Derivative Works
From ForcaWiki, the simple encyclopedia
| In one sentence | A new creative work based closely enough on an older, copyrighted work that it needs the original creator's permission, like a sequel or a remake. |
|---|---|
| Category | Film and Television |
| Related | Intellectual Property (IP), Ancillary Rights, Berne Convention |
Imagine writing a whole new chapter to someone else's book, using their characters and their world, without asking first. Even though you wrote new words yourself, what you created still depends entirely on their original story.
A derivative work is exactly that kind of new creation: any work, fixed in some lasting form, that is based upon or substantially similar to an earlier work protected by copyright. In the movie industry, the term usually gets used more narrowly, to mean specific things like sequels, prequels, remakes, and television spinoffs of a film.
Fun facts
- Making a derivative work of a movie without permission is generally against the law, since the original intellectual property still belongs to whoever owns it.
- Even though exploiting a movie's Ancillary Rights often means creating derivative works, like a novelization, the film industry treats the two ideas separately.
- Deciding whether something truly counts as a derivative work, versus something different enough to stand on its own, is a common and difficult question in copyright law.