Legal Question in Entertainment Law in California

Historical true story

I am a begining screenwriter. I became aware of an amazing true story from WW II about a POW camp and the camps leader. This story has been published in countless books, and is widely known in Britian where the camp leader is from. The main individual in the story died over 10 years ago. I have been trying for the last 6 months to contact this person's family to obtain permission to write about his story but have been unable to locate them. Because of the historical nature of this story do I need to obtain rights from his family?


Asked on 7/10/01, 9:51 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Keith E. Cooper Keith E. Cooper, Esq.

Re: Historical true story

[In my experience, clients who ask me such questions generally are not being fully truthful about the situation and are painting a more rosy picture than the reality that exists. That is always a mistake when speaking with an attorney--it is impossible to provide reliable advice with incomplete or inaccurate information.]

HAVING SAID THAT, in general, you would not need permission to write about historic fact, particularly events that happened so long ago. It is always helpful, however, to have the principal participants on your side and cooperating with you.

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Answered on 7/11/01, 5:52 pm


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