2 Copyright questions

J

jdkhanlian

Active member
1. I want to have a character use an excerpt from a Hunter S. Thompson book as a voiceover for a film I am doing. It is a short passage... a few sentences long. I would be using these sentences in a different context then how they are used in Hunter's book; I am not taking the plot or the character ideas that Hunter S. Thompson used. Do I need legal permission to do this or can I just recognize the source in the credits?

2. Say somebody makes a discovery in the scientific community and opens up a new area of research. Can I have a character that makes this discovery in a film? This character wouldn't be the person in real life; I am not making a movie on the scientist. I am just taking their work and giving it to a character in the movie and making it his discovery. Is this allowed?

Does anyone know a good source for copyright related questions when it comes to screenplay writing?
 
You definitely need permission for the first.

In my opinion, the second sounds more like a trademark issue than copyright, and would depend on how specific the area of scientific research is, and if there are any trademarks or patents on the topic.

Though if you are taking words or concepts directly from published scientific papers, then yes you would definitely need permission from the copyright holder.
 
A legal consultation on the 2nd point would be a good idea.

I've seen some really wild connections made to historic occurrences, situations and even inventions in recent filmed entertainment - stuff that you know is inaccurate the moment you see it.

Forrest Gump is an example of a fictitious character thrust into factual set-ups, where he often interacts with the outcome of history itself - so there is precedence for doing this. The question is whether major news events, everyday products and so on somehow live in a gray area of public domain, making them open and available for a reinterpretation of facts.

My bet is that brands and products are going to be one thing, and news or historic events would be another. Like saying your character invented penicillin versus having fought at Guadalcanal.
 
Yeah, 1) is definitely a copyright issue in most countries, including USA I believe.

2) might be. If your film seriously implies that your character invented X, then the real inventor of X could have good cause to sue. But if it's done in a clearly fictional way, and does nothing to imply your character might even possibly be based on the real inventor, you'd probably be ok. (That doesn't stop you from getting sued though! :( )
 
Thanks for the responses.

I think I will rework the Hunter S. Thompson quote and mold it into my own words to avoid any copyright issues. I would prefer to use the exact quote as an homage to Hunter, but I guess it's not worth the worries.

As for the second copyright concern, I think I am not going to worry about that as much since the discoveries are mathematical/scientific and it seem more like public domain. Also, chances are that it won't matter in the end since the project, most likely, won't be a blockbuster.:)
 
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