Re: Writing copyrighted material
Yes, there is a downside to “Writing (from) copyrighted material.” It’s in the title of your thread, and the key word is “copyrighted.” Writers secure copyrights to prevent precisely what you propose.
No matter whether the “writer has talent” or how “good” the writer, to write a script from copyrighted material without express permission is the equivalent of theft. This played out publicly in recent years with actor Shia LaBeouf. Did you not learn a good lesson from that? Have you not asked yourself how you would react if someone infringed upon any of your copyrighted material?
On principle alone what you suggest is entirely wrong-headed, unless you’re merely having all of us on for the sake of sport. Immediately, it calls into question everything else written by the writer. The risk of libel and copyright infringement lawsuits is formidable, to say nothing of the irreparable damage to one’s reputation as a writer.
“Fair Use” standards as outlined in a circular from the U.S. Copyright Office do not even remotely apply to a commercial undertaking such as you suggest, which is, ultimately, a script for sale. The definition of Fair Use is so narrow that it is rarely, if ever, cited among scholars and any creative writer need never consider employing Fair Use at all.
The only time one might derive anything from a copyrighted work is when said work is in the Public Domain. The work is copyrighted but the copyright is expired which leaves the work open for anyone to appropriate the material and rewrite it or re-interpret it as they see fit.
A truly “good” writer would not even consider a tactic such as the one you have suggested in your original post on this thread. Anyone worth their salt who received a query for a script based on copyrighted material without the proper rights secured probably would have to wonder—aside from the illegal nature of it—why the writer cannot create something original as well as interesting and commercial.
"There are eight million stories in the naked city....” Choose one of them that isn’t secured by copyright.
Originally posted by SundownInRetreat
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No matter whether the “writer has talent” or how “good” the writer, to write a script from copyrighted material without express permission is the equivalent of theft. This played out publicly in recent years with actor Shia LaBeouf. Did you not learn a good lesson from that? Have you not asked yourself how you would react if someone infringed upon any of your copyrighted material?
On principle alone what you suggest is entirely wrong-headed, unless you’re merely having all of us on for the sake of sport. Immediately, it calls into question everything else written by the writer. The risk of libel and copyright infringement lawsuits is formidable, to say nothing of the irreparable damage to one’s reputation as a writer.
“Fair Use” standards as outlined in a circular from the U.S. Copyright Office do not even remotely apply to a commercial undertaking such as you suggest, which is, ultimately, a script for sale. The definition of Fair Use is so narrow that it is rarely, if ever, cited among scholars and any creative writer need never consider employing Fair Use at all.
The only time one might derive anything from a copyrighted work is when said work is in the Public Domain. The work is copyrighted but the copyright is expired which leaves the work open for anyone to appropriate the material and rewrite it or re-interpret it as they see fit.
A truly “good” writer would not even consider a tactic such as the one you have suggested in your original post on this thread. Anyone worth their salt who received a query for a script based on copyrighted material without the proper rights secured probably would have to wonder—aside from the illegal nature of it—why the writer cannot create something original as well as interesting and commercial.
"There are eight million stories in the naked city....” Choose one of them that isn’t secured by copyright.
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