[…] I’m wondering about how you go about writing about a historical figure but not base it off of previous material. For example, let’s say I want to make a movie about George Washington. (He’s not the subject of my idea.) Numerous books have been written about him. If I’ve read many of those books, I have a reasonable understanding of his life. Is it possible to write an original script about him or would I have to secure rights to one or more of the books I have read that created my interest? Of course, I could …read more […]

The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers by Thomas A. Crowell breaks this stuff down. Life story rights can be complicated considering state's laws, or if an estate has rights to an ancestor. Research should be done.

Thanks for that recommendation!

What about video games? Are you free to use characters and storylines from a franchise in order to create your own unique script based on those elements? Also, ALVH was maybe the worst movie I've ever seen -- ever. There was a point in that movie where I literally had to get up and walk away. It was that bad.

I found some interesting articles on this subject. This one's actually from New York, but the explanation is interesting: http://nysbar.com/blogs/EASL/2010/09/whose_life_is_it_anyway_cleara.html This was an interesting article about libeling dead figures http://www.rightsofwriters.com/2011/01/can-you-be-sued-for-libeling-dead-john.html And I found an interesting discussion of this on done deal: http://messageboard.donedealpro.com/boards/archive/index.php/t-3275.html Even though some of those sources above kind of explain it, I still would like further clarification on the issues brought up by Bretton's question. If your screenplay has some historical figures in it, you will certainly do research from all the non-fiction books documenting the figure and the news. These books draw from newspapers and public accounts and even from each other. If you're using that as background research, do you have to secure any rights....they are just documenting facts and sometimes just reprinting stuff off newspapers or other media. And say the real people say words, should yo do what they say verbatim for accuracy or just make it up. JFK has alot of famous sayings... and all the supporting chracters in his life have said stuff--quote them verbatim or make it up? The Godfather I and II uses actual dialogue from real people verbatim. If you listen to tapes or news reels or any documentaries back then, those are actual sayings, not made up. "We're bigger than U.S. steel" was said by Meyer Lansky.