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Johnny Gho
Can I write a book about peter pan without copyright problems?
I am writing a Dystopian YA novel that is a retelling of Peter Pan.
the wiki says a lot about the copyright and some public domain stuff, but I honestly don't understand any of it. what i need to know is can I write a book using the storyline without getting sued or asking permission? thanks!
Answer
If you don't understand it, maybe you shouldn't be taking chances...
Copyright doesn't protect ideas or plots for stories, so if your characters just bear a passing resemblance to Peter and Wendy and Captain Hook and the rest, and they have adventures that are reminiscent of the story of Peter Pan, that's fine.
If you want to use the characters and put them in a different setting, that's a derivative work of the original story, and you will need permission from the copyright owner to publish your novel in any country where the copyright hasn't expired. Getting this permission is likely to be more trouble than it's worth.
The play is out of copyright in the UK. There's a special case in UK copyright law that gives the copyright owner (Great Ormond Street Hospital) a royalty from performances or broadcasts of the play or adaptations of it, although they don't have creative control over it, and can't stop people from performing or broadcasting or adapting it.
The hospital has argued that it's still in copyright in the USA, and have sued authors and publishers to enforce this.
If you don't understand it, maybe you shouldn't be taking chances...
Copyright doesn't protect ideas or plots for stories, so if your characters just bear a passing resemblance to Peter and Wendy and Captain Hook and the rest, and they have adventures that are reminiscent of the story of Peter Pan, that's fine.
If you want to use the characters and put them in a different setting, that's a derivative work of the original story, and you will need permission from the copyright owner to publish your novel in any country where the copyright hasn't expired. Getting this permission is likely to be more trouble than it's worth.
The play is out of copyright in the UK. There's a special case in UK copyright law that gives the copyright owner (Great Ormond Street Hospital) a royalty from performances or broadcasts of the play or adaptations of it, although they don't have creative control over it, and can't stop people from performing or broadcasting or adapting it.
The hospital has argued that it's still in copyright in the USA, and have sued authors and publishers to enforce this.
Is it okay to copyright a public domain book if you translate it?
Nathaniel
I was wondering if you are allowed to copyright a public domain book if you translate it yourself. For example you find a old Dutch book in the public domain and you decide to translate using translating tools such as translate.google.com to translate the Dutch into English. It's time consuming work but after a few days you have it ready to be published at least as an eBook. You've put your own time and effort into it and hope to make a profit. Can you copyright it so you have more power over your translation/work?
Answer
If it is Public Domain document, like from the Gutenberg Project (A Great Organization BTW, and they always need help with editing, etc.) You are Ok, and you should be able to copy-write and publish your translation as Your work product.
But Mintie is correct in that any Translation need's to be checked for accuracy and properly referenced. Google Translation or any other auto-translator will not be able to do the job with the needed level of confidence. You need a person for that.
If it is Public Domain document, like from the Gutenberg Project (A Great Organization BTW, and they always need help with editing, etc.) You are Ok, and you should be able to copy-write and publish your translation as Your work product.
But Mintie is correct in that any Translation need's to be checked for accuracy and properly referenced. Google Translation or any other auto-translator will not be able to do the job with the needed level of confidence. You need a person for that.
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