Any Entertainment type attorneys out there?

Capt Quirk

Capt Quirk

Veteran
I'm currently working on a project that is based on the Cinderella fairy tale. I did a little research of my own, and discovered that the story itself is around 1,000 years old, and has been told and retold many times. So far, the story itself is open. However, just because Walt Disney doesn't own the story, it does have rights to certain elements.

How do I find out exactly what they have rights to?
 
Anything not in the original story. At least the parts they came up with.

The problem will be that their coloration might affect your interpretation.

If you want to find out what they added/changed, you'll have to backtrack them

A lawyer won't be much help there, I don't think.

Your best bet is to work from Grimm. They gathered the stories word-of-mouth, and are probably the most easily findable written versions.
 
Problem with that is, the story started in China around 800 AD. By the time it reached the Brothers, it changed quite a bit due to ethnic tastes. The Brothers Grimm rewrote it 2 or 3 hundred years ago? Without reading every version, it's hard to see what was changed in the Disney version.

I mean, the songs and the animals friends are definately his addition. But if it is copyrighted, the copyright office has to have a list suitable changes from the original stories first, right?
 
All the Copyright office will probably have is a copy of the film and/or the script, unless Disney derived their version from a copyrighted work.
 
Thanks for your thoughts, and I will certainly dust off a copy of the Grimm's work. At this point, I'm thinking that I am free to use everything in my story, because there is almost no resemblance to the Disney work.

Unfortunately, there are still some holes in my story, one of which I was hoping to fill with the step sisters picking on Cindy. I wanted to have them mocking her, by calling her "Cindy Rella, Cindy Rella". You think that might fly? I mean, the name Cinderella comes from the French "Cendrillon", which roughly means somebody who overcomes their sorry lot in life. I'm not using the rest of the music or lyrics, just Cindy Rella.
 
On that I have not an inkling. I'd avoid it, though.

Rember: Disney is who convince Congress to change the copyright law in the first place. And they're not known for being understanding about even the little things.
 
I know all about that! I remember a daycare getting sued for having painted Mickey and his friends on their walls. But, this is why I ask, because this is a bit of a grey area. Again, thanks for letting me bounce this around with you.
 
In 1960 Jerry Lewis made a film entitled "Cinderfella".

If you're taking artisitic license with the premise and characters, then it sure looks like it's open season.
 
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