There are few works of fiction more well-read and highly lauded than Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird." First published in 1960, the Southern Gothic tale of prejudice, injustice, and the loss of innocence won a Pulitzer Prize and became a staple of U.S. high school English class curricula. It also found success as a movie in 1962. The residents in Lee's hometown of Monroeville began staging a production as a play in 1990, which is performed again every May.
The work found its way to Broadway in 2018, but not without new rounds of controversy. While a suit and countersuit over liberties taken by writer Aaron Sorkin with the character of Atticus Finch were settled out of court, the fight between the Broadway producers and the holder of the original stage copyright may have taken its final bow.
On July 29, 20025, a panel from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision that Rudin's Broadway production of "To Kill a Mockingbird" did not violate any copyrights held by The Dramatic Publishing, Inc. (DPC), which had been granted the amateur stage copyright in 1969 by Lee. DPC won a $2.5 million arbitration against the Lee estate over the issue in 2022.
It's a Sin To Kill a Mockingbird
In the novel, a girl named Scout Finch narrates as her father, Atticus, takes the role of a white defense attorney for a black man accused of raping a white woman in mid-1930s Alabama. While not autobiographical, Lee based the story on events she encountered while her father, an attorney, defended two black men accused of murder in 1919.
The book, aside from a "sequel" of sorts released in 2015 that was perceived by some as a discovered first draft of "To Kill a Mockingbird," was the only novel Harper wrote. Dealing with difficult subjects such as racism, false accusations, and mob justice, it has never gone out of print.
In 1969, Lee granted the original amateur stage copyrights to Chris Sergel of DCP, who published a script in 1970. These rights allowed DCP to license theatrical productions of "To Kill a Mockingbird" at an amateur level, such as in high schools or community theater groups. Sergel's adaptation was also used by the Monroeville citizens in 1990 and for every annual show after that.
Lee refused requests from DCP to mount a Broadway production despite the play's success in large venues in England. When Rudin approached Lee in 2015 with a pitch to bring "To Kill a Mockingbird" to Broadway with a new script penned by "The West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin, she entered into an agreement with Rudin's Rudinplay production company. At the same time, Lee also terminated the grant given to DPC.
Rudin's Atticus LLC became the rights holder. Lee did not survive to see the debut, dying in February 2016.
Rudinplay and the Lee estate had some drama of their own, with both sides filing lawsuits over Sorkin's treatment of Atticus Finch. The suits were settled outside of court and included removing cursing and drinking by Atticus before successfully debuting on Broadway in 2018. However, that wasn't the end of the legal battles.
The Play's the Thing
Sergel's grandson filed suit, claiming that Rudinplay had violated DPC's original stage copyright under the 1976 U.S. Copyright Act. The lawsuit alleged that Rudinplay had forced planned amateur productions close to New York to cancel, causing DPC financial injury.
The lower court ruled that when Lee terminated DPC's grant, it lost all claims to exclusivity from the original agreement. The Second Circuit panel upheld this decision. The judges stated that DPC's interpretation of the Copyright Act would mean that exclusive licenses would never end.
If it was any consolation for DPC, the Appeals panel also vacated and remanded the lower court's ruling that put DPC on the hook for $200,000 in legal fees for Rudinplay. There is no word yet on whether the ruling will affect the 2026 production of "To Kill a Mockingbird" in Monroeville.
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