Almost every hero has to deal with having a secret identity, but how can a hero prevent others from profiting off them without revealing their identity? Superman found the answer to this question a long time ago, which is a question even some Marvel heroes have struggled with in the past.
While Superman has revealed his identity to the public recently in comics, for the vast majority of his time as a hero he kept who he really was a tightly guarded secret. Being the most famous hero on the planet and one of the most public comes with a unique set of issues. For example, what can a hero do if companies start making t-shirts or action figures off of them? A superhero can't exactly copyright their own image without giving up their legal identity, but letting just anyone copyright and use their image could lead to villains profiting off of them, which is exactly the problem Spider-Man faced when Kingpin did that exact thing to him over in Marvel Comics. So, before Superman revealed his identity, he had a unique problem to solve in regard to people profiting off his image.
Readers got to see how Superman handled this unique situation in the pages of Superman #674 (1939) by Kurt Busiek and Renato Guedes. When Superman's apartment was destroyed, he ended up completely rebuilding it for his wife Lois and adopted son Chris, and like most boys his age Chris wanted a bunch of Superman memorabilia, which Clark was happy to provide, though he does state, "Boy, is it embarrassing, buying this many things with my face on 'em." But Clark goes on to mention one small detail that completely changes how he handles his secret identity, "The license fees do go to charity after all." If Spider-Man had followed Clark's footsteps here, he wouldn't have had so much trouble with business-centered villains like Kingpin.
Superman Owns His Own Identity Through Charity
Clark being smart enough to set up a charity to route all merchandising through allows Clark to continue being the hero he needs to be while also protecting his identity and removing any way for villains to profit off what he does. This ultimately shows how Clark got around that pesky problem of merchandising that some superheroes still struggle with. The Flash has his own museum and his own merchandise as well, but not all heroes are so lucky to be able to deal with things like that for example, Batman has to sit back and watch his villains and trauma turned into a fast food joint. While Batman certainly doesn't need the money from his activities as Batman, there's no denying that if he took a page from Clark's book he could passively make Gotham better by continuing to act as Batman.
Clark managed to ensure the profits of anything related to Superman go to a worthwhile cause, being a charity of his choice. This just goes to show what an amazing hero he is, that even his popularity can give a boost to charity organizations to make the world a better place.