Redwall Fan Movie (and about copyright)

Started by Shadowed One, April 28, 2013, 12:56:26 AM

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Shadowed One

Since it is actually more for personal enjoyment than any other reason I am making it, it is a FAN FILM. Also, I will not publicize it anymore. Only cast and crew etc. can watch it.
Martin the Warrior is way more epic than Mickey Mouse. Anyone who says otherwise is insane, or just wrong.

"I'm languishing in heroic obscurity!"-Doc

LordTBT

Quote from: Shadowed One on May 10, 2013, 12:08:05 PM
Since it is actually more for personal enjoyment than any other reason I am making it, it is a FAN FILM. Also, I will not publicize it anymore. Only cast and crew etc. can watch it.

And that means nothing. It's still 100% illegal. Please familiarize yourself with the meaning of copyright, intellectual property, and copyright laws.

Shadowed One

ATTENTION: THIS PROJECT HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN PUT ON HOLD UNTIL EITHER WE GET THE RIGHTS TO DO IT, OR SOMEONE FROM THE REDWALL ABBEY COMPANY GIVES US PERMISSION TO MAKE IT AS A FAN FILM.
Martin the Warrior is way more epic than Mickey Mouse. Anyone who says otherwise is insane, or just wrong.

"I'm languishing in heroic obscurity!"-Doc

Romsca

Quote from: LordTBT on May 11, 2013, 01:08:10 AM
Quote from: Shadowed One on May 10, 2013, 12:08:05 PM
Since it is actually more for personal enjoyment than any other reason I am making it, it is a FAN FILM. Also, I will not publicize it anymore. Only cast and crew etc. can watch it.

And that means nothing. It's still 100% illegal. Please familiarize yourself with the meaning of copyright, intellectual property, and copyright laws.

Is it illegal to write a fanfic then?? Oh-- and is a PowerPoint presentation "movie" (using custom animation) illegal? Because I made one a few years ago based on Pearls of Lutra

Shadowed One

I doubt it, you know how many fanfilms are posted on YouTube? I mean, they don't have legal rights to do it, either, which is why I don't understand why I cannot make a fanfilm if I don't even publicly release it.
Martin the Warrior is way more epic than Mickey Mouse. Anyone who says otherwise is insane, or just wrong.

"I'm languishing in heroic obscurity!"-Doc

LordTBT

Quote from: Shadowed One on May 11, 2013, 01:18:17 PM
ATTENTION: THIS PROJECT HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN PUT ON HOLD UNTIL EITHER WE GET THE RIGHTS TO DO IT, OR SOMEONE FROM THE REDWALL ABBEY COMPANY GIVES US PERMISSION TO MAKE IT AS A FAN FILM.

You won't get the permission. A group tried to do the exact same thing you're doing with Mossflower relatively recently and were denied. The rights were sold to another party, and they can sue you. I'm trying to help you here.

QuoteIs it illegal to write a fanfic then??

It's a subject up for debate. Really depends on the author. For Redwall, it's seemingly ok. For further reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_issues_with_fan_fiction

Quotewhy I don't understand why I cannot make a fanfilm if I don't even publicly release it.

Because you have no legal right to make that film, let alone write a screenplay for it. It is someone else's intellectual property. It is not legal for me to make my own Star Wars movie. You do not have a right to just make movies off of copyrighted works.

Hope this helps.

http://www.newmediarights.org/business_models/artist/can_i_write_screenplay_based_book_i_didn%E2%80%99t_write





Shadowed One

#21
Ok thanks for the advice. By the way, what company were the rights sold to?
Martin the Warrior is way more epic than Mickey Mouse. Anyone who says otherwise is insane, or just wrong.

"I'm languishing in heroic obscurity!"-Doc

LordTBT

Quote from: Shadowed One on May 11, 2013, 06:16:20 PM
Ok thanks for the advice. By the way, what company were the rights sold to?

The Miller brothers.

Shadowed One

Martin the Warrior is way more epic than Mickey Mouse. Anyone who says otherwise is insane, or just wrong.

"I'm languishing in heroic obscurity!"-Doc

Romsca

If we write a book and want to sell it, can we send it to the Jacques family for approval?

LordTBT

Quote from: Romsca on May 12, 2013, 01:48:45 PM
If we write a book and want to sell it, can we send it to the Jacques family for approval?

If you write a Redwall book and want to sell it? You won't get the legal permission to do that. I'd suggest working on original ideas.

Romsca

Well, then how did all of the Starwars books get approved?

Shadowed One

George Lucas approved them.
Martin the Warrior is way more epic than Mickey Mouse. Anyone who says otherwise is insane, or just wrong.

"I'm languishing in heroic obscurity!"-Doc

Free Thought

Yes, copyright laws are quite strict.

I heard that the Mossflower movie was cancelled which is too bad; they had put a lot of work into it and the sketches/draft boards were quite good.  But ya, just be careful Shadowed One- it's not really worth a lawsuit...

As far as fanfiction... like previously posted, it is a bit of a gray area.  Most FanFiction websites have lists of authors who allow works to be written about their series and those who forbid it.  Surprisingly, there are not many who actually go the second route.  I suppose most take it as a compliment really that others have thought that much into their works that they would want to recreate their world so to speak.  Most fanfics are just spin-offs and answers to "what-ifs" anyway; it's not like someone takes a book and rewrites the entire thing, which is why fanfics are allow to exist.

Now, writing a book and having it published under the series is/would be difficult, though not entirely impossible (in general terms and not specific to the Redwall series here).  A normal sequence would be to have a polished manuscript sent to a literary agent who, upon reading and deeming it worthy enough, would then make the appropriate connections for you.  Fingers and toes crossed, you would be successful, but not usually.  Most authors do hold their works as dear to them as a dragon covets gold, so they are quite hard to crack, but it does happen. 

LordTBT

Quote from: Romsca on May 13, 2013, 01:44:20 AM
Well, then how did all of the Starwars books get approved?

They received licensing. Here's a piece I wrote a couple years ago explaining all of these concepts.

http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:LordTBT/Essay:A_Primer_on_Copyright