QUESTION
Would a "letter of no objection" from a newspaper publishing house be enough to protect me against copyright infringement?
Asked on Jul 19th, 2012 on Intellectual Property - Minnesota
More details to this question:
I am writing a screenplay about the life of playboy & diplomat Porfirio Rubirosa. This screenplay is partially based on his memoirs published in a French magazine in 1964 and in the Dominican newspaper Listin Diario as weekly articles between 1965 and 1966.
I wonder if a "Letter of No Objection" (to my use of the published memoirs) from the editor of the newspaper is enough legal coverage against a potential lawsuit. Porfirio Rubirosa died in 1965 and left no children. His wife at the time has remarried two more times and is not available for possible negotiations.
1 ANSWER
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It is important to remember that the law of copyright protects expression, not facts. It is permissible for you to refer to, write about, and create motion pictures concerning the life of a deceased public figure without permission of anyone who has previously written about that person. This is so even if you propose to quote in insubstantial part from a previous work of authorship regarding that person. Having a letter of "no objection" (which constitutes, in publishing parlance, "permission") to quote from the newspaper protects you against copyright-infringement claims with respect to that newspaper only, provided that you limit your activities to the permitted ones that you requested. But you would have broad rights even without such a letter. Contact my office if you are interested in professional legal advice regarding this matter.
Answered on Jul 20th, 2012 at 10:38 AM