Writing a Biography

[MrsJ1]

I want to write a biography about an actor who died some years ago but doesnt appear to have been covered by anyone else. Do I need to get someone's permission to do it? and if so, who would I contact? I dont know if there are any family members still alive or whether someone is still handling his estate - I guess that there would be royalties due if one of his films were to be shown on TV or released on DVD which must go somewhere - how do I find out?

[BillySugger]

Don't really know but you hear of plenty of 'unauthorised biographys' so can't see that being a problem .

[jno]

you don't need permission, but what if you wanted to wanted to quote private letters or interview his family or friends? You'd need them to approve of that. But if you just want to research newspaper records etc you should be okay (though you'll need to be sure you don't breach their copyright by plagiarising).

[dundurn]

From a legal point of view you don't need anyone's permission but unless you're simply going to rehash what other people have written already, or unless you actually knew this person yourself, you're going to have to contact his friends/ family/ fellow actors etc. It would be (at the very least) polite to approch his next of kin first and explain what you would lke to do and why. You may find that they have a similar project in mind in which case you may have to back away. On the other hand you may find that they would love to see their relative 'in print' but haven't the time or the resources to do it. They could well be the very best source of previously unpublished facts/ letters etc without which your book would be very incomplete and with which it might be much more interesting. First step (probably) should be to find out who they are. You're going to find writing the book a bit difficult without mentioning his family!

How long ago did they die? Most obituaries will mention wives, partners, children etc. Did they have a Who's Who entry? What does the internet say?

[MrsJ1]

Thanks for the answers. It''s next of kin I have a problem with as obviously, I would like to speak to them but the person had never married, had no children and I expect that the parents would be dead by now. I guess I need to start by tracing the family tree.