Novel Adaptation... legal questions

[Yoshua Ben Yosef]

I am adapting a piece of a novel (51 pages in the middle of a 1200 page book) as an exercise. I don't expect to ever see it produced, to ever get paid; I am just doing it to teach myself how to write a screenplay. But I do have a few questions:

1. Could I give it out for free online? I assume it is something like fan fiction (which may or may not be legal), but since it will have actual dialogue and happenings from the books perhaps that changes something...
2. Even though I don't own any rights to the story, would it be legally acceptable to use it as an example script?
3. I think it might be fun to show the script to the author of the book to see what he thinks of it. Should I just contact his publisher or is there anything I should to first to make sure he can't sue me?

Thanks,

JC

[GirlinGray]

No you may not give out an unauthorized adaptation of an existing literary property you do not own online for free for pay or otherwise. You do not own the source material, the author who created the source material owns the source material and with it the right to adapt and/or publish in print and/or online. And if the author doesn't, a publishing house does that very well may stomp you into oblivion with nice lawyers publishing houses keep on retainer for the express purpose of protecting their literary investments and revenues.

You could possibly use it as a writing sample however people will look at you cross eyed for being dumb enough to adapat and distribute material you do not own and an adaptation of someone else's work, as far as samples go, is not a great sample because adapting someone else's work does not demonstrate you can create characters, plot, worlds, or stories. It just demonstrates you can play around with other people's characters, plot, worlds, stories, etc.

I am not sure you know what you are getting into contacting an author to show him or her you "borrowed" his or her work. Authors do not always think you are doing them a favor "borrowing" their work, some of them feel like they own their own creations and you should keep your little paws to yourself. It depends on the author. Some may be flattered. If it were me, I would quash you like a bug.

[Yoshua Ben Yosef]

I didn't think I would be able to give it out. I was just checking.

It still demonstrates writing ability. On top of that, there are writers who make a living by adapting books for the screen. Perhaps I want to do that (I don't, but this *would* be a good sample for that).

I don't really see why an author would be mad about a person adapting his work as a writing exercise. If you ask me, you'd have to be somewhat of a jerk to "quash [someone] like a bug" for showing you a piece that they haven't shown to anyone else and wrote simply for fun. Personally, I would be one of those authors who would be flattered. Then again, I work in the computer game industry, where user (or, reader) modification is usually encouraged.

Mainly I am just writing this to figure out how to format a screenplay and learn a little about scene dynamics. I have never written a script before and this is just a learning exercise. Thank god for Sophocles, or I might have killed myself by now with all the margin setting that goes in to formatting a script.

-JC

[Bill Marquardt]

Yoshua - A good way to see how scripts are written is to go to Drew's Script-o-Rama and download some screenplays from movies you are familiar with. There is a link to Drew's on the Done Deal Links page, accessible from the home page. The downloads are free.

I would listen to GiG and not send a copy of your "exercise" to the author of the original work. Some people are indeed very protective of their intellectual property.

[Yoshua Ben Yosef]

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'll just keep it to myself (at least until I am rich and can purcahse the rights, heh heh). That's why you guys are the experts. ;)

I have one more question though. What about a book like Treasure Island: A Novel by Justin Scott (an updated version of Treasure Island that basically follows the exact same plot as the original but sets it in the 1950s)? That, according to Scott, started as a writing exercise and evolved into an entire book. I doubt he thought about purchasing the rights from Robert Louis-Stevenson's estate when he started the project for fun. Yet he still showed it to his publisher. What makes that kosher and adapting a book to the screen without the rights (perhaps to show to a producer who might want to help you purchase them) taboo? It seems to be about the same thing to me.

Or do older works like Treasure Island eventually become "public domain" and no one owns the rights?

-JC

[Nemesis Unbound]

Yoshua,

Older works do pass into public domain, this link might be helpful, although I would do research into any particular work before assuming such status.

www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm (http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm)

[Yoshua Ben Yosef]

Thanks for the help!

[GirlinGray]

Anyone not familiar with the word "plagiarism" go look it up right now.

[RPM323]

Hey GiG, is that word anywhere near 'defenestrate' in the dictionary? (wink)

Yoshua... if you want to 'practice' writing scenes for screenplays, why not write some original ones after reading a few screenplay of films you enjoyed. You'll probably find the 'learning experience' and sense of accomplishment are much higher from something you came up with yourself. Just a suggestion.

--rpm

[GirlinGray]

Sheesh what sass.

[RPM323]

No GiG, that wasn't 'sass', it was... uh, umm... an in-joke I thought you'd rather enjoy. And in my world, you ARE enjoying it... your laughter is echoing off Puget Sound... we can hear it all the way down here in LA.

Has Ricky Martin commandeered all the networks for the next 24 hours? Yeesh... he's everywhere.

rpm

[Dragonslayer02]

Hey, I learned a new word today. Thanks, RPM.

Cool. This is better than Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood.
N - Defenestration is illegal in certain countries.

V - Realizing I have many more pages to write tonight, I defenestrate several heavy objects.

[GirlinGray]

Jeez, we have to trade programming, RP. A psychic guy has commandeered programming up here. Every time I turn on the TV, it is him or the religious woman with unfortunate hair. Ricky Martin is not my type but at least he has cute hair dagnabbit.

Watch, now I will marry Ricky Martin and be eternally embarassed. The world has a way of coming back at me like that.

[RPM323]

Ricky's hair is in the eye of the beholder (and lately, personally I think it's a bit unfortunate). If you marrying Ricky is a way of the world getting back at you GiG, then take comfort in the fact there's probably much worse ways for it to do so. He may not be your type, but you could probably get used to him. Especially if he were to coo 'Livin' La Vida Loca' in your ear every night right before bed. (Wait, that may cause a person to defenestrate themself... scratch that.)

Trade programming? Maybe... I'm thinkin' a psychic guy and religous zealot might be an improvement at this point. Or not... sigh.

--RpM

[GirlinGray]

Oh you just think it would be an improvement becuase you have not seen the unfortunate hair. We are talking seriously unfortunte hair. I wear a baseball cap when my hair does not even look half this unfortunate. This is hair so unfortunate -- argh!

[Yoshua Ben Yosef]

Ok, now I am just confused. Who's hair is what what in the when now?

I just always thought this part of the book would make a good short film, so I thought as a fun little exercise I would see if I could turn it into a screenplay. It's not plagiarism (which, since you really wanted the definition is "a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work") because I am not claiming credit to this at all, I am not trying to sell, or produce it or anything of that nature. I am simply doing it for fun. I only asked the questions I did here to see who I could legal show it to.

RPM323: After I finish this little project, I am sure I will write some screenplays of my own (or at least attempt to). I figure I will be a pro at formatting and have a little more insight into scene dynamics and the fine art of character interaction.

Again, thanks for all the help, however cynical it was at times ;)

[Dragonslayer02]

Yoshua,
I hear what you're saying. It's like someone in a college class getting chewed out for writing a short story based on a poem. If you don't sell the work and you site the source material, you are legally fine. No harm. No foul. Would you piss off the writer of the poem or in your case the novelist? Depends. You heard the posts.

People are just cynical, because the question has been asked several times. Nothing personal.

BTW It takes a lot of practice to become a pro at format. I get your drift that you'll know the basics, but knowing how to use format as a professional does takes time. Oh, and I'd back RPM on thinking about doing your own original work. At least you could use that without fear of a writer kicking in your door. Still, you know what's best for you. Good luck.

Welcome aboard and stick around. You'll learn a lot.
DS2

[Yoshua Ben Yosef]

Hmm, I was adapting a piece of a book by Robert Jordan (a few chapters from The Shadow Rising, pgs. 390 - 441) and since he is a hunter perhaps I shouldn't mess with him *grin*

I plan on sticking around, writing for the silver screen is something I am very interested in :)

[lilybet]

Welcome to the board.

Sure, go right ahead and do it as a learning exercise. Then when you're satisfied with it, put it in a drawer as your own private treasure. You risk at the least, trashing your own reputation, no matter how good your intentions, if you show it around. Next practice piece, try and use your own material.

Yes, the question has been asked a lot, but that's OK. We had one guy get practically hysterical over several pages because he didn't think it was fair that he couldn't use characters was someone else's comic. He loved it and seemed to think that made it his, too.

When you're new here, you don't know who's answering your questions. You were answered by some people who know what they're talking about. Sometimes if it looks like a new poster might be one of those who asks a question then wants to argue about it rather than listening and asking for clarification, posters can get short with you to make their point. Not your fault but some who have preceeded you. If you stick around, you'll get a sense of who knows what they are talking about.

If it's in public domain, don't worry about it.

lilybet

[Yoshua Ben Yosef]

Yep, agreed. I didn't mean to sound like I was just trying to start an argument, sorry if I did. I was just trying to clear things up and get a range of opinions.

I also have this theory that the people with 14 billion posts to their credit are often the ones who know what they're talking about (clueless people either don't stick around, or get a clue after logging a few million hours on a forum like this).

[lilybet]

Post numbers don't mean anything. It may indicate they have been here longer or they participate more frequently. Excellent new people hop aboard all the time.

Stick around, lot's to be learned. Opinions vary a lot.

lil

[RPM323]

Yoshua-- I can't completely condemn you for adapting an existing piece of work as 'practice.' The first screenplay I ever completed (well o.k., second, but we can't really count the film-school one) was an adaptation of a novella by a very famous writer. However, I did it knowing full well it was a 'practice' exercise to help me learn the craft, formatting rules, etc. It worked, and turned out to be a good kick-start to writing original stuff.

When I finished that script, I got a few opinions on it, then promptly put it in a drawer to collect dust and become a relic of my past. In the intervening years, that same novella was adapted (by a very gifted writer/director who was not me) into a much-loved film that was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture. If nothing else, my instincts were right, and I was happy to see a great story hit the silver-screen.

Keep on writin'. And now, about Ricky's hair...

--rpm