Public domain usage

Cracker Funk

Cracker Funk

I feel kinda stupid asking this, but I just wanna play it safe.

If a movie is in the public domain, you can do whatever you want with it, right? It can be featured in your movie? Say, for example, one of your characters is watching it, and we (the audience), both see and hear it? Say, for example, George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead?"

Thanks!
 
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My point is that, if a film falls into the public domain, you can do as you wish with that film.

The screenplay itself is a completely different entity. It can be copywritten separately. If it is copywritten you will be sued! If it is not copywritten, as I expect 'Night of the Living Dead' is not, then you would have grounds to remake the movie, basing your movie on the original screenplay. But.... IP is still protected by law. I would assume that with any of the films on this list, as they've already been made, the writers would have have grounds to say they had intentions of creating a legally binding, protective document i.e. copyright. I know in the UK, having the intention to do something is almost as good as actually having done it.

Again, I don't know if this is all fact, I'm just basing it off things that i've found on Google, so don't take my word on any of this!
 
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JohnNetzlof said:
How would I find out if the Screenplay is there or not?
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If the listing is too old to find online, you will have to call/write the library of congress and put in a request to find out (that's my understanding of how it works, I've never done it).

on a side note: how could would it be to have 24 hours with an all access pass to the library of congress (or the national archives, either would be cool with me)? :cool:
 
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Dreadylocks said:
on a side note: how could would it be to have 24 hours with an all access pass to the library of congress (or the national archives, either would be cool with me)? :cool:
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Someone's been reading too much Dan Brown :rolleyes:

I wouldn't know where to start. I spent an afternoon in the private archives at Canterbury Cathedral once. It's not as cool as the Library of Congress but it still has some incredibly old and important documents. But it was boring as hell... :hmm:
 
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Yeah, I think you'd have to know what you were looking for, for sure.
But even to just put on some old records from the early 20th century when the government was going all around rural america and recording folk singers and musicians. I forget what the program was called, but I'm so glad they did it. Brilliant idea. :D
 
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Dreadylocks said:
If the listing is too old to find online, you will have to call/write the library of congress and put in a request to find out (that's my understanding of how it works, I've never done it).
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I understand they'll let you search the archives yourself, with out having to pay them to do so for you, so screw that, I live 4 hours from The District and I know my way around it well, a road trip it is! :D
 
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Morris said:
You can go to http://www.copyright.gov/records/ and search for works registered and documents recorded by the U.S. Copyright Office since January 1, 1978.
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As stated by Dreadylocks, information prior to that must be done in person, or by paying the staff to do your work for you.

Honestly though, if you live close enough and you have the time, take the drive, its an exquisite city, beautiful, and I'm meaning AWAY from the toruist magnets and monuments. Their film policy is friendly enough, as well. Be warned, though, a quarter only gets you 7 mintues on a parking meter....
 
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I assume that would be fine. Italian filmmakers made their own line of sequels to Dawn Of The Dead (which isn't public domain) and as far as I know, there were no legal issues when those sequels were released in the US. You'd think a sequel to a PD movie wouldn't have any legal issues to speak of. If you're planning to do one, I would suggest including the original film on the DVD so those who haven't seen it can do so.
 
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Not to put a damper on things, but be sure there are no attached literary pieces. The book author may grant a filmmaker rights to make a derivative work (like Stephen King) while continuing to hold rights to the story. So while the picture ('adapted work') may be public domain, the book rights may not be. So further adaptation would require a request for permission. This recently arose with some works by HP Lovecraft. While Lovecraft put most of his stories into the public domain, there were a couple that he had previously transferred to a publisher. The publisher's estate expected to be paid for an adaptation which used one of these stories that had been pulled from a published anthology (http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Copyright_status_of_works_by_H._P._Lovecraft) and (http://www.aetherial.net/lovecraft/arkham.html).

So if the movie is based on a book, check to see if that book is in the public domain too. For example, Sherlock Holmes. From http://www.sherlockian.net/acd/copyright.html:
"Copyright in the Sherlock Holmes stories expired in Canada in 1980. The last copyright on ACD's work in the United Kingdom expired at the end of the year 2000. In the United States, the only Sherlock Holmes remaining in copyright is portions of The Case Book. Three of the stories, published in 1921 through 1923, are already in the public domain; the rest will enter the public domain in various years leading up to 2023. A legal challenge that would have invalidated a 1998 extension to the length of copyright — putting Sherlock Holmes into the public domain immediately — was thrown out by the Supreme Court January 15, 2003. ... The American copyrights are owned by Conan Doyle Estate Ltd.

On June 16, 2014, an American court (the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit) upheld an earlier ruling from the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois regarding copyright protection, not for the stories themselves, but for the characters of Holmes and Watson. "
 
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