In 2003 and 2009, John answered questions about when writers should consider if they’re crossing a line when they write real people, or spoofs of reality into their scripts.
I’m writing a comedy where two main characters are discussing Michael Bay films. One hates the man and his work, the other is more neutral.
Is this okay and considered “fair”, to talk/discuss/rant about a person like Michael Bay (or Uwe Boll, or Nicholas Cage etc.)? Do you need permission from them?
— James
Feel free to have your characters discuss Michael Bay. Say good things; say bad things; say what you want. It’s pretty hard to cross into libel territory when you just have dialogue about somebody famous like Mr. Bay. Consider what South Park or Family Guy get away with every week.
Is it “fair?” I’d say that as long as it’s funny, you’re fine. When it stops being funny and is simply mean-spirited, you risk alienating your reader. Go and The Nines refer to some real people, not always in a flattering way, and I’ve gotten no objections.
Where you get into trouble is when you take potshots at someone who is not a public figure, like that weird girl in health class. Not only is it legally unwise to call out Millie Walker by name, it’s also unconscionably lame. So don’t do that.
Back to Mr. Bay for a sec: Keep in mind that there’s a difference between referring to a real person in a movie and making a movie about that person.
If you were writing a bio-pic of Michael Bay (Born in Slow Motion: The Michael Bay Story), you would need either his cooperation or significant legal reassurance that whatever protections you were counting on (public record, parody, whatever) could really hold up in court.
I have a question about copyright. I just finished writing a comedy script which I would like to get made, but in the script I have involved some slight spoofs of other films and a few references. What I would like to know is does this infringe on the copyright? The references and spoofs are indirect and only take up parts of the film, but I don’t want to make a film then find out I’m being sued by everyone. Please help.
–Bunmi
Usually, I’d write up a lengthy explanation of copyright law as I understand it, which although hopefully entertaining would probably be grossly inaccurate. So I’ll just give my opinion instead.
You can’t go through life afraid of being sued. If your script is funny, and part of the reason is because of references and spoofs of other movies, then you obviously don’t want to remove them. So don’t. I guarantee, no one is going to sue you just for typing them in your script.
If someone buys your script and makes it, maybe the copyright owners of the original movies will sue, but I seriously doubt it. There’s a long tradition of movies parodying each other, and it would be hard to prove any actual damage or wrongdoing.
Besides, at that point, it’s not your problem. Any lawsuit is going to be directed at the big rich studio, not the measly underpaid writer. There would probably even be language in your contract with the studio protecting you just in case.
So while I can’t say that you’re absolutely, 100 percent safe, I can assure you that your time is better spent writing funny scenes than worrying about lawsuits.
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🗣 Have ideas for future topics (or just want to say hello)? Reach out to Chris via email at inneresting@johnaugust.com, Mastodon @ccsont@mastodon.art, or Threads @ccsont@threads.net