My film... copyright laws.

crzyns

crzyns

Active member
I am an indie filmmaker who, in a couple of months time will start shooting a new movie. I have written the script etc.... (EVERYTHING)...

I'm looking at buying a shotgun mic, getting final cut pro etc. for it, so I'm going to spend a bit of money on it.
With that in mind, I was going to have a little film premiere at school (I'm still a student), and have $2 entry- to get back some of the money I spent.

After a recent talk with a friend, she claimed that this would be illegal, as I have used some characters originally from nintendo in the film.

Please, is this? What can I do about it? (write to nintendo and ask for permission?)

Thanks!!!
 
Characters cannot be copyrighted however they can be trademarked, so simply don't mention their names and make them look a little different.

If it's a parody or you're making fun of the characters -- then you can do what you want.
 
I'm guessing he's using actual footage of the TV screen showing the characters. Is that right?

If that's the case, then yes -- you're violating the law.
 
If you're using someone else's world, characters, situations, and settings, then you're probably treading into the realm of a "derivative work". Which basically means, no, you can't make your own Super Mario film, you can't make your own Star Trek film, etc.

Sometimes people don't enforce the law when it's for a non-commercial purpose (Lucas lets people make Star Wars fan films, for example) but that doesn't mean the law doesn't exist, and it doesn't mean that Nintendo would let you get away with it.
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
I'm guessing he's using actual footage of the TV screen showing the characters. Is that right?

If that's the case, then yes -- you're violating the law.
Click to expand...
No, she's not using actual footage- all our own footage! The situations, script etc. is all original, just not the characters... in some parts it's kind of a parody.
 
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