Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Copyright Question

This is topic Copyright Question in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :

Now I know you have to obtain permission to, say, use the lyrics of a song in a story. But what about dialogue that references copyrighted characters? In the story I am writing now, a character talks a bit about The Fantastic Four. Would that be a problem, copyright wise?

Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :

If your character is talking about the Fantastic Four as people who live in his world, that could be a problem. If he's talking about having read a Fantastic Four comic book, it's unlikely to be a problem.

Posted by JamieFord (Member # 3112) on :

Shouldn't be a problem.

When I got my copy edits back there was a huge list of all the public places, people, and even a few fictional characters that I mentioned. They checked them for accurate spelling and such, but I was fine to use them.

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

quote:
If your character is talking about the Fantastic Four as people who live in his world, that could be a problem. If he's talking about having read a Fantastic Four comic book, it's unlikely to be a problem.

I agree. If they are people who live in your character's world, then your character lives in someone else's copyrighted universe, and you writing a story about such a person gets into copyright infringement.

Posted by J (Member # 2197) on :

1) Copyright protects specific expressions of an idea, not an idea itself. "Fantastic Four" is clearly an expression, not an idea. It's protected.

2) The question, then, is whether you can use the protected expression in your story without liability. The answer to that question is going to boil down to whether your use of the protected material constitutes "fair use." That's a fact intensive determination that will depend on the fine details of your proposed use.

3) If you're serious about avoiding copyright infringement, then contact a copyright attorney (like me) when in doubt. I can't (won't) give specific legal advice in a public forum, but I can point you in the right direction if you contact me personally. (or, if you don't like the cut of my sail for whatever reason, I can refer you to one of my many capable colleagues in the field).

[This message has been edited by J (edited June 02, 2008).]

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

They say that some corporate organizations will send "cease and desist" letters when one's intellectual property is used, whatever the context or use, even if the use is fair use.

I suppose the ultimate expression of this is the George Lucas / Star Wars / Mad Magazine story. After Mad parodied Star Wars, they got a fan letter from George Lucas only a few days before a bean counter at Twentieth Century Fox sent them a stop letter. They sent the bean counter Lucas's letter, with something like "Gee, your boss seemed to like it" scribbled across it, and never heard from him again.

(It's been eight or nine years since my first fanfic, and four years since my last (to date). Nobody's ever contacted me about copyright infringement, though I'm pretty sure I can be tracked down. Probably I'd cease and desist if they asked me nicely...)

Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :

No, the Fantastic Four don't live in my universe. I realize entirely that writing ABOUT the FF or in the Marvel Universe would be a copyright issue. I'm talking about metafictional reference here. The character is one of the four teenage protaganists of the story, who do have unusual (magical) abilities, but in no other way resemble the Fantastic Four. He compares them as a joke.

Posted by SaucyJim (Member # 7110) on :

That should be okay. Fair Use protects that, I believe; or at least it's an insignificant enough reference that Marvel won't likely care.