A jury has awarded the stepdaughter of author John Steinbeck $13 million after his son blocked lucrative planned movie adaptations by Steven Spielberg and Jennifer Lawrence.
The federal jury agreed Steinbeck’s son Thomas and his widow Gail had blocked remakes of The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden.
Waverly Scott Kaffaga, who was the daughter of Steinbeck’s third wife Elaine, claimed the author’s estate prevented her from making the most out of his copyright.
Author John Steinbeck, pictured with his third wife Elaine, right, wrote novels such as The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men
Waverly Scott Kaffaga, pictured, as executor of her mother’s estate was awarded $13 million
Kaffaga wanted the right to allow new films to be made of her stepfather’s books
Kaffaga sued the estate of stepbrother Thomas Steinbeck, who died last year, his widow, Gail, and their company.
After the verdict, Kaffaga issued a statement in her capacity as executor for the estate of Elaine Steinbeck.
She said: ‘We are pleased with the jury’s verdict that recognizes the Estate’s full control of the rights to John Steinbeck’s works. The outcome upholds the Estate’s mission of sharing his legacy with the world. We are thankful to the members of the jury for their time and service.’
Defense attorney Matthew Berger did not immediately respond Wednesday to messages seeking comment on the jury decision.
The lawsuit followed a decades-long dispute between Thomas Steinbeck and Kaffaga’s mother over control of the author’s works.
Thomas Steinbeck has lost most rounds in court, including a lawsuit he and the daughter of his late brother, John Steinbeck IV, brought that spurred Kaffaga to countersue in the current case.
A judge had already ruled the couple breached a contract with Kaffaga. It was up to the Los Angeles jurors to decide if Thomas and Gail Steinbeck interfered with deals and should pay up.
The jury decided Tuesday in favor of Kaffaga on the remaining issue and awarded her $5.25 million in compensatory damages – plus $7.9 million in punitive damages.
Gail Steinbeck’s lawyer said she never intentionally interfered in deals she and her husband would have benefited from and that would have served their interest promoting the Nobel Prize winner’s legacy.
An attorney for Kaffaga said Gail Steinbeck caught wind of projects and then threatened movie makers that she and her husband had legal rights to the work and also cut secret side deals without notifying Kaffaga.
James Dean, pictured, starred in a 1955 adaptation of Steinbeck’s East of Eden
Steven Spielberg had originally planned to film a remake of The Grapes of Wrath
Actress Jennifer Lawrence, pictured, was also linked to a Steinbeck movie project
In one instance, Thomas Steinbeck secretly signed a $650,000 deal with DreamWorks to be an executive producer on a film remake of ‘The Grapes of Wrath,’ the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel starring Henry Fonda on the silver screen that won two Oscars.
Producers and directors later dropped the remakes because they feared litigation by the Steinbecks, Kaffaga’s attorney Susan Kohlmann said in her opening statement.
Kohlmann put Gail Steinbeck on the witness stand early in the case and displayed emails that she wrote suggesting that a reported remake of ‘East of Eden’ starring Lawrence would be ‘litigation city.’
Another email Gail Steinbeck wrote after her husband lost a related court case in New York suggested litigation wouldn’t end until ‘I draw my last breath.’
Steinbeck laughed off that comment in testimony, saying, ‘Oh, that was silly.’
Berger, the lead defense attorney, noted that Kaffaga was never adopted by John Steinbeck and was not one of his heirs. He said Thomas Steinbeck was a co-owner of his father’s copyright and received royalties.
Gail Steinbeck estimated conservatively that her husband received $120,000 a year in publishing royalties from the author’s work – and as much as $200,000 in some years.
Berger said Kaffaga’s claim had no merit and she wasn’t entitled to any damages because most movies optioned are never made and that estimated revenue from unproduced projects was speculation.