8/20/2019 October 19, 2001 Letter From the Siegels to DC Comics
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M P Y t JEFFAEY
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This is co co^f^m^ ow [elepho^e conversaüon of October 9, 2001. The Siegel Family
(tluough Joa^me Síegel and L,au^ Sie$eî Larson, the majoríry owners of the térmi^ated copy
ght
interests} has accepted D.C. Gömícs offer of October I6, 200I ín espe
α
t of the "Supe^^aå' and
"Spectre" properties. The ^e^ns are as follows:
A
"Supernr^^/Spect^e Gross Revenues" means DC Comícs' worldwide gross
revenues de^íved from the Property, éxdudíng only revenues de
ved from
D.C. Comic`s pubticatío^s.
L
B
236 72.
o 'tia s.
1 .
"The Property" means all Superman, 5uperboy and related p^opeeties
(ínctudíng, for example, Superg^íl, Steol, Lois & Ci^k and Smaltvílle),
and the Spectre property, and ^^cludes all pre- and post-^e^ní^at^o^ works
(inciudíng e so-called 5upec
ι
a
library), e
aracce
s, names a
d
hadem^ks reIatíng to the Property.
Fi
angial Te
s.
1 .
Anon-returnable, bait ^eco^pable advance of $2,000,000.
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8/20/2019 October 19, 2001 Letter From the Siegels to DC Comics
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C^ANCw, TYRE, '
F{AMER & ORVWN, INC.
John A. Sc^utman,
Esq.
^etober19,2aa1
Page 2
2:
A ao
-remmable, non-recoupabl
sígní
g b
nus of t,000,000.
3.
D.C. Comics wí11 forgív^ the 5250,000 advance from last ^e^-stated
ad^erwïsc, that payment will gat r^dusé the adva^s^ arbo^us, narshall it
b^ recoupable {co^kary tö Paragraph 3 of the January 12, 2001 løtter
agrceme^t}.
4.
Thera will be an a^ual guarantee of $500,040 der year payable for 10
yeazs beginning March 31, 2002. 'The an^uai g^^ata^te^ is recoupable
from royalty payments (under S and
beinw}. Tie a^ual guarantee is
paid Mars
31" of each
yeaz If at the end of the a^uai guarantee pe
od
(í:e., LO' years}, D.C. s un^ecouped, the a^ual guarantee will b^ reduced
t^ $I00,000 or 2S% of the ava^age royalties for tl^e previous three yeas
(resamputed cash year}, wt^ichwe^ ïs greater (for so long as D.C. is
^nrecouped}. If D.C. is ^eco^^ped, t^e^ the a^uat guarantee will be 7S%
of tie averago royalties for the previous three
years whíc
ís recor^tputed
each year.
5.
A ^óyatty of
°
of Supern^an/Spectre Gross Revenues. Tis applies
(without limitation} to the
use of the entire Property, including the so-called
Superman îíh^ary , í^ any and all media now o^ úereafter k^ow^ (excluding
DC Camícs
pubücatí^^s
},
í^ öron mers a díse and ín promotions
campaigns. Tåis ^^yalry applies whey the Property ís used atone or ís
lísensed for matio^ pí^mré and t^levisían pro¡
é
s iø accocda
ee with the
"safe
Ø^^^"
motion picture and television deals discussed ^n Pazagraph
C(IO}, Thís
% roy^hy witl be adjusted pro-rata
he^ the P^pe^ty ís used
íu co^ju^ctío^ with ^t^er baoh characters (other than ín a "cameo" type of
appearance), buy in no event less tha^.3°1° ex
tat the^o^alty çan ^e
fu^tlser reduced to {a) I.S° ° in the,case of Justice League of Aine
sa,
"Superf
ends'" and "Superhems" me^^han^íse aid iícensïng, and (b} 1°lo i^
e^t^aordînary
cases
suc as D.C. ComícslWam^r
Bros. overall lícensa to
Six Fiags (wi^ích involves numemús characters, í^cludíag D.C. Comíe's
characters a
α
d Looney Tonnes characters}'.
^. A ^o^alty of 2°^ó of the cover p
ce of DC Co^^cs'
publications. Tits
^
This redueüon would nit apply ^o a license fora "Supe^mari
'specific
ride
o^ atØction.
^
τ
ι 2 ι
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royalty applies when the Property ís used alone
, and will be adjusted p -
rata when the P^pe^ty ís used ín co^junc^íon with other comic book
chawcters (
o^tl^er than í^ a "cornea" type of appea^anc^
), but ïn ^o event
less than O.5%.
Receupment
6egíus as
ofJan
ι ι
ary i, ?A06.
8.
Du
^g thø first calendar yeør ín which advancestguara^teed payments are
made there sØ11 be ^o interest
.
Thsreafter
(
that ís, begi^^ng January t of
the followì^g year),
there sha l l be interest at the p
me lending rate, and this
ís also recoupable.
9.
Annual guá^a^tces aid royalties
(if D.C. ís filly
recouped
}
are paíd fnr the
dun^^on of U.S: copy
ght af Actéon Comics
No. 1. However for motion
píctu^e and television g^odu^t released near the end of the
[
ertn, ro a ies
will contínus to be paid
as follows
: (
aj Foy ^ motion ^ícture released near
the end af the tern
, royalties shall be pad for five years from the initial
theatríca^ release é
ve^ íf some part ^f
that five year pc
od is atte^ the CJ.S.
copy
ght
expires,
(
ü) far television series , royalties will bé paíd though
the full first rug o£ the se
es
, plus three years t lie^eafte^ (
so as to pick up ac
least the fast sy dícatíon sale), even if that period ís after the U.S.
copy
ght
tec^^ expires , and (c
)
for other substantial proj^ts
(akin to
motío^ píciu^e and televisío^ projects
),
royalties shall be paid for five years
from the initial theatrical rele ase
ofsuch prö^ëct,
sven íf some part of that
ftve^eaz period
is after the J.S. co^^^
ght
expires.
C. Otl
ι
er Te
τ
s
t. The Siegel Family would Ø^sfer all of its
ghts ín the "S perman" and
"Spectré' properties
.(
i^cluding "S^per boy
"),
resulting ín 100% ownership
to .
D.C. Comics,
as behveen the Siegel
Family and D.C. Comics.
C
GANG, ^^YRE, RAMER ót BR^7WN, (NC.
lohn A, Sehuln^an, Esq.
October 19, 2001
Page 3
236(72.[
If Far
any legal ^r^so^
,
there ca^ot be a transfer of all
ghts nt this time,
ever^thíng ín thisdeal^ppl
^es a s a prepayment
to any future
transfer ,
except $
í O0,000 per
year would
not be applicable agaí^st the compe^satíon
(if any} fog a fi^tttre hansF er
.
This would nót result ìn addítío al monies
upon perfecting the "Spe^t^e
"
te^mi^afio^
.
Rather, and by way
of example,
í^ the ^nlike^y situation that She law cha
ges
,
aid this ^a^sfer is somehow
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VA
VÌ3
t 7FiC
ι 17
APAFE'{ CX L7fiØ
VfV
ι
^^ÌC.
lohn A. S
ε
hulma
^
, Ss
η
Oatobe
(9, 2041
Page 4
ínval'^dáted o^ limïted by aperatîon af law, and theré is a futwe court
^udgme^t agaí^st I7 .C. Camüs, ^hís deaf Ovnuld apply against the amount of
such judgem^^^ excøpt to Wø ^xrent af $IOQ,Q00 per yeas For the sake of
cla^íty, this pravísio^ wí11 n at i^^ any cí^cumstance reduce the mo nícs due
ø Sïegøl Fa^^íly undee this desi.
tJntiC the øxpir^tion of the .5. capy
ght £or Action Camícs No_ 1, thøre
wit[ be á crcdít on "Superman
comas sad other publications
,
movíe^ and
t^løvisia^^ p^ográms that reads: "B ^ Specie A ^^a^geme^t with the Jerr y
Síegøl Family". The síu and placement of credit is to he í^ I^.C. Comics'
dìsøretío^.
4.
D.C. shill accord c^edít along the lines of"Supe^^^a^ created by Je^y
Síegel and Joe Shustør", "Created
by Jerry
S^ogel and Joø Shuster" ar
"B ased on the cl^aractørs created by Jemmy Siegel and Joe Shuster" or
"Supør
oy created b^ Jerry
Siegel
or "The Spectre created by 7e^^y Siegel
and Børnard Salley" (
as applícabíej oa motion ^ict^^es
(
main tíeles on
screen, paìd ads}, tetev^sío^ pingrams (mala titles), alt pu^li^a
ons, and on
a t otha^ works where edit to e^øatars ^^ customary.
5. Theaccountíng statcme^ts wilt be rendered Márch 31", and if royalty
payments are due for tØ p^ovìous calendar
ye r
^e^ will be paid at the
same t ín^e
{
along with the a^ual guaranteø for the then present
yø
}
6. íx eespect of t í^e mon ies dua under this
ghts deal, D.C. Comics will pay
d^ectiy 47:5%t0 J^á^e Sïegel
, 23.75%
ta Laura Síegel Larson,
23 75 °/a
to Michael Sïegel
,
and 5 %
to Cang, T^rø,
Ramer & Bmwn, Inc. (counsel to
the Síegel Family).
?. Joa^e,
Laura ánd Michael cap assïgn o^ ^tberwise
dispose of aQ or part of
their monetary co^t^acmai entit lemen ts u^de^ this deal (athér than
íns^ra^ce ) üp to a maximum of
three tïmes each.
8.
^^.Ç. Comics
to provide mØícat and degyta insuran ce
for-Mic^aet and
Lamma and Laura'
s c(^íld^e^ for so fan g
as they are minors. Laura
is also fo
be reimbursed fir the costs of medical
à^d dental insurance for her sad her
sons since November 2000.
236[72.1
c
a
a
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^^ANG,
TYRE,
RAMER & BROWN, INC.
John A.
Schulman, Esq.
Oc^ober [9,200
Page 5
DC Comics to provìd^ fh^ opportunity for the Síegel Family ta he ïnfowned
about major developments
{
^.^., motion p^c
^res
,
t^^evísio^ p^og^ams,
theme park àmactíons
,
major ct^a^ge^ plann ed i^ publications
},
and the
Si^gci Family wil[ have a^ appartuníty to gwe its Wiput, but tt ^s daas not
s^ ta the I^v^l of a ^ro^sultatíon fight. Tbr Sïog^t Family will be info^r^ed
of such developments early enough í^ the development process sa Wat
eir
apportu^íty to gîve input ís meaníngihl.
1 0.
Síegel Family to have full audit rights. [nt^a-company transaa^o^s wül ^e .
c^ve^ed by "safö harbors" established at a level co^sìste^t with the Salkí^d
S^^pem^an ú^^at^ícal
motion píc^ur^
dial, the "Lois & Ctazk" television
program deal, the WS Televísia^ Animation deal, aid We existí^g fee
arrangements
with Warner $ros. Co^^sum^r Products. There wilt be a^
expedítod dispute resolution p^oced^re f^c ^halkng^ng intro-company deals
w^ích fall ouisíd^ the safe hazbors. D.C. would also íncludo í^ the "safe
harbors" the Salkí^d a^ other
deals as
they may be reduced, but only ^í)
where another ct aract r of comparable
stature co "Supermagi ' (e.g.,
"Batman") is used ín a ^omparabte
ma nne r
ín co^ectïon with the same
projeat; (ir} on a prorata basis with the adjustment ín the other character's
ghØ deal, and (^ü) ín all events, Wc reduction shall ^e
o less Way SO% ar
We o
gí^at
gttts deal.
1 ^.
At the end of the U.S. Copy
ght term, the Sîege] Family agrees that ít will
not exploit the Property, even t^augh ít ^s ín the public domain.
1 2.
The Siegel Famïly wau^d agree ro execute furtøer documents, aged D.C.
Comes
would be appointed as at torney
-
ín-fact to execute sucà documents
íf the Siegel Family faits ta do so within a reasonable pe^íod of ^íme.
1 3.
Síegel Famïly would got make any wa^anti^s as to the nature of rights, but
would ^eprese^t that they bave not transfe^ed ^í^e rights to any party. The
Síegel Famí[^ would,agree Wat thore will be no interference with the
Supe^nan
gí^ts; or disparagement of D,C. Comics. D.C. Carmes and
AOL Time Wa^^^
agree n ot to díspa^age the Síegel Fa r^ìly,
I4.
Pull E&O and g^^eral liability coverages, and Bull i^demnitíes foi Joanne
Síegel, Lauri Síegel Larson, and Míehaei SíogeI against líab^líty for DC or
affiliate aetìons.
236172.1
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GANG , TvR^,
RAMER & $ROWN, I N C .
Tahn A.
Schuléna^,
Esq.
öctober t9, 200t
Page ^
It ^s also
ageced
that Joanne's widow
'
s ^ene fit^
(
ineludíng bath payments and ï^s^^a^ce),
aro to ^o^tínue for her lí fe
, aid will not be heated as an advance agaí^st this dead and aye not
recoupable
from this deal.
Jahn, íf there is any aspeat
of the above that ís somel^aw misstated, please Iet me know by
Mø^da^ at 2:00, as I will be out oféhe office
and tíkely ^íff^cu^t to reach-far the fol[owí^g
four weeks.
M any thanks for help and
patíe^^^ ín reaching this manu^e^t^^ accord.
Sincerely,
G A N G ,
^ v ^ E , í^ A ^ v Ø ^
BROWN, INC.
Ke4í^ S.
Marks
=
K5M : 1)1
co :
Jaan^e Siegei
Laura Síeg^l Larsen
B^u^e Ramer
Don Eutso^^
236í72 t
c
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