Harper Lee Estate Sues Broadway Interpretation of To Kill a Mockingbird
In a June 2015 agreement, author Harper Lee granted the production company Rudinplay, owned by Scott Rudin, the option to acquire the worldwide stage rights for To Kill a Mockingbird for $100,000, subject to Lee’s right of approval regarding the selection of a playwright, as well as the right to review and comment on the script. The agreement also provided that the play could not “derogate or depart in any manner from the spirit of the Novel, nor alter its characters.” Lee approved Rudin’s choice of playwright, but died before she could approve of the play’s first draft.
The representative of Harper Lee’s estate, Tonja Carter, sued the producer alleging that he violated the terms of the licensing agreement. She alleges that the play’s script drastically altered the character of the iconic defense attorney Atticus Finch (who is to be played by Jeff Daniels), changed the way the Finch’s children spoke, expanded the role of the housekeeper, Calpurnia, and even added two new characters. She also claims that Rudin’s responses to the estate objections were insufficient.
Rudin and Rudinplay countersued for $10 million, alleging Carter was attempting to default the play into cancellation by throwing the production off the required timeline for Rudinplay to exercise its option to acquire the novel’s live stage rights set forth in the 2015 agreement. Rudin not only asked the court to rule quickly as to not throw the production off schedule, but also declared that the court should see the play in all its entirety before they could determine if it was in the spirit of the beloved book.
The court declined, but ordered them to create and submit a filmed version of the play before the trial. The parties settled amicably in May before a filmed version was submitted.
See Amanda DiChello, Harper Lee Estate Sues Broadway Interpretation of To Kill a Mockingbird, At Your Bequest, August 3, 2018.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.) for bringing this article to my attention.