The court battle pitched the novelist’s granddaughter, Blake Smyle, and his son Thomas Steinbeck against Penguin Books and Paramount Pictures. Thomas Steinbeck had alleged that he was the victim of “a 30-year conspiracy to deprive John Steinbeck’s blood heirs”. The judge argued that American copyright law acknowledges the reality that young authors could not know in advance “the high stature they would attain” and that it was therefore fair to allow them or their descendants to renegotiate copyright agreements. He based his decision in part on a law passed in 1998 after the death of the singer and American congressmen Sonny Bono, which gives added powers to the descendants of original creators. "My clients’ primary concern here is to protect and preserve the legacy of John Steinbeck,” the lawyer for the family, Mark Lee, told reporters. “They are gratified that the judge recognised the correctness of their position."Įven assuming the ruling survives any appeal, it would not take immediate effect.
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