I am trying to discern my legal requirements and protection for a
movie idea based on a Web site.  Here is the background:

I have developed a movie idea based on a story that was related on an
existing Web site.  My movie idea is "inspired by" the story on site;
that is, (1) it does not literally take content from the site, (2) the
movie uses the structure of the story as inspiration, but does not
follow the storyline precisely, and (3) 80% of the movie focuses on a
new completely fictional storyline that concentrates on people
affected by the Web site.

For reasons of personal privacy, the owner of the site does not want
to option the story on the site, even if the movie is "inspired by"
and does not directly relate the story.  What do I need to do to avoid
stepping on the toes of the site's owner and protect/proceed with my
movie idea?

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 04 Oct 2005 10:50 PDT

prpro-ga,

It's always tough to address how-do-I-protect-myself questions when it
comes to matters of copyright and such.

The only 100% protection is to not do your story.  

If you do it -- no matter how much pains you take to distance yourself
from the inspiration -- if the original author of the site recognizes
the connections, they may well feel that their toes have been stepped
on.

Will they feel it strongly enough to take some sort of legal action? 
Perhaps.  The more successful your project is, the bigger a target you
become.

Will they prevail in their action?  I would guess not, based on what
you've told me thus far, though there's certainly no way to know for
sure what the outcome would be.

The simple fact is, if someone gets pissed at you -- no matter how
off-base they may be -- there's little to stop them from initating
legal action, and generally making themselves a real pain in the
whozis.

Sometimes, you just need to take apropriate cautions -- and it sounds
as if you pretty much have already -- and dive in, and see what
happens.

And of course, if you have concerns about copyright, etc, you should
certainly be seeking the advice of a legal professional (which I am
not...see the disclaimer on the bottom of the page here).

Beyond this short dose of reality, however, what sort of answer can we
provide that would best meet your needs?

Let me know.

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by prpro-ga on 04 Oct 2005 11:10 PDT

I realize this is a gray area, even when a story is so distanced from
the original source of inspiration.  I think I will indeed take this
to an attorney for clarification.  Based on their response, I may
revive this question!

Thanks for the wise words!