The trouble with Superboy

DC Comics don't own Superboy. That seems crazy, but it's true. It's why the new cartoon Legion of Superheroes has the young Superman instead of Superboy. The original comic was "Superboy and the Legion of Superheros". They killed of the exisitng Superboy during Infinite Crisis even though he was a clone of Superman and not the young Clark Kent. Smallville is even involved.

A federal judge wants to know whether Superboy (as originally conceived by the late Jerry Siegel) is sufficiently original, compared to Superman, and he wants the parties competing over Superboy to tell him their positions by the end of this month.

More sordid details and analysis at the link.