Court Rejects Appeal by Steinbeck Heirs
Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF reporting in The New York Times, Published: May 18, 2009


The Supreme Court will not hear an appeal filed by a son and a granddaughter of John Steinbeck, who were seeking rights to his “Grapes of Wrath” and other early works, The Associated Press reported.

In 2006 a United States District Court in New York ruled that the son, Thomas Steinbeck, and the granddaughter, Blake Smyle, should be granted the rights to 10 Steinbeck novels, including “Of Mice and Men” and “Tortilla Flat.” They said they had filed a notice of termination that had ended a 1994 agreement between Penguin Books and Elaine Steinbeck, the author’s widow, who died in 2003. But last year the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled unanimously that the 1994 agreement could not be terminated by John Steinbeck’s biological heirs.