John August

Rights and Copyright

Slandering historical figures

QandA, Rights and Copyright

I am writing a spec script that deals with an actual person who lived years ago. I have fictionalized many events in his life and now part of me is wondering if this is legal? Think in [Titanic](http://imdb.com/title/tt0120338/combined), [James Cameron](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000116/) didn’t get John Jacob Astor’s permission to recreate him, give him words, and actions, in the film? How does that work? Is creative license totally creative? If you veer from the truth to exaggerate your story, is that technically slander?

–Matt

Not if the person in question is dead.

Generally, slander refers to things you say, whereas libel refers to things you write. Either way, dead people can’t do anything about it, and the heirs aren’t allowed to sue on their behalf.

Certainly, whenever you are dealing with living people, or recently living people, you’ll want to be careful. There may be some hidden landmines. For instance, an estate may have control over a celebrity’s voice or likeness (think Marilyn Monroe). And copyright still applies. If Cameron based Titanic on Astor’s private diaries, the estate would have reason to go after him.

Dead copyright holders, and being too young

QandA, Rights and Copyright

I read the section on your site pertaining to copyrights and adapting a book or novel to a screenplay.  My only question is, if the copyright hasn’t expired, but the author died some time ago, what is one to do?  I’ve started the adaptation, but I don’t know if I should continue due to my uncertainty. 

Also, I’m a young screenwriter, a teenager, and although I’m confident in my writing, will my age hold me back from breaking into the world of screenwriting?  Thank you very much for your time.

–Brandon
New York City

When an author dies, the copyright passes on to his heirs. For instance, Roald Dahl wrote *Charlie and the Chocolate Factory*. He died in 1990, but in order to make a movie version of his book, Warner Bros. had to negotiate with the executors of his estate to obtain the rights.

In your case, someone, somewhere owns the rights you seek. In all likelihood, the publisher is sending royalty checks to someone, so the standard advice (call the publisher’s “sub-rights” department) still holds.

[Reminder: It’s copyright, not *copywrite*; the past tense is copyrighted, not *copywritten.* I changed the spelling in Brandon’s question because it hurt my eyes. And yes, there is such a word as copywriter, but that’s a person who writes copy for advertising.]

As for your second question, yes, your age may hold you back from breaking into the world of screenwriting. But guess what? You’ll get older. Age is the only quality which increases without any effort on your part.

Getting rights when the story is based on actual events

QandA, Rights and Copyright

When doing research for a screenplay based upon an actual event, using various sources, at what point do you have to give credit or get rights?

–Melissa

The underlying issue here is “public domain.” Any writer is free to use the cold hard facts of an actual event, be it a Pennsylvania mine fire or the rescue of Jessica Lynch. Setting aside issues of defamation and the ill-defined rights of publicity/privacy — complications that may or may not apply — you have quite a bit of freedom to tell whatever story you choose. That is, as long as you’re sticking to the facts themselves, and not someone’s interpretation of these facts. But the dividing line is not always crystal-clear.

As an example, the recent film SHATTERED GLASS, which tells the story of disgraced journalist Stephen Glass, is based on the Vanity Fair article of the same name written by Buzz Bissinger. The article is non-fiction. But Bissinger’s interpretation and structuring of the real-life events — his storytelling — was meaningful, and the forces behind making the movie decided to buy the rights to his article and have their movie be “based on the article by…” rather than just “based on actual events.” (See earlier columns for discussion on how murky the definition of “actual events” can be.)

Could you write another movie about Stephen Glass without owning the rights to that article? Absolutely. TV movies do it all the time. The details surrounding the Glass case are widely available, and as long as you’re not using another writer’s interpretation of the events, you’re pretty well protected.

That said, a producer may decide to get someone’s rights anyway. Many times, producers will want to “lock up” a key figure’s film rights just to scare off rivals. For instance, if Producer A owns Jessica Lynch’s “life rights” (an incredibly vague term that’s used all the time, unfortunately), that doesn’t preclude Producer B from making a movie with a Jessica Lynch character. But it makes life for Producer B much more difficult. While Producer A has much more latitude in his portrayal of Lynch, Producer B must stick to whatever facts are generally known. That makes telling a compelling story more challenging.

Do you need permission to use a quotation?

QandA, Rights and Copyright

If when writing a screenplay, you use a quote from a live person that you saw in a magazine article, do you need to get the rights from either the person or magazine?

–Russell

I should always preface these answers with: “I’m not a lawyer, so I could be wrong…” But I don’t.

I can imagine two different instances where this might come up. The first is when you’re using the quoted material in reference to the speaker himself. So if your scene has dialogue like:

TOM
Why sell yourself short? As Donald Trump says, “As long as you’re going to think anyway, think big.”

In this case, you’re attributing the quote to its creator. In my personal, non-lawyer opinion, you’re pretty well protected without getting any additional permissions from anyone. The only thing to watch out for is that the comment couldn’t be seen as defamatory in the context you’re using it. For instance, an otherwise innocuous quote used as a racist insult should set off red flags.

Another scenario might be using a quote without attributing its source. Here it gets a little stickier. For instance:

UNCLE PHIL
You can put wings on a pig, but you don’t make it an eagle.

It’s a somewhat funny line. It’s also a direct quote from former president Bill Clinton. While someone of his stature probably wouldn’t have the inclination to hunt down a screenwriter who stole his line, another man with more time on his hands just might. The question of fair use certainly has some merit here, though it’s hard to say exactly how you’d go about documenting your legitimate usage. An on-screen footnote? A bibliography printed on the back of the ticket?

Honestly, it doesn’t come up that much. While we’re all familiar with ugly cases of plagiarism in which book authors have lost a lot of esteem, that’s just not the movie business. My advice — which tends to be my advice for most of the rights-oriented questions I get — is to do whatever you need for your script. At the time anyone expresses interest in making a real movie out of it, bring up these concerns with whomever is handling the legal affairs on the film. Let lawyers handle the law. You have plenty to worry about as a mere screenwriter.