68
votes
Accepted
Did Spaceballs have to get permission for Pizza the Hutt
A brand like Pizza Hut can be trademarked but not copyrighted. Copyrights allow the author (or owner of the copyright) to retain exclusive rights to use the work or significant portions of it. ...
- 11.1k
55
votes
Accepted
Copyright of name in movies
For a character to be protected by copyright, it must be an original creation. Tolkien never had a copyright on elves or orcs, because both of those creatures existed in literature prior to The Lord ...
- 1,883
51
votes
Accepted
What properties did Disney buy from 21st Century Fox?
According to this article,
Movies
Disney will acquire following movie franchises from Fox.
X-Men movies
Fantastic Four movies
Star Wars (the rights to the original and prequel trilogies)
Deadpool ...
A J♦
- 57.8k
43
votes
Accepted
Are scripts seeded to identify leaks?
Yes
Screenrant.com
WSJ’s report also contains a few interesting accounts of how recent and upcoming movies were kept under wraps. Each copy of each script for The Hunger Games adaptations has a ...
- 133k
22
votes
Accepted
Why is the video game footage "re-created" (badly) in the AVGN movie?
This was never done in the normal episodes, so why in the movie?
As you suspected, it's for legal reasons.
Why is it different because it's a movie? I couldn't think of any more "fair" use ...
- 22.1k
13
votes
Accepted
Was a deal needed with Fox to use Evan Peters?
This article by the LA Times has a good explanation which can be summed up with
Disney’s acquisition of Fox in 2019 changed that. Fox’s separate “X-Men” franchise is no more, and Marvel Studios is ...
- 2,951
12
votes
Accepted
Are trailers copyrighted or not?
Yes, essentially all produced art is copyrighted simply by being created.
Is it fair use? I am not a lawyer, but in the US "fair use" covers typically low fidelity reproduction for the ...
- 4,135
12
votes
Accepted
Why tech giants are unable to prevent piracy/cam(rip)?
They are.
Several methods are being researched but aren't at a delivery phase yet.
Here's two or three...
Camera Detection & Jamming
Researchers have been trying to develop effective ways to jam ...
- 133k
10
votes
Accepted
Did Fox need permission for the 'Spider-Pig' parody in The Simpsons Movie?
Due to the nature of music related copyright laws, its anyone's guess. What we do know is that copyright exceptions allow for satire (using or changing a copyrighted work to make a statement on ...
- 67.8k
9
votes
Accepted
Do the Simpsons have to pay copyright?
This kind of thing is common to The Simpsons and a lot of shows, and falls under fair use as parody - so it is highly unlikely that any royalty or licence fee would have to be paid in this instance.
- 12.2k
9
votes
Accepted
WB suing 21st Century Fox for using the word "Batman" in Deadpool
It was a joke, and companies often allow jokes or other "fair use" references to their intellectual property.
What would be the purpose of a lawsuit? What kind of outcome would they want? I'm not ...
- 52.2k
9
votes
Accepted
Rights to "Gotham" and Batman after Fox's proposed sale?
No
According to Forbes:
Part of Disney’s acquisition is set to include the purchase of 20th Century Fox Television. This is not the same thing as Disney purchasing the Fox network, which is not part ...
- 14.5k
6
votes
Are trailers copyrighted or not?
Yes, they are copyrighted. The precedent-setting case was filed by the Walt Disney company, so you should definitely get their permission first.
See Trailers are not ‘fair use’ of movie copyrights
On ...
- 1,582
6
votes
Accepted
What are the copyright laws for cartoons such as The Ultimate Spiderman
If you look at the top of that chart, you'll see it refers specifically to Live Action rights. Animation rights are negotiated separately. For precisely these kinds of situations, Marvel Entertainment ...
- 1,883
6
votes
Accepted
Who has filming rights for Squirrel Girl?
Freeform announced a Marvel TV Show, New Warriors, and included Squirrel Girl in the line up. She was cast and played by Milana Vayntrub.
Excerpt from link:
It’s unclear if New Warriors will take ...
- 12.5k
5
votes
Accepted
Did the real Stillwater ever have a problem with Almost Famous using their name?
From a 2003 interview with Bobby Golden, one of the founders of the band, that can be found here
Luc Brunot: One last question. You certainly know that Cameron Crowe, in his movie "Almost Famous" ...
- 11k
5
votes
What is it called when a DVD or Blu-Ray fragments titles to obfuscate the disk?
It is called structure protection.The video stream is divided into a large number of segments between a few seconds and several minutes in length, which are then linked in a different order in each of ...
- 1,922
5
votes
Rights to George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead"
None of what you said. It became public domain the second it was distributed/screened to the public due to the US copyright law at the time. You were required to include a copyright symbol on the work ...
- 67.8k
4
votes
Accepted
Can I copy the narrative structure of a movie?
Yes, you can. But I am not a lawyer, and very powerful lawyers may think otherwise, and while you may win a lawsuit over it, it will be expensive.
From an educational lawyer copyright blog https://...
- 67.8k
4
votes
Copyright of name in movies
Names and titles are not protected by US copyright. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics.
You may be thinking of trademarks; I suggest searching TESS to find out what protections exist for a given name. ...
- 203
3
votes
Is it illegal to make a video jukebox?
Ok, with the usual disclaimer that we're not here to offer legal advice, and we don't actually know the territory you live in.
First of all the material you are considering copying is covered by ...
- 52.2k
3
votes
Tierra y Libertad attribution to Orwell, and films based on books in general
I haven't seen the film, but based on the Wikipedia article and IMDB information linked from the question, I think it's simply a matter of the story being different enough from Homage to Catalonia ...
- 1,524
3
votes
Does Disney now own Howard the Duck, and why?
Universal Studio's distributed the film both on its release and on all subsequent home video releases but the film was both produced by Lucasfilm Ltd and based on a Marvel property (it was the first ...
- 8,027
3
votes
How is copyright handled when Family Guy reused old footage?
Fair Use in the United States is pretty nuanced and open to interpretation. From section 107 of the Copyright Act:
Courts will balance the purpose and character of the use against the other factors....
- 23.6k
2
votes
Do stars of original series get royalties for reboots or remakes?
No, actors do not get royalties from reboots. The characters are the property of the writer(s), and only they are capable of getting royalties from reboots.
Edit:
Not sure who flagged this, but ...
- 59.6k
2
votes
Accepted
Why are all good movies restricted in Egypt?
This is not about copyright so much as Egypt's local laws about censorship and child protection.
According to Article 2 of Law 430 of 1955, it is prohibited to distribute, rent and/or sell, by any ...
- 666
2
votes
Who owns The Lone Ranger these days?
Universal Pictures
From Wikipedia
Ownership
From its inception, George W. Trendle had legal ownership of the Lone Ranger and characters associated with the Lone Ranger through his company, The Lone ...
- 133k
1
vote
Can a specific shooting style be patented?
@Paulie_D has it right; patents are for inventions. Section 101 of the patent code defines the patentable subject matter, and camera angles are not in there, nor shooting styles, editing styles, or ...
- 101
1
vote
Can you use a certain song in a trailer, that has been used in a different movie-trailer as well?
Always(!) get a licence
Disclaimer
This is NOT legal advice
If you depend on the advice below, and that lands you in legal trouble: sorry, I am not taking responsibility for that. Now you are warned.
...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible