[LINK] Copyright in adapted works [was Digital copyright ...]
Stephen Wilson
swilson at lockstep.com.au
Tue Jun 10 15:36:10 AEST 2008
Frank O'Connor wrote:
> I started having problems with copyright when:
>
> a) Hollywood copyrighted classic English works of fiction (Bronte
> Sisters et alia) simply because they had done a film based on them.
Can you expand on what exactly is going on in these cited cases?
Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick but it seems fair enough to
copyright adaptations, or to copyright actual forms of adapted works.
That is, if for instance I were to film a play, even if I don't change
the script, I can claim copyright in the film, but not the original
text. IANAL but clearly, novels adapted into screenplays constitute
genuine new creative works. So why shouldn't copyright subsist in the
new forms?
A more mundane but to me more familiar example is when I sign over to a
publisher copyright in the production of a conference paper: they get to
own the form in which it is produced by them, but I retain copyright in
the original text. It makes sense (to me at any rate) that my writing
represents one piece of intellectual property, that I own and can modify
and improve and publish again as I wish, while the actual printed work
is another piece of IP, imbued with the publisher's brand, and improved
by their editing, indexing and imprimatur, all of which adds some value.
Cheers,
Stephen Wilson
Managing Director
Lockstep
Phone +61 (0)414 488 851
www.lockstep.com.au
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