Judge Reinstates ‘Mockingbird’ Author’s Suit Against Museum

A federal judge ruled Thursday that To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee can renew her legal battle with a museum in her Alabama hometown that she claims reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars from unauthorized exploitation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Reuters reports.

The 88-year-old author and the Monroe County Heritage Museum had reached an out-of-court agreement in February, but a lawyer for Ms. Lee recently filed court papers seeking to reinstate the suit, alleging the museum has attempted to change the settlement terms. A lawyer for the institution declined to comment.

In a federal suit filed in October, Ms. Lee asserted that she should get a licensing fee for the use of her novel’s title and related imagery on merchandise sold at the museum, which is located in a former courthouse that was a model for scenes in the movie. The judge set a November 2014 trial date for the case.