Jesse Saivar

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Q: I have recently optioned the autobiography of a person that I’d like to use as the subject for a feature film. In the last quarter of the book, a historical figure whom my subject served with in the military is featured in a number of scenes. Do I have to get clearance from the person’s estate before using them in the script? I assume the author got permission to use her story in his book, but does this permission extend to a film?

A: Judging by your question, I think I can assume that your historical figure is truly historic (i.e., he or she is history). Either that or you are pondering getting clearance from someone’s large house. I’ll assume the former. The fact that your person of interest is an historic figure and is no longer with us makes your question much easier to answer. Continue reading the full story . . . »

Elisabeth Moriarty

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Science-fiction author and futurist Arthur C. Clarke famously formulated three laws of prediction, the first of which posits: “When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.” The same could be said of copyright law.

If you believe categorically that something is not copyrightable, you may well be wrong. You have a much better shot at being right if you conclude that this something possibly could be copyrightable, because the answer to the question “Is it subject to copyright protection?” is, more often than not, “It depends.” In other words, the law of copyright is weird, wacky and wonderful. Continue reading the full story . . . »