CAN I USE THAT?

William from NYC asks:copyright gif

I’ve been playing with the idea of writing a spec screenplay based loosely on an obscure made for TV movie. I’ve done some searching and haven’t come across any production of it or future production of it. Should I just write my screenplay that will probably bear very little resemblance to this film anyway?

[Disclaimer: Nothing contained on this website should be interpreted as specific legal advice. You need to consult with an attorney about your specific situation for that. This is just thoughts on a weblog.]

I am assuming your question relates to whether you have the legal right to create and sell such a screenplay. The answer depends upon what you mean by “based loosely on”. Although much is written about the laws protecting intellectual property, in practice, the extent to which the influence of a prior work is protected from subsequent use is a grey area. While the law seeks to protect the owners of intellectual property from unauthorized use, it also seeks to protect the free-flow of ideas. No idea is actually “original”. Rather, all ideas are inspired by other ideas. The question is, when does “inspiration” become “theft.” Here are the basic rules applicable to your situation.

The literary material upon which the television movie is based (the screenplay or teleplay) is protected by copyright, as is the television movie itself. However, U.S. copyright protection protects only “the expression of ideas” and not the ideas themselves. In a practical sense, that means a story about a heist during a hurricane does not violate the copyright of another story about a heist during a hurricane unless it borrows specific expressions of that idea, such as characters, plot elements, dialogue, or other concrete manifestations of the idea. Here is an extreme example of a work that clearly violates a prior work’s copyright.

In your case, whether you can legally create and sell such a screenplay will depend upon what aspect of the original teleplay or television movie you use. If it is as general as a general idea for the story, you are likely safe. If you intend to borrow plot elements, characters, or dialogue, then you are more likely to have a problem. If, as you say, your screenplay will bear little resemblance to the teleplay, then it will be an original work and the fact that you were inspired by this previous work will be of no legal significance. I suggest that, from the outline stage up, you look to make sure you have not borrowed plot, dialogue, characters or other elements from this prior work that inspired you.

6 thoughts on “CAN I USE THAT?”

  1. I’m glad to see you back and posting (nice site revision, BTW!). You have one of the best writer’s blogs around.

    I agree. It all depends on how particular/protective the original scribes (of your loosely borrowed idea) are, and how much legal ground they have in defending it against your work. I guess one way

    In my writing, I strive for originality. One of my most confounding traits (at least in art school, so many years ago) is a marked reluctance — a drive to never copy something else. I always find a way to make something my own, or to abandon it entirely in favor of my own idea(s). So far, I’ve been lucky… as I don’t believe any of my specs resemble anyone else’s.

    Time will tell.

    Best Regards,
    ~Devin

  2. Oops…

    I left a sentense fragment in my previous post! Here is my completed point:

    I guess one way around this would be to pitch your idea as a sequel, with some of the same characters (actors) written in, but then take it in an all new and entirely different direction (much like James Cameron did for “ALIENS”).

  3. Devin — I’m with you on this one. I try not to be derivative in my work. This was an idea that came to me and seemed like a fun idea to explore, material I don’t usually work with. The more I develop it, the more I realize it has so little to do with the original television movie that it seems like the movie was just a springboard for something else entirely. I think that is pretty common when you get that original spark of a story, as it develops it rarely resembles what you started with.

  4. Is it legal to write and attempt to sell a screenplay of a sequel to a movie without being asked by anyone in the industry?

  5. Is it legal/illegal to write and attempt to sell a screenplay of a sequel to a movie without being asked by anyone in the industry?

  6. What I have seen in terms of computer system memory is that often there are specific features such as SDRAM, DDR and so on, that must match the specs of the motherboard. If the computer’s motherboard is rather current and there are no computer OS issues, upgrading the memory space literally normally requires under 1 hour. It’s one of several easiest pc upgrade types of procedures one can think about. Thanks for discussing your ideas.

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