Producer Can Stage Sorkin’s ‘Mockingbird’, 2nd Cir. Affirms (1)

A producer can license writer Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird” beyond Broadway without infringing the rights of a company that previously had its exclusive stage rights terminated, the Second Circuit affirmed Tuesday.

A lower court rightly rejected Dramatic Publishing Co.'s argument that a derivative works exception to termination preserved not just its right to use its script but also its ability to block others, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said. Dramatic’s reading that it retained its prior exclusivity would fundamentally undercut the law giving creators the right to terminate a copyright grant after ...