Question by gmcookvt: making a short film from a story I did not write?
I want to make a short film based on a novel by an author I will not be able to contact. I do not plan on selling the film, though I would want to enter it into a film festival for entertainment purposes only. Am I allowed to do this? I have looked everywhere for a way to contact the author to ask permission but I am having no luck.
Best answer:
Answer by MOM KNOWS EVERYTHING
This is a legal question, but I think you’d be taking a big risk of violating copyright laws if you were to do this without permission. You should be trying to contact the publisher, rather than the author personally. It shouldn’t be hard to find an address for the publishing company—it’s often somewhere in the book itself, unless it’s a very old edition.
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