First comic book lawsuit

The immediate and massive success of the comic book superhero Superman in 1938 led to many rival comics publishers to try their hand making their own copies of the character. Superman’s publisher, Detective Comics Inc., hit back by taking Bruns Publications, Inc., the publishers of Wonder Comics 1 to the courts for copyright infringement. Detective Comics alleged that Wonder Man (cited as Wonderman in the judge's notes), the star of Wonder Comics 1 was a copy of Superman. The case, Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc., was heard on 6-7 April 1939 and was found in favour of Detective Comics, although the judgement did not dissuade other companies from publishing the adventures of super-powered costumed heroes. Today, superheroes are a staple ingredient of many comic books. Wonder Comics was published by Fox Publications, but this company was owned by Bruns Publications, Inc. who were the plaintiffs named in the suit.

While the judge found for Detective Comics he did not find that super powers, attributes that could be found in the legends of Hercules, etc., could be copyrighted.

Wonder Man was created by Will Eisner, the comics legend who gave his name to the Eisner Awards. The central contention of the case was that Wonder Man was inspired by and derivative of Superman, thus infringing copyright.

The judge found for DC, and Wonder Comics ceased publication soon after. However the genie was already out of the bottle. Despite a number of other similar lawsuits the fad for superhero comics continued through the 1940s, falling out of fashion in the 1950s to return as a dominant cultural force from the 1960s onwards.