Film Rights to Novels

[Duckers]

I am an aspiring screenwriter and am interested in adapting a novel as a television script. It's a work that has been filmed before, back in the late 60s. I was wondering what the usual approach is: I couldn't afford to acquire the film rights, but am I breaking copyright laws by submitting a speculative script treatment for an existing work?

Does anyone know how this normally works?

[joggerjayne]

No, you're not.

A script adaptation is a separate creative work from the novel itself, and does not infringe copyright.

But ... you should acknowledge that the legal and moral rights in the characters, plot, etc belong to the original author, and you should submit your script to the original author (or his/her estate). There will then follow some negotiations about how much you would be paid for the scriptwriting, and what (if any) would be the cut from any income generated from the final production.

[jno]

if the original author has already sold the screen rights, JJ? You might have to negotiate with the earlier screenwriter (or studio etc) for them.

[joggerjayne]

... the "negotiations" stage presupposes that you have a production company interested in taking on the project.

[joggerjayne]

jno is correct ...

... if the earlier filming involved an assignment of the film rights.

[Duckers]

Thanks for these answers, guys. I could remember reading about this in the Writers and Artists' Handbook some time ago but was unsure how it would actually work in practice.

What would be the actual sequence of events? Would I write a treatment, acknowledging the source material, and then seek to interest a production company (who would then presumably look to obtain the rights if they wanted to get involved)?

Or should I be researching, myself, who currently holds the rights?

For me, this is a question about whether or not it's a worthwhile project to begin a screenplay that, if it was fine in all other regards, might fall down at the negotiations stage.

I assume that a lot of times the process is usually that a company acquires the rights to a novel and then commissions someone to do the screenplay. I wonder how often a writer submits a speculative treatment?

[saxy_jag]

I'm sorry, I know precious little about scripts and screenplays, but I'm assuming you would want to submit to a production company or an agent. Why not write some of the screenplay, and then submit it. Explain what you've explained here and why you don't want to spend time completing it if it's a)breaching copyright, or b)simply not good enough. If they like it and feel they can use or sell it, they will help you to get through the copyright minefield.

I believe, if the novel's out of copyright (where the author has been dead for at least 75 years and hasn't bequeathed or sold the copyright), then there would be nothing to stop anyone writing and using a screenplay as long as it didn't draw directly from anyone else's - think of the number of adaptations of 'classic' novels we see around.

Of course, where there is still a copyright in force, the aforementioned negotiations would need to take place. As far as I know, there is nothing to stop you submitting a speculative script. The law would only be broken if you had used someone else's work or if it was produced/published without permission from the relevant people.

[jno]

isn't that what would-be novelists sometimes do, saxy_jag - submit a first chapter and outline of the rest? Sounds like a reasonable approach for speculative screenplays too.

[saxy_jag]

If you have a novel, the usual way of doing things is to send a couple of chapters or so, and if the publisher/agent is interested, they'll ask for the rest. They usually expect the writer to have it ready immediately. Established writers can sometimes get a contract on the strength of an unfinished manuscript, depending on reputation and existing publishing deals.

With some non-fiction, it's quite usual to submit an outline proposal in the first instance.

As I said, I'm not sure what the exact 'system' is for scripts and screenplays, but I'm pretty certain it's quite legal to submit. If the production company or agent thinks you're about to breach copyright, they'll tell you so and they won't touch it until it IS safe.