The Show Must Go On?: An Analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird's Play Rights
[1] Background The dispute over the right to produce To Kill a Mockingbird lies at the intersection of estates, play rights, and conflicting circuit decisions. [2] The Federal Copyright Act allows an author to terminate any exclusive or nonexclusive transfer or license of a copyright executed on or after January 1, 1978. [3] In 1969, Harper Lee granted Dramatic Publishing Company (“Dramatic”) exclusive rights to write and license “non-first-class” adaptations of To Kill a Mockingbird ....
