If I am writing a screenplay of an actual historical event, using a number of sources, not just one book. Do I need to get the rights to the books?
Ask yourself something: Is your screenplay pretty much based mostly off any one or two of the books? Be very honest, look yourself in the mirror and answer whether you are using one or two books as your primary template for your writing. You personally know whether or not you just collected bits and pieces of information from a wide range of sources, or whether you primarily found two or three great books with specific details and whether you merely took those books' work and adapted them into screenplays.The best thing a writer can do in any such situation is to look in the mirror and literally ask yourself the question out loud, did you -- really, honestly, bluntly -- take a couple of books and lift heavily from them and essentially adapt a large portion of your story from them?If you used only two or three books, and rely a LOT on their perspective, interpretations of history/events, choice of key elements and characters and moments to define the narrative, etc, then it's going to be obvious. Do any of those books, or a couple of them together, account for the vast majority of the material in your story? Did you keep a couple of books handy while writing your screenplay, and keep referring back to them as the structure and timeline of events in your own writing?If you can look yourself in the eyes in the mirror and honestly, totally, no fudging at all, tell yourself that no, you didn't take a couple of books and lift from them to turn their nonfiction narrative into your own screenplay, then you're probably okay. But if you blink, if you feel unsure, if you don't believe yourself when you answer, then your heart is telling you something.And either way, as previous answers correctly noted, even if you don't at all think you lifted much from the books and you can honestly say to the mirror, "Nope, it's all my own, I didn't lean on any book in particular or adapt too much etc," then it still might have the APPEARANCE of it and thus no matter what, you need to talk to a lawyer specializing in these sorts of things.Simple fact: If you felt compelled to ask about it in the first place, some part of you is whispering to you that maybe you need to be careful about it, and that probably should tell you something about what you need to do. Contact an attorney, and then listen closely to whatever your heart is whispering in your ear. This is a serious matter, and you have to be careful and be sure to do the right thing as well as the legal thing.
What historical event inspired shakespeare to write 9 plays?
from researching, it seems none of the above-- Shakespeare's greatest influences were the works of other great writers. With the exception of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labour's Lost and The Tempest, which are wholly original stories, Shakespeare borrowed his plots, down to fine detail. However, we can see from Shakespeare's work that no source had a more profound impact on his writing than the Bible. ADDED--which 9 plays were you speaking of? that may help. also--the 2nd link gives the sources of his ideas for different plays. for examples Hamlet is based on a Norse legend composed by Saxo Grammaticus in Latin around 1200 AD. Shakespeare's primary source for Romeo and Juliet was a poem by Arthur Brooke called The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Iuliet, written in 1562. Shakespeare's chief source for Macbeth was Holinshed's Chronicles (Macbeth), who based his account of Scotland's history, and Macbeth's in particular, on the Scotorum Historiae, written in 1527 by Hector Boece. Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles (Henry V) was Shakespeare's primary source for the historical events described in Henry V. ------------ just click on the links of the 2nd link for the sources of his plays
If I was to write a TV script about a historical person, would I have to own any rights?
A2A. It all depends on different factors.I will assume that, by historical person, you mean someone who is dead and not just someone who has made an impact on history but is still alive.If the person is dead, the rights issue will depend on from where you have your sources. If the source material, itself is historical then you are free to use it.However there’s a few traps here, that you should be aware of.Ancient literature that uses forgotten or extinct languages such as Latin or Aramaic, is very much dependent on the translation and that can have an impact on the version you are using as a reference.Let’s say that you want to adapt an ancient book. If you compare different translations of it, you will find that they all differ in great and small ways and that can actually have an impact on whether you can adapt it legally or not.Because whoever made the translation also owns the right, not to the book itself, but to the translation. And if the translation is so different from the original that it actually effects the story, itself, then the publisher owns the rights to that particular version of the story.But if your source material is contemporary, as in a biography, then you would, very much need to obtain the rights to adapt it, even if you use several modern sources.Let’s say that you want to make a tv movie about Mozart. If you use his letters as a source material, you have the rights to do so because his letters are now so old that they are in the public domain.But if you are basing your script on, let’s say “Mozart - a life” by Paul Johnson, then you need to obtain the rights to that book before you can proceed. Books written after 1923 have rights attached to them (in the U.S) If the book is published in a different country you need to check with that country’s copyright laws because they might differ.And if your source material is newspaper or magazine articles, rights also apply and you need to obtain them from the publication.If you are using the internet as a resource, you might be cautious because you never know where the information comes from. People who post stuff on the Internet might be quoting from copyrighted sources without permission and that can affect your project badly, once it’s made into a movie.I hope this answers your question.
How do I get a play I wrote copyrighted and published.?
Send your script and their form filled out and $30 to the Library of Congress - Copyright office. Get on-line and pull up Library of Congress, call them to order the form. Once you have a copyright you have to send it to publishers. William Morris Agency is great! The publisher will not buy back your copyright, but will pay you royalties.
1500 word essay on a single historical event?
I have this assingment in English and I'm not sure what to write on. Here are the Instructions: Write a 1500-word historical investigation report. Use exposition, narration, description, argumentation or some combination writing to support the main proposition. You will give this report orally. • Analyze several historical records of a single event, examining critical relationships between elements of the research topic. • Explain the similarities and differences in historical records with information derived from primary and secondary sources. • Examine the validity and reliability of your sources. • Include parenthetical citations and a works cited page. • Using proper research and note-taking techniques (see the "Listening for Information" lesson), compile information about the historical investigation topic of your choice. What are some interesting events that have historical records?
What are some simple historical events that I could base my allegory for english class off of?
Ooh... Let me think... Obviously, there's the Holocaust, basically one group squashing out most other groups in the name of being better, because the German nation needed something to pick itself back up. You could write about Poland finally becoming a nation in its own right after the tribulations of WWI. There's a more minor historical footnote, but during WWI all of the Polish bison were eaten, and the only way they weren't extinct was that some other countries had them in their zoos and sent them over. The XYZ affair! Basically, the French trying to imply that they would attack the USA if not given money, but it ended up becoming public knowledge and the French had to back off and apologize because they didn't really want a war. Nice confidence boost for American citizens. I dunno what else. I write stories based off of history all the time, but not quite allegories. Fun thing about history though, is that if you look at it right, you can write a story about normal people based off of most events.
Is there a copyright on Dracula?
The novel has been in the public domain in the United States since its original publication because Stoker failed to follow proper copyright procedure. In the United Kingdom and other countries following the Berne Convention on copyrights, however, the novel was under copyright until April 1962, fifty years after Stoker's death.When the unauthorized film adaptation was released in 1922, the popularity of the novel increased considerably, owing to the controversy caused when Stoker's widow tried to have the film banned.