What would Scout say? 'Mockingbird' author sues agent

The writer who invented one of literature's most famous lawyers may wish he could fight on her behalf.

Harper Lee sued her literary agent on Friday to resecure rights and income to her Pulitzer Prize-winning “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Lee, who at 87 has failing eyesight and hearing, claims Samuel Pinkus, the son-in-law of her former agent, took advantage of her condition to cheat her of royalties, according to a complaint filed in federal court in New York.

Lee said she was residing in an assisted-living facility in 2007 in Monroe-ville, Ala., after suffering a stroke, when she signed a document assigning her copyright to Pinkus' company. Although the copyright was reassigned to Lee last year after legal action and Pinkus was discharged as Lee's agent, he was still receiving royalties from the novel as of this year, according to the complaint.

“Pinkus knew that Harper Lee was an elderly woman with physical infirmities that made it difficult for her to read and see,” Gloria Phares, Lee's lawyer, said in the complaint. “Harper Lee had no idea she had assigned her copyright” to Pinkus' company.

Also named as a defendant is Gerald Posner, an investigative journalist who incorporated one of Pinkus businesses.

“To Kill a Mockingbird,” a story of racial injustice in the South, has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and was made into a film starring Gregory Peck, who played lawyer Atticus Finch.

Lee largely shunned the limelight after “Mockingbird's” publication and never wrote another book.