Hi tomhank~
Happily for you and your project, facts are not protected by
copyright; "facts" include historical events or information, including
facts contained in biographies and in the news. Only the "expression"
of those facts is covered by copyright (i.e., what words are used to
relate the facts).
Therefore, whether you choose to do a documentary/biography or a work
of fiction based upon this historical figure, you will not need to
obtain any rights or permissions. The exception to this is if you
quote extensively from other published sources that are not in the
public domain. (Assuming you are in the U.S., here's what the
copyright office says about quoting from other sources:
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fairuse.html To learn more about works
in public domain, check out:
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#hlc )
When it comes to writing about someone who is long, long dead (as your
18th century figure is), you have no need to worry about their right
to privacy, their right to publicity, or defamation, either. (If the
person were still living, or had children or grandchildren still
living, these issues would have to be considered.)
You cannot own rights to any historical figure or event(s). As
attorney Dana Singer so clearly puts it, "Imagine what it would be
like in practical terms if any one person could claim a monopoly...on
pure facts: someone could 'own' the subject of the Civil War and
control how that event is written about, even deciding that only one
account of the War should exist...A copyright on facts would impede
the spread of knowledge and eliminate differing interpretations of
factual events..." (Dana Singer, "Stage Writers Handbook," Theatre
Communications Group, 1997, p.95. To see the Amazon listing for this
book, go to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1559361166/qid=1037917466/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-3770465-9858513?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
)
Therefore, you cannot somehow buy "life rights" to this historical
figure. If you create a book or documentary, however, you can sell
products directly related to those works. If you imagine this may
become big business, you can trademark your title (copyright does not
protect titles)...but this is typically unnecessary unless the project
is the next Stephen Spielberg film :) For more information about U.S.
trademarks, visit: http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm Do note,
however, that the title must be somewhat unique; you can't, for
example, trademark the *name* of your historical figure.
For more basic copyright information, check out Writer's Write's FAQ
page:
http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/sept97/cew2.htm
and the Writer's Guild website:
http://www.hwg.org/resources/faqs/copyrFAQ.html
Keywords Used:
copyright for writers
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=copyright+for+writers&btnG=Google+Search
If you live outside the U.S., please let me know by requesting
clarification, and I will find sources related to your country.
Best of luck,
kriswrite |
