



Joanne Siegel, the wife of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and the original model for Lois Lane, recently passed away at the age of 93. After her death, Joanne was widely remembered not only for her physical beauty and the inspiration it provided for the classic Superman love interest, but for her tireless determination to reclaim the rights to the Superman character, originally sold for $130 but now a billion-dollar franchise for Time Warner, which owns DC Comics.

Deadline has posted the final letter of Joanne Siegel to Time Warner, composed only two months before her death, where she appeals to CEO Jeffrey Bewkes to pay the share of Superman profits since 1999 that the Siegels are legally owed, and end the "mean-spirited tactics" of the Time Warner legal team that clearly aggrieved her in her final months. The letter exemplifies all the qualities she -- and the intrepid reporter she inspired -- were known for: fearlessness, grace, and a dogged pursuit of justice that never wavered, even to the very end:

On December 1st I turned 93. I am old enough to be your mother. I have grown grandchildren. Unfortunately I am not in the best of health. My cardiologist provided a letter to your attorneys informing them that I suffer from a serious heart condition and that forcing me to go through yet another stressful deposition could put me in danger of a heart attack or stroke. I am also on medications that have side effects which force me to stay close to home and restrooms. Nonetheless your attorneys are forcing me to endure a second deposition even though I have already undergone a deposition for a full day in this matter. As clearly they would be covering the same ground, their intention is to harass me... So I ask you to please consider – do these mean spirited tactics meet with your approval? Do you really think the families of Superman's creators should be treated this way?

For those unfamiliar with the legal battle between Time Warner and the heirs of Jerry Siegel, much of it hinges on a 2008 ruling that the Siegel heirs are entitled to half of the Superman copyright, and that they were owed money for the use of the Superman character since 1999. It also meant that the rest of the Superman rights could revert wholly to the heirs of the co-creators in 2013 -- if the ruling survived a legal challenge.

While the upcoming Superman movie continues its casting process, Time Warner has battled on to retain its rights to the highly lucrative Superman franchise, often with hardball tactics like filing suit against the Siegels' lawyer, Marc Toberoff, as well as the "harassment" that Joanne describes below: