# Do you own the "copywrite" to your own life story? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2008, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826 "2008-12-05T06:32:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/1 "2008-12-05T06:32:13Z")
Suppose I heard someone talk about a really interesting episode of their life on “This American Life,” (or some other media source), and I decided that I wanted to take that story, fictionalize it, and turn it into a book or screenplay. Am I within my rights to do this without getting the original person’s permission? On the one hand, it seems a bit wrong, and the disclaimer they put on the end of movies (“The characters and events in this film are entirely fictional. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental,” or words along those lines) seems to indicate that there is some legal reason why you may NOT steal someone’s life story. On the other hand, fictional stories based on real people are made all the time – for example, [Primary Colors](http://www.amazon.com/Primary-Colors-Novel-Politics/dp/0812976479/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228458434&sr=8-2) was obviously based on the Clintons, and I’m going to assume Bill and Hillary didn’t authorize it. So which is it? Are stories you hear on “This American Life” fair game for adaptation? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/2 "2008-12-05T06:49:51Z")
Well I remember in a thread on portraits/modeling that while you couldn’t take a picture of just anyone and put it up in a tabloid, if the person was famous you could since that’s “news.” I wouldn’t be surprised if the answer is similar here. If you can successfully argue that the person’s life is newsworthy, and thereby something that the masses would have an interest in, then you have the right to publish it. Otherwise, probably not. Note that I am not a lawyer, let alone a copyright lawyer. I’m just making a best guess based on previous discussions in case no one else comes along. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/3 "2008-12-05T07:46:53Z")
IANAL either, and this is just what I remember from journalism classes and some online research… I’m sure somebody will come along and correct me if this is wrong: As far as I know, the issues you have to watch out for are invasion of privacy (while you’re doing your research/taking pictures) and slander/libel. I don’t think newsworthiness in and of itself is an issue, except that being a “[public figure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_figure)” raises the bar of proof in libel cases. Normally, people can file a libel suit against you if you make untrue negative statements, whereas public figures have to prove \*malice \*in addition to untruth, meaning they have to prove that you knowingly or recklessly lied to make them look bad. As for pictures, you can always take pictures of people in public places (the test for it is whether there’s a “reasonable expectation of privacy”) unless they’re minors, in which case you need a parent’s permission. As for copyrights, I don’t think anyone can own the facts to their life. They automatically get copyright if they produce a creative work (like an autobiography), but they can’t stop others from writing a similar story based on the same facts. This is all in the US, btw. Other countries may have different laws. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/4 "2008-12-05T07:47:26Z")
Just out of interest, why the misspelling in apostrophes in the thread title? I know the solecism is widespread but has it gained some particular nuance that I should be aware of? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/5 "2008-12-05T07:57:24Z")
Too late to edit: Seems like model release laws are more complicated than I thought (surprise, surprise). According to [one site](http://www.danheller.com/model-release-primer.html), what I said applies to taking pictures, but publishing them invokes a different set of laws. Sorry for the mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/6 "2008-12-05T07:58:01Z")
IANAL, so take the following with a grain of salt: Copyright (note the spelling) is the right to copy something, not the right to write something. One can hold copyright on the expression of an idea, not on the idea itself. For example, if I were to write a biography of Barack Obama, I would have copyright on the set of words I had written. My copyright wouldn’t restrict anyone from writing a different bio of Obama using the same facts. An author can still get into trouble for publishing an unauthorized biography (the subject can sue for libel, for instance). This is a different question from copyright, though. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/7 "2008-12-05T08:39:09Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > Suppose I heard someone talk about a really interesting episode of their life on “This American Life,” (or some other media source), and I decided that I wanted to take that story, fictionalize it, and turn it into a book or screenplay. Am I within my rights to do this without getting the original person’s permission? On the one hand, it seems a bit wrong, and the disclaimer they put on the end of movies (“The characters and events in this film are entirely fictional. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental,” or words along those lines) seems to indicate that there is some legal reason why you may NOT steal someone’s life story. > > On the other hand, fictional stories based on real people are made all the time – for example, [Primary Colors](http://www.amazon.com/Primary-Colors-Novel-Politics/dp/0812976479/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228458434&sr=8-2) was obviously based on the Clintons, and I’m going to assume Bill and Hillary didn’t authorize it. > > So which is it? Are stories you hear on “This American Life” fair game for adaptation? It really depends on how you phrase it. If you call it an adaptation from American Life (or some other source) then no–American life (or whoever) holds the copyright. If you take it as a starting point, reimagine it, rename all the characters, and call it fiction, you’re probably fine. If people think they know who you’re writing about, you’ve written a roman a clef. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/8 "2008-12-05T08:44:58Z")
I just watched an old Simpsons’ episode tonight where the family is sitting around watching a film that was made based on events in their life. Homer says, “So when are we gonna get a check from this?” And Marge replies “They said they changed things around just enough so they wouldn’t have to pay us.” Basically, you are by no means a unique snowflake. Speaking as a writer, it’s pretty easy to take inspiration from a person’s life and base a character off them without making it obvious. To fit whatever story it is you want to write, chances are the character is going to have to be changed slightly anyway, or do things that the real person never did. And at that point, who’s to say it’s based on this person at all? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/9 "2008-12-05T13:21:05Z")
I seem to recall someone saying that you can pretty much do what you want after someone is dead. This is why there aren’t a lot of biopics about living people. And I imagine there is plenty you can do even when they are living. There is no shortage of “unauthorized biographies” out there. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/10 "2008-12-05T15:55:36Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > IANAL, so take the following with a grain of salt: > > Copyright (note the spelling) is the right to copy something, not the right to write something. One can hold copyright on the expression of an idea, not on the idea itself. For example, if I were to write a biography of Barack Obama, I would have copyright on the set of words I had written. My copyright wouldn’t restrict anyone from writing a different bio of Obama using the same facts. > > An author can still get into trouble for publishing an unauthorized biography (the subject can sue for libel, for instance). This is a different question from copyright, though. Neither OED nor Merriam-Webster online give any such definition. In fact, they don’t recognize the term at all. The nearest is copywriting, “the use of words to promote a person, business, opinion, or idea.” This has nothing to do with rights whatever. I think you’ll find that _copywrite_ is one of those egregious errors which proliferate on the net. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/11 "2008-12-05T16:09:19Z")
He wasn’t responding to your question about the misspelling; he was talking about copyrights (“the exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or artistic work…”). ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/12 "2008-12-05T16:36:53Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > He wasn’t responding to your question about the misspelling; he was talking about copyrights (“the exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or artistic work…”). D’oh! :smack: Thank you, **gigi**. And my apologies to you, **Jeff Lichtman**. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/13 "2008-12-05T17:07:33Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I just watched an old Simpsons’ episode tonight where the family is sitting around watching a film that was made based on events in their life. Homer says, “So when are we gonna get a check from this?” > > And Marge replies “They said they changed things around just enough so they wouldn’t have to pay us.” > > Basically, you are by no means a unique snowflake. Speaking as a writer, it’s pretty easy to take inspiration from a person’s life and base a character off them without making it obvious. To fit whatever story it is you want to write, chances are the character is going to have to be changed slightly anyway, or do things that the real person never did. And at that point, who’s to say it’s based on this person at all? Very true. What do you think the term “based on a true story” means? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/14 "2008-12-05T17:15:13Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > Very true. What do you think the term “based on a true story” means? Half the time they don’t even use that. It’s “Inspired by actual events!” now. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/15 "2008-12-05T19:01:22Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Half the time they don’t even use that. It’s “Inspired by actual events!” now. Or “ripped from the headlines”! ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/16 "2008-12-05T19:53:39Z")
This doesn’t address the OP’s specific question, but the current movie **Milk** is an [example of how copyright works](http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20243296_3,00.html) when applied to someone’s life story. In 1991, producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron bought the rights to adapt Randy Shilts’ biography of Harvey Milk, _The Mayor of Castro Street_. It’s been in development hell for most of that time. In 2005, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black decided to write a screenplay about Harvey Milk. Because Zadan and Meron owned the rights, he couldn’t base it on Shilts’ biography. So he did his own first-hand research, interviewing people who knew Milk and reading stuff Milk had written, and wrote the screenplay based on that. So some of the same real-life events appear in both works, but **Milk** the movie is not an adaptation of the biography, because of copyright, though it is a story of Harvey Milk. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/17 "2008-12-05T20:45:57Z")
There is a lot of conjecture here, but everybody seems to have missed the two key points. First, facts can not be copyrighted. Your life story is a series of facts, and anyone is free to retell it without violating your copyright. Copyright protection applies to something creative and unique that you have produced. If you write an autobiography, it would be a violation of your copyright for someone to reuse the words verbatim. It would not be a violation for someone else to retell the story in their own words. Second, this very issue was addressed in federal court six weeks ago. A pair of documentary filmmakers sued Warner Brothers over the film “We Are Marshall,” claiming that they owned the rights to the story. Their case was dismissed. [Interesting analysis here](http://seanlahman.blogspot.com/2008/10/courts-copyright-law-still-exists.html), including links to the judge’s ruling and other pertinent cases. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/18 "2008-12-05T21:05:44Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Just out of interest, why the misspelling in apostrophes in the thread title? I know the solecism is widespread but has it gained some particular nuance that I should be aware of? To nitpick your nitpick, there are no apostrophes in the thread title.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/19 "2008-12-06T07:37:40Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Just out of interest, why the misspelling in apostrophes in the thread title? I know the solecism is widespread but has it gained some particular nuance that I should be aware of? Sorry, just a simple misspelling, that’s all. Okay, so I’m gathering, that yes, other people’s life stories are free to use for fictional adaptation, correct? So if, for example, I saw a PrimeTime Live special on a particularly clever murder trial, I could take the exact facts of the case, give the characters fake names and identities, and turn it into a book or screenplay without needing to ask for permission from anyone. Correct? Thanks all for the help. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826/20 "2008-12-06T08:16:10Z")
When I saw the Robert Downey, James Woods movie _True Believer_ I was amazed that I knew the whole story of the crime they were solving and how they would crack the case. This was because it was a real case written about in _Gumshoe_ by philosophy professor turned PI Josiah Thompson. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-the-copywrite-to-your-own-life-story/475826.md?page=2)