Aaron Sorkin’s ‘Mockingbird’ Adaptation Draws Licensing Suit (1)

The production company that oversaw acclaimed writer Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway adaptation of the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” wants a Manhattan federal court to rule that it also has the right to license the play to local theaters and amateur productions, a Wednesday lawsuit said.

Atticus LLC alleges that The Dramatic Publishing Co., which obtained the exclusive rights to make a stage adaptation of the novel more than a half-century ago, can’t stop the new presentation from touring across the country because Dramatic Publishing’s rights to the play were terminated.

“To Kill a Mockingbird,” published in 1960 by Harper Lee, ...