

In the midst of working on the case to terminate the studio’s rights to Superman, many of Toberoff’s documents were taken by one of his former associates, David Michaels, who, reportedly frustrated by his own unsuccessful attempt to solicit business from the Superman heirs, sent the sensitive documents to Warners’ offices.

The documents pertained to the months where Toberoff had approached the heirs and worked a joint venture to exploit Superman rights. At the time, he was working with Hollywood superagent Ari Emanuel. The documents include letters between the family members, including one from one of Siegel’s sons, warning his sister from getting involved with Toberoff and Emanuel and their purported secret agenda to control Superman for themselves. Warner contended that Toberoff had caused the heirs to repudiate a settlement agreement. Toberoff has contended that no agreement was ever formalized.

In 2010, after a termination notice on Superman was deemed valid, Warners later brought a tortious interference lawsuit against Toberoff for interfering with its Superman rights and attempted to use the documents. But Toberoff objected, citing that the documents were confidential, the result of attorney-client privilege. Last year, a federal judge ruled that Toberoff had pierced the privilege when he disclosed the nature of those documents to law enforcement authorities who were investigating the theft of his documents. Toberoff appealed.

In a decision handed down today, Ninth Circuit judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain provided a victory for Warner Bros. and agrees with a lower court that ruled the documents were fair play.

In setting up the dispute and running down the facts, the judge notes how Toberoff served as both a business adviser and an attorney for that venture and seems uncomfortable with that arrangement. But that isn’t the main issue here. “The ethical and professional concerns raised by Toberoff’s actions will likely occur to many readers, but they are not before this court,” writes the judge.

The bigger issue is the validity of Toberoff’s contention that he made only a “selective waiver” of the privilege, for use in a criminal action but not a civil one, and that by allowing the studio to use the documents, it would undermine the amount of confidentiality that attorneys have with their clients.

The Ninth Circuit notes the sanctity of attorney-client privilege as to “encourage full and frank communication between attorneys and their clients and thereby promote broader public interests in the observance of law and administration of justice,” but it also recognizes the ways that privilege can be waived, by example, voluntarily disclosing information to third parties.

Judge O’Scanniain is reluctant to accept the theory of “selective waiver.”

“It may well be that encouraging cooperation with the government is an alternative route to the ultimate goal of promoting adherence to the law,” he writes. “And there are those who assert that ‘an exception to the third-party waiver rule need [not] be moored to the justifications of the attorney-client privilege.’ We disagree. If we were to unmoor a privilege from its underlying justification, we would at least be failing to construe the privilege narrowly. And more likely, we would be creating an entirely new privilege.”

The judge notes that the Supreme Court has given discretion to adopt this “selective waiver,” but notes that Congress has declined to adopt it.

The Ninth Circuit also addresses Toberoff’s contention that his discussions were subject to a confidentiality agreement, based upon a representation made in a letter sent by the U.S. Attorney’s Office investigating the theft.

Again, the arguments fail.

“Assuming that this letter constitutes a confidentiality agreement,” says the opinion, “Petitioners have provided no convincing reason that post hoc contracts regarding how information may be revealed encourage frank conversation at the time of the advice.”

Finally, Toberoff fails to convince the appellate circuit that he should be treated differently because he was the victim of a criminal act. The opinion continues:

“We are unconvinced by Petitioners’ argument that adopting such a rule will drastically impair law enforcement attempts to investigate espionage against ‘attorneys, financial institutions, medical providers, national security agencies, judges, large corporations, or law firms.’ This has not occurred despite near universal rejection of a selective waiver rule.”

Warner now gets confirmation that it can use the documents. And perhaps just as importantly as new weapons in making the case that Toberoff has tortiously interfered with an alleged agreement between the Superman heirs and the studio, comes skepticism from the appellate court about Toberoff’s activities. For example, deep into the opinion, the Ninth Circuit notes casually that “Furthermore, most of these documents are not covered by attorney-client privilege because they do not represent communications between a lawyer and his client for the purpose of obtaining legal advice.”

Warners has contended in its lawsuit that Toberoff deserves to be treated like a businessman rather than a lawyer, and if the ongoing case ever comes back to the Ninth Circuit, it could find judges disposed to its viewpoint on many of the contentious matters.

See more background on this case here.

In a statement, Warner Bros. says:

“We are extremely pleased that the 9th Circuit unanimously found in our favor. The ruling means that defendant Mark Toberoff must now turn over critical evidence in the pending litigation against him and others.”

In a statement, Toberoff says:

“We cooperated with the US Attorney’s office to enable them to investigate the theft from our law firm of the Siegels and Shuster’s privileged documents. We are disappointed in today’s decision which holds that such cooperation with law enforcement by the victims of a privacy crime, itself waives privilege as to stolen documents. However, nothing in this ruling or the documents at issue will affect the merits of this case.  We are considering our options as to the ruling, and will continue to vigorously defend our clients’ rights.”

Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/warner-bros-wins-big-superman-jerry-siegel-joe-shuster-312982