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Taking a Character

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UncleEbenezer
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Taking a Character

#315967

Postby UncleEbenezer » June 7th, 2020, 1:26 am

Anyone know how the rules work on taking another author's character and making them central to a story?

I'm thinking here of cases like Jean Rhys's Antoinette or George McDonald Fraser's Flashman. Someone else's character becomes the central character in a story that is new and original but enriched by association with the character's origins.

I know it's fine (and widely done) with literature that has passed into common heritage: for example, classical or biblical. At the other extreme, if dealing with a living author, it would be common courtesy to try and contact them.

Between those is the case of characters whose original authors may be dead but not completely passed into common heritage, and may be still in copyright. What usage would or would not be reasonable/acceptable?

bungeejumper
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Re: Taking a Character

#316058

Postby bungeejumper » June 7th, 2020, 12:13 pm

Well, there's satire, of course, which is always an open channel for copying other people's characters, because its legal leeway relies on the fact that no reasonably intelligent person would ever be likely confuse the original author's straight efforts with yours. (There have been dozens of Bridget Jones spoofs, I think.) But try writing a proper new storyline about Harry Potter, or another Blackadder episode, and see what happens. ;)

(Actually I did read somewhere that a Chinese author had been caught developing a character called Harry Porter. Or maybe it was Hairy Potter?)

At the very least you'd need the copyright owner's permission, but sadly I wouldn't reckon your chances of getting it. :(

BJ

vrdiver
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Re: Taking a Character

#316098

Postby vrdiver » June 7th, 2020, 3:06 pm

bungeejumper wrote:... try writing a proper new storyline about Harry Potter, or another Blackadder episode, and see what happens. ;)

Actually, it's a very popular activity, called "fan-fiction". Take a look at https://bookriot.com/2019/01/25/harry-p ... anfiction/ as an example of the JKR characters being given new story lines by Harry Potter fans.

To the OP, you might want to google "fan fiction insert-author-name-here" to see what's out there, but any popular author, alive or dead, will likely have a good set of hits with that search.

VRD

Charlottesquare
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Re: Taking a Character

#316953

Postby Charlottesquare » June 9th, 2020, 10:08 pm

UncleEbenezer wrote:Anyone know how the rules work on taking another author's character and making them central to a story?

I'm thinking here of cases like Jean Rhys's Antoinette or George McDonald Fraser's Flashman. Someone else's character becomes the central character in a story that is new and original but enriched by association with the character's origins.

I know it's fine (and widely done) with literature that has passed into common heritage: for example, classical or biblical. At the other extreme, if dealing with a living author, it would be common courtesy to try and contact them.

Between those is the case of characters whose original authors may be dead but not completely passed into common heritage, and may be still in copyright. What usage would or would not be reasonable/acceptable?


This article gives a taste re copyright issues surrounding characters in the UK

https://www.societyofauthors.org/News/B ... themselves.

bungeejumper
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Re: Taking a Character

#317025

Postby bungeejumper » June 10th, 2020, 9:07 am

Charlottesquare wrote:This article gives a taste re copyright issues surrounding characters in the UK

https://www.societyofauthors.org/News/B ... themselves.

Wow, CS, that's excellent. Thanks!

Not much to add, except that the practical law on parody and pastiche is actually a bit more developed than this sets out. In most Western countries at least. The right to satirise somebody else's characters is a pretty fair proxy for the right to free speech, not to mention for a country's level of self-confidence in its own democratic traditions. Spitting Image was in fact appreciated by many of its victims, although Ronald Reagan probably wasn't one of them.

But try that in North Korea and they'd shoot you full of anti-aircraft-gun holes. They don't seem to like satire much in Japan, either.

Viz had a run-in with DC Thomson after it tried to nick Dennis the Menace from the Beano. As far as I know, DC Thomson's lawyers managed to squash the Geordie imitators in the end; but Viz's revenge was sweet. Fortunately, the Dundee publisher saw the funny side of it, and responded in kind: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 00322.html

BJ

UncleEbenezer
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Re: Taking a Character

#317155

Postby UncleEbenezer » June 10th, 2020, 12:30 pm

Thanks for the replies. I don't think I've learned anything new, though the society of authors was an interesting read and fleshes things out nicely - from the horse's mouth (so to speak).

I've heard of "fan fiction", but never looked into it. I hadn't thought of Wide Sargasso Sea, let alone Flashman, as fan fiction, but perhaps that's just because they're the cream that rose to the surface before the 'net enabled self-publishing for every Tom, Dick and Harry with no editorial filter. Indeed, on reflection, maybe Rhys is truly a fan fiction archetype?

There's certainly no legalities like copyright or passing off here. We're not talking anything like the highly-commercial James Bond series!

Anyway, I guess this wasn't the right place to ask, and not a very well-considered question. Sorry.

bungeejumper
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Re: Taking a Character

#317165

Postby bungeejumper » June 10th, 2020, 12:52 pm

UncleEbenezer wrote:There's certainly no legalities like copyright or passing off here. We're not talking anything like the highly-commercial James Bond series!

Anyway, I guess this wasn't the right place to ask, and not a very well-considered question. Sorry.

A perfectly good question, and in just the right place. Thanks for the opportunity to tour the horizon on this subject. :)

I still make a bit of money from book royalties, although most of mine were on business topics, not fiction, and most are now twenty years out of date. A certain prominent politician was once heard to steal one of my best arguments, verbatim. I let him off. He was the shadow chancellor, after all. :D

Good luck with whatever you're considering!

BJ

Charlottesquare
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Re: Taking a Character

#317187

Postby Charlottesquare » June 10th, 2020, 1:43 pm

bungeejumper wrote:
UncleEbenezer wrote:There's certainly no legalities like copyright or passing off here. We're not talking anything like the highly-commercial James Bond series!

Anyway, I guess this wasn't the right place to ask, and not a very well-considered question. Sorry.

A perfectly good question, and in just the right place. Thanks for the opportunity to tour the horizon on this subject. :)

I still make a bit of money from book royalties, although most of mine were on business topics, not fiction, and most are now twenty years out of date. A certain prominent politician was once heard to steal one of my best arguments, verbatim. I let him off. He was the shadow chancellor, after all. :D

Good luck with whatever you're considering!

BJ


Stuff away a load of copies somewhere and wait until your books are out of print. I have never been able to work out why certain secondhand textbooks cost a fortune on Abe etc whilst others are 1p plus postage. (I pick up the odd secondhand accounting book when the mood takes me)


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