In his blog "The Reinigorated Programer: Everything Except Sauropod Vertebrae" Mike Taylor argues that To Kill a Mockingbird's copyright is example of when copyright backfires. "The purpose of copyright is not to reward authors (or, more often these days, copyright holders who are not authors but acquirers). It's to benefit society," (Taylor). To Kill a Mockingbird was first published in 1960, and the earliest of US copyright laws stated that it would only be in copyright for 14 years unless the author, Harper Lee, chose to renew it. This means that work would have stayed under copyright until 1988. "In other words, even had its copyright been renewed, To Kill a Mockingbird would now have been in the public domain for more than a quarter of a century," (Taylor). Instead, Taylor argues, the book stayed under copyright, and Lee contiuned to collect royalties, and "Mockingbird became her meal-ticket for life," (Taylor). He believes this is the reason that Lee never wrote a book. Now this post was written in 2014, so maybe he would have taken a different approach a year later when it was announced that Lee's book Go Set a Watchman was going to be published.
One reason as to why Lee never wrote another book was mentioned in the comments section of blog post. Commentor Andrew Dalke states "We have a good idea of her reasons [for never writing another book], and they contradict your belief. I'll quote from the Wikipedia article on her: Butts alos shared that Lee told him why she never wrote again, "Two reasons: one, I wouldn't go through the pressure and publicity I went through with To Kill a Mockingbird for any amount of money. Second, I have said what I wanted to say and I will not say it again," (Taylor). Granted the writer of the comment is quoting an article from Wikipedia, but it a well known fact that Lee was a private person. It is very possible that she never wrote again because of how presssured she felt after her first work became an instant bestseller.
Lee was also willing to fight to protect the copyright for her book. In the last couple of years of her life she was involved in a court battle "claiming her agent essentially stole the copyright for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about racial injustic in the South," (Fuchs). While the case was settled it came up again when it was announced that Lee's work Go Set a Watchman was to be published. No matter how you look at it Lee's tale about copyright is a "cautionary tale for....artists whose agents might be taking advantage of them-even though they're supposed to be acting on their behalf," (Fuchs).
Sources:
Fuchs, E. (2016, February 19). The Heartbreaking Story of How Harper Lee Claimed She Was Robbed of the Copyright to Her Iconic Novel. Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.com/harper-lee-dead-death-lawsuit-to-kill-mockingbird-2016-2.
M Taylor. (2014, May 7). To Kill a Mockingbird is a fine exampel of how copyright is failing us all. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://reprog.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/to-kill-a-mockingbird-is-a-fine-example-of-how-copyright-is-failing-us-all/
One reason as to why Lee never wrote another book was mentioned in the comments section of blog post. Commentor Andrew Dalke states "We have a good idea of her reasons [for never writing another book], and they contradict your belief. I'll quote from the Wikipedia article on her: Butts alos shared that Lee told him why she never wrote again, "Two reasons: one, I wouldn't go through the pressure and publicity I went through with To Kill a Mockingbird for any amount of money. Second, I have said what I wanted to say and I will not say it again," (Taylor). Granted the writer of the comment is quoting an article from Wikipedia, but it a well known fact that Lee was a private person. It is very possible that she never wrote again because of how presssured she felt after her first work became an instant bestseller.
Lee was also willing to fight to protect the copyright for her book. In the last couple of years of her life she was involved in a court battle "claiming her agent essentially stole the copyright for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about racial injustic in the South," (Fuchs). While the case was settled it came up again when it was announced that Lee's work Go Set a Watchman was to be published. No matter how you look at it Lee's tale about copyright is a "cautionary tale for....artists whose agents might be taking advantage of them-even though they're supposed to be acting on their behalf," (Fuchs).
Sources:
Fuchs, E. (2016, February 19). The Heartbreaking Story of How Harper Lee Claimed She Was Robbed of the Copyright to Her Iconic Novel. Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.com/harper-lee-dead-death-lawsuit-to-kill-mockingbird-2016-2.
M Taylor. (2014, May 7). To Kill a Mockingbird is a fine exampel of how copyright is failing us all. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://reprog.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/to-kill-a-mockingbird-is-a-fine-example-of-how-copyright-is-failing-us-all/