Do I need to purchase the rights?

Hilary1 said:

I am intending on transcribing a film into a short film that I'd like to produce. As it will be non-profit (aside from entry into the event where I screen it, the profits of which will go to my university's drama department), do I need to buy the rights?

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I think you almost certainly do, yes. I'm not sure what you mean by 'transcribing' - remaking? - but it sounds like you'd be making a derivative work of some kind and if the original work is in copyright you would need to get permission. Try the permissions department of the studio that made the film.

The profit/non-profit side of things is immaterial to copyright infringement, as far as I know. (But I Am Not A Lawyer.)

If it's a produced film, you could also run into potential trademark issues with the characters and such. Some studios won't even allow you to show a produced film without permission, much less use it for personal projects.

(btw - transcribe is an odd way of saying what I think you're trying to say. Usually, a transcription means a word-for-word written record of the dialogue/script, not converting something into a short-form. And there are plenty of studios and prod. cos. that restrict public display of even written transcripts. That's why it's so hard to find many of them online, even for those with hearing impairments who might like a written version of what they watch.)

You always need to get the rights to anything and everything that under copyright or trademark protection. Being nonprofit changes nothing.

Hilary1 said:

I am intending on transcribing a film into a short film that I'd like to produce. As it will be non-profit (aside from entry into the event where I screen it, the profits of which will go to my university's drama department), do I need to buy the rights?

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I don't exactly get the transcribing either but the non-profit (oh, aside from entry into a PUBLIC event in which you intend to screen it), isn't your issue.

You need permissions from every possible entity involved, which may include buying the rights, paying the writer(s), etc., etc. You need to contact the rights holder and likely the relevant unions. Your university will surely demand proof of permission before they'd let it see the light of day.

Transcribing a film into a short film? Do you mean you're condensing an existing work in some way?

Do a Google on 'fair use' and see if it covers what you're thinking of doing. If it was not done for profit it would certainly support a 'fair use' argument.