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The family of late Superman creator Jerry Siegel will have to be happy with the royalties they're getting now for the iconic comic book character.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson in Riverside, Calif., ruled that Warner Bros. Entertainnment Inc. and DC Comics Inc. did not violate a 1999 profit-sharing agreement with Joanne Siegel and Laura Siegel Larson by distributing the Superman property within the same corporate structure. The Siegels had argued that because DC and Warner Bros. were part of the same corporate entity -- Time Warner Inc. -- that all of the profits from The CW series "Smallville" as well as the 2006 film "Superman Returns" were not as high as they could've been.

That's not the case, Larson said, according to Comic Book Resources. The amount of money paid by Warner Bros. to DC was "fair market value," despite the fact that both companies share the same corporate parent. That means the Siegels will have to make do with their existing profit-sharing agreement and will not realize any additional money from "Superman Returns" or "Smallville," which begins its ninth season this fall on The CW, a network also partially owned by Time Warner.

Warner Bros. picked up the rights to Superman for a motion picture purpose in 2002 in a deal that the entertainment division originally paid $1.5 million. It was a deal it could renew each year through 2033 that would start at $500,000 a year through 2013, escalate to $600,000 per year through 2023, and $700,000 per year over the final 10 years, bringing its total to $18.5 million, according to court documents.

The agreement to use the property in "Smallville" was signed in 2000 with an upfront payment of $10,000, and could be renewed for a second year at another $10,000. If "Smallville" was actually produced, then Warner Bros. would have to pay DC $45,000 per episode. Under that deal, and not including other compensation, that means Warner Bros. would have paid $7.8 million for the 174 episodes of "Smallville" that have now aired on The WB, and later The CW.

The judge found, based on witness testimony, that the purchase price of the movie rights may be lower than what would typically be paid for a book option because when it comes to novels, studios tend to know exactly the quality they are going to receive based on the original book. When getting the rights to a comic book character, it's a little more risky, because a story has to be developed typically from scratch, and it's hard to tell how audiences will react to it.

Larson also said that the Siegels focused too much time on the overall value of the Superman property "as if they have an ownership interest in it," and not on the specific deals for "Superman Returns" and "Smallville."

"DC Comics and Warner Bros. Entertainment are very gratified by the court's thorough and well-reasoned decision in this matter," the two entities said in a statement. "The decision validates what DC and Warner Bros. have maintained from the beginning, which is that when they do business with each other, they always strive for -- and achieve -- fair market value in their transactions."