OT: Biographical copyright issues

GregFlowers wrote on 3/21/2006, 9:24 AM
I have the idea to shoot a short film based on a true event that happened in Atlanta a few years ago. As I was planning it, I began wondering at what point the people involved with a true event have rights to the story. Can you write a book or make a film about someone without their permission? I know there are many unauthorized biographies out there so I assume it can be done. I would likely change the names of the people involved out of respect alone, but it would be nice to know where the line is drawn on this issue so there would be no legal ambiguity.

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 3/21/2006, 9:39 AM
You should see the clearance forms that Court TV has for this....like a small phone book.
The upshot is that you need permission to use any name other than a person convicted or publicized, and even in the event of a conviction, they require clearance. If the person is a bonafide "celebrity" then technically you can create a story about them so long as any negative isn't defamatory with no substance in truth. If you wanted to make a story about Gene Simmon's womanizing and sexual conquests for instance, you likely wouldn't need his permission, but since the conquests aren't famous, you'd need theirs. If you said something like "Simmons was having sex with small boys" then you'd likely need serious lawyering before making the project public.
In other words, it's a potential minefield, depending on what the content and direction of the story is, and the level of celebrity the subject may or may not enjoy. I'd be contacting an entertainment lawyer, unless your subject is someone famous, and your story is not much of a departure from public facts.
GregFlowers wrote on 3/21/2006, 10:04 AM
The short film I'm thinking about is based on a real event in which a guy accidentally kills his friend in an auto accident while driving drunk. He was convicted of vehicular homicide. I think he is still in jail now. I would stick to the actual facts and perhaps dramatize some of the dialog leading to the accident. All of the important facts are of public record and were reported in the newspaper and on TV. The only living person involved is in jail. I would not use their real names.
winrockpost wrote on 3/21/2006, 10:09 AM
I am no lawyer and this is just worthless advice.

I would think the subject unfortunately probably happens enough that if you change names and cities you would be in pretty good shape.
johnmeyer wrote on 3/21/2006, 11:15 AM
Fascinating question.

Obviously the newspapers don't need any copyright release to report the original story. Also, lots of documentaries are made without the approval or involvement of the subject, at least I think that is the case.
mr.beebo wrote on 3/21/2006, 5:40 PM
From "Dragnet" to "Law and Order" cases are pulled from the front page and the names, places, facts spun around enough to distance themselves from the real story.
filmy wrote on 3/21/2006, 8:15 PM
I think the fine line is one of those "based on" verses a docu-drama type of film. Many eyars ago I worked on a film that was based on the Wah Mee massacre, and more specific about Tony Ng. The director never used the real names but he was a bit...um..."daring" shale we say. We shot most of it in So Cal but we traveled up to Seattle to shoot in Chinatown...the same week Tony was on trial. We got death threats, we made the front page of the Seattle Times. The film was fairly close to the real events but there was never any lawsuit against the film or anyone who released the film. I would suspect it was because no real names were ever used, even though the story was pretty close to the real events.

In Greg's case it could be fairly open - in other words how many films have been made about someone driving drunk who kills someone? That is pretty general. Any number of people could come forward and say "That is a film about [INSERT NAME HERE]!!!" Court transcripts that are a matter of public record could be used without too much issue and thing like that are used in many films. Certianly beyond that you could even hire someone - a lawyer or judge for example - to consult on things like courtroom scenes. If you start to use actual locations, actual people and so on - you might start to run into obvious trouble. The film I talk about was based on real events, the timeline was done based on newspapers that covered the whole thing. However things like dialog were mostly made up. Names were not used. Certian characters were put in to make the story move along that did not really exist.