Posted on March 9, 2019 at 4:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

One more angry read for today, to get you in the proper mood for losing an hour of the weekend tomorrow.

The New York Times reported yesterday that the publisher of the original To Kill a Mockingbird play will seek compensation and legal vindication from Harper Lee’s estate.

Christopher Sergel III, president of Dramatic Publishing Company and the grandson of the author of the first adaptation, said the Lee estate made “false statements” to theaters seeking to produce Dramatic’s play.

At issue is a clause in a 1969 contract between Dramatic Publishing Company and Lee that forbids productions of the Sergel play within twenty-five miles of certain-sized cities while “a ‘first-class dramatic play’ based on the novel is playing in New York or on tour.”

Broadway producer Scott Rubin had invoked that clause in threatening legal action against theaters staging the Sergel play, then walked back his threats and said the shows could go on.

Read more about Sergel’s legal complaints in the Times.

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