Recently wrote a short about two people discussing differences between modern day vampires and the old school legends. I reference Twilight several times in it. One character is even in the process of reading the book. Someone wrote to me and said good luck getting the rights to Twilight if you ever want to make this into a short film. Am I actually stepping over some legal boundaries here? I see shows like SNL and movies like Scary Movie constantly spoof stuff like this without, I'm sure, obtaining the rights.  

SNL and Scary Movie are protected by parody.  They also have a lot of lawyers.

If you're not going to produce this, then don't worry about it.  I don't think you really have anything to worry about even if you were going to shoot this.  It's a casual reference of the book.  YMMV.


Phil

As far as I know, references are perfectly. However, if someone is holding the book with its precious cover in the shot, then you'll need rights to show the book. That's not the story though -- just the artwork. If you just have someone with a black book in their hands (such as the Twilight hardback appears without its artwork slipcover), then you don't have anything rights-related. That's kind of a safety, though. It might be cool to let the cover appear without any issue, but I'm not 100% on that.

What you have to watch for (as far as I know - disclaimer - I'm no lawyer) is images from the book or movie. If you're having a discussion about it, then that's fine. People do that all the time. It's allowed under fair use under the criticism part. That's also where parody fits in.

And yeah, the sNL and Scary Movie lawyers know where the line is more specifically so as to not cross it.

Thanks. Not planning on producing or directing my self. Just wanted to make sure I was writing something that could legally be made. Sounds like just working some vague shots around the book without ever showing it would be legit.