Film rights to a property (or, how do I know who owns the rights?)

Chris Johnston

Chris Johnston

Veteran
Weird question...Is there any way (on line database, legal queries, etc) to see or find out who currently owns film rights?

exp. If I wanted to see who owns the rights to shoot Steven Kings last book...any way to find out without contacting Steven Kings rep?
or, Morgan freeman has been trying to get rendezvous with rama made for years. I would assume maybe he has the rights. any way to find out?
or, well, you the idea... help?
 
The Publisher controls the work, and I suppose if you sound professionally interested they will probably be quick to let you know. But make sure you represent yourself as a potential buyer before asking anything.
 
Chris Johnston said:
Weird question...Is there any way (on line database, legal queries, etc) to see or find out who currently owns film rights?

exp. If I wanted to see who owns the rights to shoot Steven Kings last book...any way to find out without contacting Steven Kings rep?
or, Morgan freeman has been trying to get rendezvous with rama made for years. I would assume maybe he has the rights. any way to find out?
or, well, you the idea... help?
Click to expand...

Adaptation rights are somewhat complex. There's no 'central clearing house'... similarly for music...

My advice is to stick with books printed before 1923.

Anything after that most likely if you are asking that question in this forum (which 'cinematography' may not be the 'right' forum...), you don't have the funds to really get rights for books printed after 1923, given the amount of lawyring required to figure out who has the rights, and payments to any copyright holder found.
 
Ask author, if you can.. There is not 100% that he sold all the rights to the publisher; so probably he/she still owns film adaptetion rights..
 
No, there's no way to know for sure without just asking around. Once you find the owner, it's common to ask for proof that they're the owner. They'll provide you with a proof of copyright or chain of ownership.
 
j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
My advice is to stick with books printed before 1923.
.
Click to expand...

I asked out of curiosity mostly, but I'm curious what it would take to get rights to an Arthur Clark or Phillip K Dick novel. (or any other well established writer...) I seem to remember 20 years ago hearing something about Steven King selling film rights to any of his books for $1...although now that he's well established I don't think that would happen any more.

So, you're saying that any books published before 1923 are considered a "public domain" kind of thing? Bram Stroker Dracula is public and anyone can film it? war of the worlds?
 
Chris Johnston said:
I asked out of curiosity mostly, but I'm curious what it would take to get rights to an Arthur Clark or Phillip K Dick novel. (or any other well established writer...) I seem to remember 20 years ago hearing something about Steven King selling film rights to any of his books for $1...although now that he's well established I don't think that would happen any more.

So, you're saying that any books published before 1923 are considered a "public domain" kind of thing? Bram Stroker Dracula is public and anyone can film it? war of the worlds?
Click to expand...

The $1 Steven King deal I believe is extended to 'students' for 'short film' adaptations. It is not a general offer for anyone to pickup his material and make a feature out of it.

Here's the URL that may describe the option better, and what works are available:

http://stephenking.com/dollarbabies.php

In the US, 1923 is the watershed date, where the copyrights have all expired for the works, and hence are in the Public Domain. There may be other countries which have different laws, but I think this date holds for most of the copyright convention countries, with a few exceptions. (Like "Peter Pan" in the UK... as well as the King James version of the Bible...).

But you should consult a intellectual property lawyer if you want to adapt a work that was published in the last century or so. Just a note, translations are copyrighted, and so, while the original work may be milllennia old... the translation may be later than 1923, and hence copyrights may apply.

Since I read German, once read Greek and Latin, I can look in the distant past for either translations or original language works to adapt, for example the Tales of Hoffmann, or similar 'german' horror stories... including the Grimms tales, as I can read them in German and I can easily find a 'old printed' copy... For Greek and Latin, I'd go to Perseus at Tufts for copies of original Greek/Latin texts, as well as some Public Domain translations.

Clark and Dick works are pretty much 'hot properties' and I would imagine their agents and estate executives are pretty vicious on defending the rights of the works in their trust.

Harlen Ellison is also now more of a 'sue and ask questions later' type, and unfortunately a large amount of 60's 'sci-fi/tales-of-the-wyrd' has his contribution, and while one may not be aware that he has written a story in a certain manner, the story may have become part of the collective consciousness and he will 'sue' even if he loses...

I would support Steven King any day given his $1 option... I've been boycotting adaptions of Ellison's works if I realize they are derived from him.
 
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