I know public domain books are fair game for adaptation, but can public domain films be used in the same way?First, a definition:
Public Domain refers to the body of creative works and knowledge in which no person, government or organization has any proprietary interest such as a copyright. These works are considered part of the public cultural heritage and may be freely used by all.Then the traditional caveat: I'm not a lawyer, I don't even play one on TV. But logic would suggest that the same public domain legalities would extend both to book and films.
If there are lawyers who read this and have a differing (and more informed) opinion, please post a reply in comments.
I did some bumping around the Internet and found these sites:
The Public-Domain Database
Public Domain Movie Torrents
Desert Island Films
OpenFlix
All of them claim to host public domain movies, but the language is a bit squishy:
"OpenFlix provides a directory of movies commonly thought to be in the public domain and works their owners are willing to let be distributed."So clearly if you find a movie you want to adapt, you need to make sure that it is in the public domain and that someone else doesn't hold the copyright.
As a side note, browsing these sites is a great way to source potential plot ideas. Here's a few of the horror movie loglines I found:
Mad scientist makes a criminal invisible so he can steal the radioactive materials he needs.So another way to feed your brainstorming process.
"Boris Karloff. Obsessed with curing paralysis, man slays townspeople to tap them of their spinal fluid."
Giant leeches in a murky swamp suddenly decide to make human flesh their new food supply.
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6 comments:
Hey Scott, thanks for the feedback, I'm going to do so more digging myself, and your right its a great resource
"Mad scientist makes a criminal invisible so he can steal the radioactive materials he needs".
Now that's a kick ass plot that could really be brainstormed.
hey guys, a great site they told us about in film school is the Internet Archive. The site is bit much to get used to but if you search Moving Images you can find a ton of old stuff. I got some great 1950s war and space footage for a music video I made. A lot of the footage will have a creative commons symbol and link to the CC site to explain exactly how you can use the footage.
@blueblind: Hey, great link. Thanks for that!
It's funny, most of that public domain stuff is the crap they used to show on Chiller Theater with Ned the Dead, Green Bay WI's infamous late night TV horror host.
God I used to love that stuff.
Thanks blueblind great find.
Films in the public domain - either because they're old or copyright has been waived - are up for grabs, just as written works in the public domain are.
However, just because they appear in a website that says they're public domain material, it doesn't mean they are.
You should always check if someone or a company holds the rights to that material before re-using or adapting it. If only to stop any nasty surprises somewhere down the line.
You should also bear in mind that copyright lengths vary from country to country. Material that's public domain in the USA due to its age may not be in the UK, for example.
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