Fan films and short films based on IP you haven't the rights to

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  • Fan films and short films based on IP you haven't the rights to

    I'm thinking about doing a short based on a somewhat obscure old B film, but of course, I don't have the rights.

    I know fan films are commonly made. There was a recent Harry Potter fan film, which, AFAIK, didn't get anyone sued, Dan Traschenberg did the Portal short and I don't think he had the rights.

    So is it that shorts based on IP you don't own are tolerated? Can I be sure I won't get sued?

    What if I tried doing what Traschenberg did and used a major, currently popular IP like he did with Portal?

  • #2
    Re: Fan films and short films based on IP you haven't the rights to

    no, you can't ever be sure someone won't sue you (and it's more likely than not, imo, that you would get a cease and desist).

    Star Trek and Star Wars have handshake agreements with their fan communities that the fans can make fan films as long as they don't make any money off of them

    i don't know offhand of any other similar agreements between other fan communities and their bases.

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    • #3
      Re: Fan films and short films based on IP you haven't the rights to

      Don't be lazy.

      Come up with your own IP and ride it all the way to the bank.

      I know it "seems" tougher to be original, and it's something that may even make your rep queasy, but: You get to practice your writing chops, there are no lingering legal issues, you can exploit the heck out of it because you own it, and ultimately it feels a hell of a lot better.

      In this and any biz, you want to be on the dealing end of a plagiarism lawsuit, not on the receiving end.

      Example? Think "Primer", instead of makng a fan-fic short based on "Twelve Monkeys".

      (I mention "Monkeys" merely because it is my favorite movie, and which incidentally was inspired by a short, La Jetee.) So, what started out perhaps has homage to a great time travel movie, becomes actually a short (Primer) that uses time travel to investigate other themes (greed, etc.).

      Here's a tip - and this is how I start most of my own spec scripts, because my new stuff is rarely an overwhelming and urgent sense of inspiration or fluky (eg. dream) epiphany.

      When it's "time to get writing a new spec", I delve into my "ideas.doc" document that I've assembled over the years (and is now 40+ pages long).
      You do have such a document of your own, don't you?.

      Anyway, pick one idea, and just start in on it. After all, part of a writer's skill set is in being able to turn the blah into the extraordinary.

      One technique for doing this? Simply write for the unexpected, rather than just another Taken or Inception or whatever you expect the market would demand of this bland idea you're staring at. One way to accomplish that is to force yourself to write what you don't "want" to write! Then twist and turn it into something interesting. It may take some time.

      Incidentally, doesn't this remind you an assignment? An OWA? Where you get somebody's blah idea and have to make it cool? (Yes, in that case you get paid, but you end up owning zero of the rights.)

      No doubt, during this kind of writing you might end up thinking, "Crap, this is getting too weird (or unmarketable, uncastable, technically undoable, etc.)". But you as master and God of writers can always scale it back, which is itself an expression of talent. So long as you retain at least some of the early, original thinking behind the project, people may conclude that the story is "a bit odd, but in an interesting way", and it thus could become the most marketable thing you have written.

      Remember, even though they say they're looking for "different, but the same", they're really looking for the "next great thing", not "the next same thing".

      That'l be $19.99, please, emailed to [email protected]

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      • #4
        Re: Fan films and short films based on IP you haven't the rights to

        Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
        no, you can't ever be sure someone won't sue you (and it's more likely than not, imo, that you would get a cease and desist).

        Star Trek and Star Wars have handshake agreements with their fan communities that the fans can make fan films as long as they don't make any money off of them

        i don't know offhand of any other similar agreements between other fan communities and their bases.
        Ok, but what about Traschenberg's Portal and this recent Harry Potter short? AFAIK neither had rights and neither were sued.

        IDK what the deal was with that MK web series? Did they have rights?

        I'm sure we could find other non-SW and ST shorts that were done without having the rights.

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        • #5
          Re: Fan films and short films based on IP you haven't the rights to

          Originally posted by Dimitri001 View Post
          Ok, but what about Traschenberg's Portal and this recent Harry Potter short? AFAIK neither had rights and neither were sued.

          IDK what the deal was with that MK web series? Did they have rights?

          I'm sure we could find other non-SW and ST shorts that were done without having the rights.
          i don't know about those and i'm sure you probably could find others.

          legally, however, this is the "why didn't you stop everyone else who was speeding?" argument for trying to get out of a ticket. maybe the IP owner will or won't make a federal case out of it. but that's a different question from do they have the right to.

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          • #6
            Re: Fan films and short films based on IP you haven't the rights to

            Originally posted by Dimitri001 View Post
            Ok, but what about Traschenberg's Portal and this recent Harry Potter short? AFAIK neither had rights and neither were sued.

            IDK what the deal was with that MK web series? Did they have rights?

            I'm sure we could find other non-SW and ST shorts that were done without having the rights.
            Many times (as was the case with Dan) those who don't get sued are the ones who are already known entities. Dan had directed a bunch of commercials and was known to the video game world because of his podcast. When Portal: No Escape dropped, I guarantee Valve was not surprised, even if Dan didn't have money to secure the rights. Sometimes, depending on the property, even people in the industry who do fan films get sued. Look at Adi Shankar and Marvel.
            Write, rite, wright... until you get it RIGHT.

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            • #7
              Re: Fan films and short films based on IP you haven't the rights to

              Quick question. Could one write something like a Star Wars film as a spec script? Something that they would never profit from but is part of a work portfolio?
              I love Wing Commander, Mark Hamill is awesome. That is all.

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              • #8
                Re: Fan films and short films based on IP you haven't the rights to

                Originally posted by LithodoraGamgee View Post
                Quick question. Could one write something like a Star Wars film as a spec script? Something that they would never profit from but is part of a work portfolio?
                One always could . . .

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                • #9
                  Re: Fan films and short films based on IP you haven't the rights to

                  Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
                  One always could . . .
                  I assume there's some subtext to this pithy post...?

                  Didn't the 12 Monkeys TV series guys do this? But they were already established and generated a spec that their agents took to the rights holders (Universal and/or the movie's producers, Atlas)

                  Several years ago, a management firm I contacted said they had "passed along" such material (sequels, spin-offs) from their clients:

                  We've sent out sequels to original producers for xmen, clash of the titans, and austin powers... never once been turned down
                  It sounds like a bit of a cop-out - to send out knockoffs when we're in a business that's supposed to be about creativity.

                  But if these managers did it, others must have. Who knows what transpired from any of those submissions, but maybe some enduring business relationships were formed.

                  However, if you are already a spec-writer, but haven't yet "broken in", don't think for a second that I'm encouraging you to pursue this.

                  This is even though in a roundabout way I did so myself: As my initial screenplay, writing a sequel back in 2008 provided good non-monetary value as self-training for how to format scripts, and as a basic intro to the business.

                  For those reasons, I'm thankful for the experience to this day, much as any writer should feel about any formal education in screenwriting that they may have had.

                  But as a way into the business, it's almost certainly an exercise in futility.

                  And, it's not fair. Think about somebody writing a knockoff of one of your stories, even if it's just to get a foot in the door.

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