More on Copyright stuff

[andy_winton]

hi,

Here's a question for you legal boffins.

If I use the phrase 'use the force' in
a short do I need permission? This is
obvious that it's a star wars reference,
but do I need permission to use it?

Also, if I have the phrase 'talks like
yoda', do I need permission for that.

Do I need to change this to 'talks like
that little green guy, what's his name,
ah nevermind'. Since green guy is pretty
generic, could be kermit or yoda.

I'm guessing that the first phrase is OK,
but the second, since it uses the name
yoda is not.

thanks for your time,

andy (trying so hard to work by the rules)

[deanl]

Hey there. Now Im not 100% sure but I remember listening to the commentary track on the Blair With Project dvd and the directors mentioned that the most expensive sceen in the entire film was when the characters talk about Gilligans Island. They had to pay alot of money out for like ten words. Now Im not sure if that aplies for the uk. But It would be a pain if you built a sceen around a conversation but you could not afford to use it.

[Thousanth]

I'm not 100% sure on this so double-check it. I don't think LucasFilm holds a copyright to the phrase "Use the Force". If so you should be safe there. Yoda however is a copyrighted name and character of Star Wars and LucasFilm LTD.
That does apply in the UK.
Once again I'm only 80% on this, so make sure you're sure about it.

------------------
Thousanth
THOUSANTH ENTERTAINMENT
AND PRODUCTIONS.
"A good director elevates his film above all limitations placed on it...above its genre, script, acting and production. A good director IS the film."

[deanl]

Remember mallrats had a 6 million doller budget. If they did heve to pay for the rights. They could afford it. Same goes for Tarantino movies. They did have a budget that could accomadate paying for this stuff.

Then again. Clerks has a lot of starwars stuff in it and that only had a 27 grand budget. I cant see any of that going on paying for the starwars stuff. Oh well back to whare I started. Sorry Im no help.

Id just shoot two versions of the scene. Then if you are told you need to pay for a line you can just take it out.

Despin out.

[austintash]

On the other hand, just because they've got a big budget doesn't mean the copyright holder will give permission. The reason "Stuck In The Middle With You" is used for the ear scene in Reservoir Dogs is because they couldn't get cleareance for the song they originaly wanted to use. Same thing goes for the Deliverance type scene in Pulp Fiction.

[no_one119]

I too, am not entirely sure but I believe that words in the english language can not be copywritten so "use the force" couldn't be copywritten for example.

Yoda, likewise, I don't think causes a problem, it comes when you start attaching it to things or using images/sounds of the character.

Try it anyway, if someone does try to sue you, think of the publicity when you go to the press!!!

[austintash]

Although Yoda is a trademark, I don't think that it stops you from mentioning it. "Talks like Yoda" should be fine. If talking about other films, tv shows, etc required clearance of every line then Tarantino would be out of a career. "Use the force" might be slightly more tricky, but since it's only a short film I'd go ahead anyway. I've seen multiple references to the force and other Star Wars stuff e.g. Kevin Smith's character Silent Bob in Mallrats uses "the force". Might be worth checking through the credits on a videotape of that movie to see if there's any clearance or acknoledgement information.

There are also provisions for parody and satire in copyright laws.

[This message has been edited by austintash (edited August 15, 2001).]