According to a lawsuit, Harper Lee’s agent Samuel Pinkus duped the To Kill a Mockingbird author to assign him the copyright to her only book. An investigation into Lee’s fight to regain the book’s copyright, which continues to earn millions of dollars in royalties:
“His first move was to obtain the copyright to To Kill a Mockingbird, which he did on May 5, 2007, ‘as part of a scheme to secure to himself an irrevocable interest in the income stream from Harper Lee’s copyright and to avoid his legal obligations to M&O under the arbitration decision,’ Lee’s lawsuit contends. ‘Pinkus knew that Harper Lee was an elderly woman with physical infirmities that made it difficult for her to read and see. He also knew that Harper Lee and her sister (and lawyer) relied on and trusted him. Pinkus abused that trust and took advantage of Harper Lee’s physical condition and years of trust built at M&O to engineer the assignment of her copyright in a document that did not even ensure her a contractual right to income.’
“Once Lee signed over her copyright to Pinkus, whether with or without her knowledge, he had the authority to do with her book whatever he pleased. ‘Once the copyright is assigned, you stop being an agent and become the principal,’ Eric Brown, a publishing-law attorney, told me. ‘This applies to all media. As the owner of the copyright in the book, you can make whatever deals you want. You are now Harper Lee.’”
