Non-Copyrighter (Written) Material

[PeterG]

Does anyone know of any websites that have written material that anybody can use and not have to worry about breaking copyright law? I have an acquaintance who has thought about directing, but he is not a writer.

He would like to film some works that would showcase his directing skills but needs material that won't get deleted after posted online because the material is copyrighted.

Thanks for any help you are able to provide.

[Indra486]

That's tough because anything you create (at least minimially creative as a copyright standard) is automatically copyrighted. Now, if it's not filed with official papers, should a lawsuit come, they can't sue you for damages but they can just get you to stop. However, this is US copyright law.

That said, is there anything specific that he wants to film?

[Really]

He needs to look for stuff with Creative Commons licensing. There are various levels of permissions granted with CC, but there are people who do publish things online and are willing to have their material remixed.

[backspin]

If he finds something he particularly likes, he could always contact the author & ask permission to use it. You never know, they might love the idea!

[ArtisticFan]

Another option might be to contact a professor at a university that offers creative writing programs.

I know that some of the students in my former MAPW program allowed their scripts they had written for screenwriting classes to be filmed. The school also allowed the finished product to be showcased at the university's film festival with special billing.

Having taken those classes myself and read the work of the other students, you had some really good stuff being written that was just going to sit on a shelf.

[PeterG]

That said, is there anything specific that he wants to film?

No. But he'd prefer to find a website or source that has lots of available material to choose from (if possible)!

He needs to look for stuff with Creative Commons licensing. There are various levels of permissions granted with CC, but there are people who do publish things online and are willing to have their material remixed.

Remixed?

How does one go about finding material with Creative Commons licensing?

Another option might be to contact a professor at a university that offers creative writing programs.

Cool idea. Thanks!

[Really]

Creative Commons

Creative Commons Canada

[Yehudi]

How about using works that are in the public domain? Copyrights do eventually expire so looking at older works and perhaps giving it a modern tweek is a good idea. There used to be a great website of books whose copyrights have expired but I can't seem to remember the name.

[Spiralgraph]

You're thinking of Project Gutenberg, They publish many etexts of books that are in the public domain in the USA Many of these are also Public domain for many other countries.

A Creative Commons license is not the same as Public domain.

Here's the link to PG's main page:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page