In the last few lines of To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout tells Atticus that “he was real nice.”  Atticus responds, “[m]ost people are, Scout, when you finally see them.”  I wonder if Harper Lee can now say that about the people involved with her hometown museum. 

You may recall my prior posts (here and here) related to author Harper Lee’s battle with her hometown museum the Monroe County Heritage Museum over use of “TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD” and “HARPER LEE” in connection with clothing and gift items.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier this month, Harper Lee dismissed her lawsuit against the museum wherein she had claimed that the museum was wrongfully using her name and the title of her beloved novel.  In May, she had accused the museum of trying to back out of a settlement that had purportedly been reached earlier this year and sought to have the case reinstated.

Neither side has disclosed the terms of the settlement (which is not unusual).  From looking at the register, it appears that Ms. Harper obtained the right to register the mark TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD for “clothing for men, women and children, namely T-shirts, hats, jackets.”  On June 1, 2014, the museum withdrew its opposition to her application to register the mark.  I am guessing that the museum may have been granted a license of some kind to use the mark in connection with the settlement. Anyone traveling near the Monroe County Heritage Museum in Alabama should stop by the gift shop and let us know.