Would This Be Illegal?

[The Chosen]

This is directly related to the Season 8 comics so I'm posting this here...

Would it be illegal to make a "transcript" of what was happening on the page? Like turn it into script format or something? It'd be handy for those fans that can't get their hands on Buffy season 8 or aren't big enough comic people to go out and buy it.

- TC

 

[Buffy Summers]

An excellent question that I don't know the answer to. My guess would be the writers would say that yes, that's illegal. But I think you might be okay posting summaries? Not really sure though.

🙂

 

[The Chosen]

That's what I was thinking...except then why would it be okay for people to transcribe the TV show?

A never ending pit of question marks...

 

[white avenger]

I can't see how it would be any more illegal than fan fiction, and as long as you include a disclaimer stating that it all belongs to Whedon and Company, and you don't try to make money off of it in any way. Joss has said frequently said that he encourages fan fiction, and even reads it himself. I would say go for it.

 

[Kean]

It's not really fan fiction though if he is transcribing their material rather than manipulating their characters, but transcripts are available all over the net...Mmmm...


....more than likely you'll end up in the slammer....TC SLAMMER!!!LOMA!!!!

 

[alexa]

They have transcripts already on some other Buffy forums around the place. I'd say it's probably ok with a disclaimer.. about as much as any of this stuff.

 

[Evilyn]

I don't think writing a summary would be illegal. I mean, there are summaries for the comics on the websites that sell them. The only reason there isn't more of a summary is because they don't wanna give everything away. But, I'm not a lawyer, so I really dunno what is legal and what ain't!

 

[Buffy Summers]

I think writing a summary is different from putting them into script form...

 

[white avenger]

I think we're really talking technicalities here when it isn't necessary, Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc has forced fan fiction featuring Tarzan or any other Burroughs character to be withdrawn from the Net, and I remember reading somewhere that Anita Blake didn't want her characters used. I'm sure there are other writers who see fan fiction or any other use of their creations as an infringement on their copyrights, but the key idea here is that Joss hasn't done anything like that in the past, and most likely won't in the future as long as we don't abuse his generosity by trying to make money off of his creations. I still say go for it. The worst that can happen is that you will get a court order saying that you have to remove your story from public view, and the odds of that happening are only slightly better than being hit by a meteor while taking a bath in your back yard. I still say go for it if you really want to.

 

[Buffy Summers]

But it's not about using the characters, it's about reprinting the story written by someone else in a similar medium to the one they're trying to sell you...

 

[white avenger]

If there are that many doubts and reservations, the project should either be undertaken strictly for the writer's experience and amusement and never published in any form or format, or the project dropped altogether. It's obvious what I would do, but ultimately the decision is that of The Chosen.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

It is a breach of the copyright law, if a holder of the copyright chooses not to prosecute, that is up to them. If in doubt ask the copyright holders, get permission from them in writing, then you are protected from prosecution.

 

[Allycat]

I think posting entire transcripts of a comic will be seen as copyright infringement. I wouldn't be surprised if the same is true for transcripts of TV series. You are after all copying something other people own the rights to, which unless you have permission is almost always copyright infringement. The only exception is fair use (wikipedia article).

According to the US Law the four factors to consider (when determining if something is fair use) are:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

Examples of good purposes are criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. I think everyone will agree that you could easily say transcripts are for any (combination) of these.

2. the nature of the copyrighted work;

If something is of substantial public interest it cannot be copyrighted. This basically only applies to non-fiction.

3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

Here's the first real problem. Since a transcript copies the entire comic, there's no way it can be considered fair use.

4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Finally, this is even more important than the last item, because this is the factor that companies consider when determining whether to prosecute. The Chosen said that transcripts might be a good option for people who don't want to buy the comics. Obviously, that means a negative effect on the market value of the work.

Now, I'm not a lawyer or anything, so you shouldn't take my word as gospel. But I would suggest that before anyone goes ahead transcribing the comics, they do a little research into intellectual property law, lest their work be for naught.

I think that N4H's Canon Watch thread is a better solution than transcripts.

 

[nerd4hire]

I think that N4H's Canon Watch thread is a better solution than transcripts.

There is a small problem there.

There have been cases of people cloning Buffy-Boards to make their own sites. Now if you happen to be the person who's put a lot of effort into making a board special it's going to be irritating to see your hard work replicated. It's not really illegal, just irritating. Irritating people can come back, and bite you in the ass.

That particular problem is one easily dealt with by good manners though. If you saw something you liked at a website, and wanted to use it, it would be good manners to contact the administrator, and say "Hey, I like that idea you have where you do such and such. I'm thinking of doing something similar. Would that bother you?" If the person was at all reasonable, something could be worked out.

In that particular case it shouldn't be a problem, because the idea isn't even original to this site. Basically Canon Watch is just a review with photo-clips for illustration of points. That's done all over the internet. (Calling it "Canon Watch" might earn you a scowl though).

As far as that particular thread goes, is it legal? I'd say yes, because it fits the definition of Fair Use.

The easiest way I've found of describing Fair Use is with this YouTube video.

YouTube - A Fair(y) Use Tale

But back to your transcript question. Is it illegal? Hard to say definitively. Nobody's done it, so it would have to be answered in court. My best guess is your chances of winning such a case are slim to none though. You'd have to be rich to afford a good lawyer to even try.

So what would the consequences be, if you did it? My best guess is you wouldn't be sued. I would expect them to ignore it, until a time they saw economic potential in the idea. That's what usually happens. In that case you would most likely be served with a takedown notice. If it came down to that there's 2 ways they might do that. They might contact you directly, or give your ISP a DMCA takedown notice (if you're American). If they wanted to make a point, they could demand you take down all related graphics, and written materials to which they made a claim of copyright ownership.

That idea is non-commercial. I doubt they'd put their full legal weight behind any possible repurcussions. They get a little pissier if you try to make money from something they hold the copyright for. You might want to read the thread linked to below about the guy who was selling T shirts with a reference to Serenity.

The Serenity T Shirt Debate - Buffy-Boards

 

[Buffy Summers]

Weren't there problems with sites getting shutting down for having transcripts at one point?

And PS, yeah, that's soooo irritating lol, when members copy the site to make their own.

 

[nerd4hire]

I can't remember anything about transcript sites being shut down, but there did used to be a site that offered original scripts, then Fox wanted to sell such stuff commercially, and that site disappeared as news of the scripts for sale thing appeared.

It was kind of a personal bug, because I was downloading them the day before the site vanished, but I quit early, and said to myself, "ahh, I'll finish this tomorrow".

 

[Buffy Summers]

Ah I wasn't sure if I remembered that correctly or not.

 

[Lou]

I think the main point would be....would you be profiting from the transcripts?
If not, it wouldn't be different from writing a summary.

No one is going to care or have any sort of legal claim against you...unless you're 1.) claiming it as your own work and/or 2.) making money off of it. If you were simply posting it on your website for random passers by to see and read you're okay. ESPECIALLY if you're not using the art work.

Because, in theory that's not hurting their sales. I know it wouldn't stop ME from buying them. Just like if I had missed an episode of the show and had come in here to ask what happened. Granted, a transcript is more thorough than your average "here's what happened".....but not illegal.

Although, if you profit at ALL, there would be issues.

 

[Allycat]

I don't think it's necessarily just about you making a profit, but about them losing revenue. There might be people who decide not to buy the comics but rather read the transcripts. If that happens, the owner of the copyright, be it Dark Horse, IDW, or FOX, won't be happy.

 

[Edmund Blackadder]

The Comic is someones work.
Writing a Transcript so that people who haven't bought it can gain free access is the same as taping a movie at the cinema and passing it on.

Personally this is kind of a moot point though.
Surely if you are that desperate to know what is going on you'll pay the £3.00 per month(or whatever) and if you aren't interested enough to pay that, you can be pretty ok with not having access online.

If these were super expensive comics, I'd be like 'fair game, email it to people and let the revolution begin' but it's not, it's a pretty cheap story that you can buy at any good comic retailer.

I for one would hate the possibility of something being posted here that could end with the closure of this site.