copy rights

[bonbee]

I have a question about what is copy righted. I have written several short scifi stories that are based on a series of books. I have been giving them away (I am under the impression that as long as I'm not making a profit this is O.K. Is that right?) There is a great deal of interest as the author hasn't published anything new in over ten years (rumors have it that one will be published soon) and my stories are in demand. I would like to expand my stories into books and see if I can sell them. Can I use the same setting (a planet the author calls Gor or Counter Earth with distinctive dress and customs) as long as I don't use any of his specific characters? Can I use the name Gor? His books are titled HUNTER'S OF GOR, TRIBESMAN OF GOR, etc. How do people that write the Star Trek or Star Wars books do it? They use the same characters and everything. I assume they have permission from someone (the writer, the publisher?) Anyway, I'm sure I could sell anything I write from a website, but is it legal? Thanks for giving this your attention.

 

[lawrat]

I am a law school graduate. I specialize in copyright law. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

What you need to look at is this:

Your works are automatically copyrighted when you set pen to paper now. If you take items from another author, like general scenes that are necessary to the type of story you are telling: if you talk about dinosaurs, all books/movies/etc are going to have same general type of look or description. You cannot take characters, etc.

Derivative works is another buzz word you should look at.

I am going to give you three links, to go through and read:

http://profs.findlaw.com/copyright/index.html
http://profs.findlaw.com/copyown/index.html
http://profs.findlaw.com/infringe/index.html