To Kill a Mockingbird: The Inside Legal Story on Harper Lee’s Dispute

21 May 2013
She’s been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom; she’s won a Pulitzer Prize; her only novel has sold over 30 million copies and it’s been made into an Academy Award winning film. You would think that Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, would be raking in the royalties and enjoying her golden years following the huge success of her much beloved book. But 87 year old Harper Lee has instead found herself in court, in need of her own Atticus Finch. The author has filed a lawsuit in Manhattan against Samuel Pinkus (amongst others), the son-in-law of her former literary agent.
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Orphans for sale – changes to UK copyright laws

14 May 2013
What do dusty long-forgotten prints in the British Library, your latest Instagram masterpiece and Oliver Twist have in common? Answer: There’s a fair chance they’re all orphans. The term “orphan” is used to describe copyrighted material where the rights holder is not known or cannot be found after conducting a “diligent search”. The UK has passed legislation which aims to enable publishers to use “orphan” works for commercial and non-commercial purposes.
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