Federal judge Ronald S. W. Lew has issued a summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by the heirs of Jerome Siegel against Time Warner, Warner Bros. and DC Comics, according to Variety.  Lew ruled that the Siegel heirs had the right to revoke their copyright assignment to Superboy and had successfully recaptured the rights as of November 17th, 2004. 

The ruling throws into question the ownership of Smallville episodes that have run since that date, although that specific question is yet to be resolved. 

Warner Bros. says that it 'respectfully disagrees' with the ruling and will appeal.