Describing a Copyrighted Movie in your Novel

Fantomas · Jan 18, 2018

Hi everyone,

I have a question regarding copyright violation. At a certain point in my novel, the characters go to the movie theater and watch a film. My question is, how dicey is it to describe what happens in an actual movie. Something like, 'Onscreen, Rhett Butler slammed the door and left Scarlett sobbing' or 'They looked up and saw Dorothy splash the Wicked Witch with a pale of water. 'I'm melting', she cried in pain'.

There would be a few descriptions of scenes and maybe some dialogue too. Maybe ten-twelve sentences in all.

I remember Michael Crichton's novel Rising Sun had chunks where the protagonist and daughter watched Disney's Sleeping Beauty, complete with descriptions and even some dialogue.

How worried should I be by including something like this? My agent looked at it and didn't say anything but I would like everyone's opinion. Thanks a lot for any responses.

cornflake · Jan 18, 2018

Description is one thing, dialogue is another.

Don't presume Chrichton's publisher didn't pay for whatever is in there. There are books that quote song lyrics on the shelf -- the rights were paid.

DeleyanLee · Jan 19, 2018

Google "fair use"+"copyright law". There is a certain amount that is legal to be used without paying for royalties, and the law is your best guide.

Personally, I'd simply state they went to see the movie by title and then keep the focus on the characters and the movie more general. A TV Guide description of the movie that's original to you should be good, especially if it's a popular movie most people will know.

Also remember by being specific about what movie they're seeing, you're dating your work. That might be a problem for your story (ie: I'm deliberately setting my current MIP in August, 2000, so that would be a detail I'd want to include). Your decision, whatever works for your story.

cornflake · Jan 19, 2018

DeleyanLee said:
Google "fair use"+"copyright law". There is a certain amount that is legal to be used without paying for royalties, and the law is your best guide.

Personally, I'd simply state they went to see the movie by title and then keep the focus on the characters and the movie more general. A TV Guide description of the movie that's original to you should be good, especially if it's a popular movie most people will know.

Also remember by being specific about what movie they're seeing, you're dating your work. That might be a problem for your story (ie: I'm deliberately setting my current MIP in August, 2000, so that would be a detail I'd want to include). Your decision, whatever works for your story.

There is no amount of copyrighted material you can use without permission and compensation, no. That's also not what fair use is. Fair use is determined by the court on a specific basis, and is pretty much never applicable in cases of for-profit, non-news anyway.

cmhbob · Jan 19, 2018

As Cornflake pointed out, describing the movie is fine. Quoting dialog from the movie is not.

Although if your lead is channeling Rhett Butler and says "To quote a quote, 'I don't give a damn," you might be okay, but I'd run that one past an IP lawyer.

I wrote a blog post about my experience with using song lyrics, and there are several threads here about it.

DeleyanLee · Jan 19, 2018

cornflake said:
There is no amount of copyrighted material you can use without permission and compensation, no. That's also not what fair use is. Fair use is determined by the court on a specific basis, and is pretty much never applicable in cases of for-profit, non-news anyway.

Thanks for the correction! But, as I said, I tend to just avoid the entire thing and keep to generalizations.

Fantomas · Jan 20, 2018

Thanks for everyone who replied. It makes sense that repeating actual dialogue is too risky. From what I could find, it is ok to include brief descriptions but nothing too lengthy.

I think Crichton's publisher did not pay Disney for the rights to the Sleeping Beauty dialogue since it's not in the copyright page. However, I'm not privy to the behind the scenes happenings.

Old Hack · Jan 21, 2018

Fantomas said:
Thanks for everyone who replied. It makes sense that repeating actual dialogue is too risky. From what I could find, it is ok to include brief descriptions but nothing too lengthy.

I think Crichton's publisher did not pay Disney for the rights to the Sleeping Beauty dialogue since it's not in the copyright page. However, I'm not privy to the behind the scenes happenings.

Permissions are often mentioned in the Acknowledgements section, not on the copyright page.

Describing a Copyrighted Movie in your Novel

Fantomas

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

DeleyanLee

Writing Anarchist

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

cmhbob

Did...did I do that?

DeleyanLee

Writing Anarchist

Fantomas

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman