Watched Beyond Reanimator last night (2nd sequel to the excellent Reanimator).

It got me thinking about a theoretical question.

Reanimator is based on a H P Lovecraft story...Herbert West: Reanimator.

It's in the public domain. Anybody can use the character Herbert West...and Reanimator itself does so as the hero of the story.

But could you hire the same actor, playing the same role and make a film called Reanimator (based as it is on H P Lovecraft) and have no copyright issue?

Whiie I'm not a lawyer, I believe that there is no reason why Jeffrey Combs couldn't play Herbert West again in an original adaptation of Reanimator.


Phil

If you felt the inclination, you could even put Dr. West into a political thriller!

Here is proof you can do whatever you want with the beloved franchise:

Unlike the video above which uses clips from the movie (hopefully approved clips), you'd have to be careful that you didn't use any intellectual property of the first film and that the material you used was new or from the book.   Otherwise there shouldn't be an issue using the same actor to play the same part - the real question is would he want to play that part.  

The only reason why I can see Jeffrey Combs not being able to play the character again would be if there was a competition clause in his contract.  While this is common in the business world, I don't see this being popular in the acting world.


Phil