TURKS & CAICOS SUN
Page 27
JULY 13TH - JULY 20TH, 2013
ENTERTAINMENT
Harper Lee sues over copyrights to “To Kill a Mockingbird” H
arper Lee, the reclusive author of To Kill A Mockingbird, has sued a literary agent, claiming that he tricked the ageing writer into assigning him copyright on the classic book. The move marks a rare step into the spotlight for Lee, who is known for keeping a low profile for such a household name, living quietly in a tiny town in the deep south of America and eschewing almost all media requests. However, in a shock move, 87-year-old Lee has now filed a lawsuit in a Manhattan court alleging that Samuel Pinkus, the son-in-law of Lee’s longtime agent, Eugene Winick, tricked Lee into signing over the copyright on the book. The case claims that Pinkus “engaged in a scheme to dupe” Lee into assigning the copyright without any payment. The ploy is alleged to have taken place in 2007, five years after Winick became ill and Pinkus started diverting some of his clients into his own company. Lee’s lawsuit says Pinkus engineered the transfer of Lee’s rights to secure himself “irrevocable” interest in the income derived from To Kill A Mockingbird. It adds that he also avoided paying legal obligations that he owed to his father-in-law’s company for royalties that Pinkus had allegedly misappropriated. Lee has been suffering declining health for some years and has trouble with her eyesight and hearing. The case reveals that when she signed the document she was living in an assisted-living facility after suffering a stroke. It says she argues that she has no memory of agreeing to relinquish her rights to the book and signing an agreement that memorialises the purported transfer of income. “Pinkus knew that Harper Lee was an elderly woman with physical infirmities that made it dif-
Harper Lee, who wrote one book, To Kill a Mockingbird, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian award.v ficult for her to read and see,” Gloria Phares, Lee’s lawyer, said in the complaint. The suit also reveals that the copyright was reassigned to Lee last year after she took legal action. Though Pinkus then ceased to be Lee’s agent, he was still getting royalties this year, according to the file. So far Pinkus has made no comment on the allegations. Lee is one of the most renowned names in modern fiction. To Kill A Mockingbird is an esteemed part of the American canon, with its tale of racial injustice in the deep south. Framed around a young girl called Scout, it also features her father, heroic lawyer Atticus Finch, as he seeks to prevent an innocent black man from being convicted of rape. The book was published in 1960 to wide acclaim. It won a Pulitzer prize and is a mainstay of literature studies in high schools and universities across America. It has sold more than 30m copies
worldwide and was also made into a classic 1962 film starring Gregory Peck in the role of Finch. A half century after its publication, “To Kill a Mockingbird” still sells more than 750,000 copies a year. In one typical six-month period in 2009, its royalties amounted to more than $1.6 million. However, the book remains Lee’s only published novel, though it is far from the only reason that she became a major literary figure. Lee had an intensely close relationship with Truman Capote, who was a childhood friend. She helped Capote on projects such as his famous real-life crime exploration In Cold Blood and acted as a sort of muse, researcher and confidante for him. But, unlike the gregarious and attention-hungry Capote, Lee has always preferred to remain in the shadows of public life. She has spent most of her life living quietly with her older sister in the small town of Monroeville, Alabama. She has rejected almost all interview requests for the past half-century and, despite keeping an apartment in New York City, has not been a presence on America’s literary circuit. An exception has been an obscure essay contest at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. In 2006 the New York Times wrote a story describing how Lee had agreed to become a judge for the contest, which featured work from young schoolchildren. In one of the only interviews Lee has ever given, the writer told the newspaper about how she was always pleased with the way young people took to her book. “They always see new things in it. And the way they relate it to their lives now is really quite incredible,” she said. Who would have predicted that, in her late 80s, Harper Lee would have to file suit to get the control of “To Kill a Mockingbird” returned to her?
Michael Jackson ‘frightened me’ director tells US court T
he director of Michael Jackson’s planned comeback shows, Kenny Ortega, has broken down in tears while giving evidence at the singer’s wrongful death trial in the US. Ortega said Jackson’s appearance was “very, very troubling” at a rehearsal, days before his death in June 2009. “I saw a Michael that frightened me,” Ortega told the jury. The director was giving evidence for a third day in the case against live event promoter AEG Live. The company is being sued by Jackson’s mother for $40bn (£26bn) over his death. Katherine Jackson claims the company failed to properly investigate her son’s personal doctor, Conrad Murray, and missed warning signs about his failing health as he prepared for his This Is It tour. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after giving Jackson a lethal dose of the anaesthetic propofol in 2009. The company has denied any wrongdoing. Ortega told the jury on Wednesday that, based on Jackson’s condition, he didn’t believe the This Is It concerts could go forward. He said Jackson appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance during at least four rehearsals. The director-choreographer said he was
MICHAEL JACKSON under the impression Jackson’s strange behaviour followed visits to his doctor. The singer’s state was “fairly obvious” to others involved in the production, he added. Jackson also missed several scheduled rehearsals, said Ortega, adding that during a session six days before his death, he was cold, shivering and seemed lost. Ortega, 63, told the court that Jackson improved somewhat as the night went on but wasn’t coherent when he arrived that day. The singer didn’t rehearse that night.
Reading an email he sent to the CEO of concert promoter AEG Live hours after the rehearsal, Ortega shed tears as he described Jackson as a “lost boy”. The director said he sent the email to alert AEG officials about Jackson’s condition and trusted them to get the singer appropriate care. He said he repeatedly called Murray that night, “the doctor who I thought would be the most natural person” to help. “Then I reached out to AEG, Michael’s partners, to make sure they were aware of how I felt and what I saw,” he added. Ortega outlined a tense meeting with Murray the following day, during which Murray assured him and AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips that Jackson was capable of rehearsing. AEG has denied it hired Murray and said there was no way it could have known the doctor was giving Jackson propofol as a sleep aid. Ortega - who directed the High School musical trilogy - is the highest-ranking tour worker to give evidence at the trial and had the most direct contact with AEG executives and Jackson. The trial, currently in its 11th week, is expected to last until the end of July.