Where can I look up who owns what character?  In particular, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Frosty, an other Christmas characters?


Phil

Not sure who owns the rights to the characters themselves, but it appears that WB owns the rights to the old Rankin/Bass films.

They own Rudolph.

THE RUDOLPH COMPANY, L.P.
Owner Address:     1619 BROADWAY SUITE 601 NEW YORK NEW YORK 10019

The WB?  But they're such whores.

Thanks Mike.


Phil

From Wikipedia...

Quoted Text Two BBC animations carry on the legend by introducing Rudolph's son, Robbie the Reindeer. However, Rudolph is never directly mentioned by name (references are replaced by a character interrupting with the phrase "Don't say that name!" or something similar, presumably for copyright reasons.)

Quoted from Grandma Bear Can't you just use similar characters? A reindeer named Rudy

Then you'd probably get sued by Dean Martin's estate.

I think it's time to think outside the box.  No snowmen, no reindeer, no Yeti, no PENGUINS.

Talking candy canes is your best bet.

I'm, pretty much, refering to characters.  Rudolph, however, may be more than a reference.  And using 'Rudy the Red-Nosed Reindeer,' or something similar, could still cause trouble down the road.


Phil

Quoted from dogglebe I'm, pretty much, refering to characters.  Rudolph, however, may be more than a reference.  And using 'Rudy the Red-Nosed Reindeer,' or something similar, could still cause trouble down the road.

Agreed, reindeer are fine, red nosed reindeer?  Not so much.  Same goes with Frosty as a talking snowman.  You name your snowman Seamus?  You're golden.

References aren't illegal to use. It's all about using the plot or characters. If you want to know how much you can get away with, reference the ridiculous spoof movies of recent years. Homages and references aren't "violations."

I remember in Die Hard I, the Ellis character mentions Rudolph and Frosty when he's trying to score with Holly - so it's done.

How many times have we not seen the "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH" or "SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND" lines used in other movies and TV shows. I would consider that an homage as well (though I could be mistaking).

Heck, in a Jimmy Neutron game, that big bully with the bangs walks around in the video game saying, "Say hello to my little friend.", every time he attacks Jimmy.

There you go.

Though it doesn't sounds as cool as when Al says it: "Say 'ello to ma lil'le fre'".

I bet you could do an entire movie with nothing but dialogue from other movies. I wonder when things stop being homages and instead turn into downright theft.

Probably when you're actually trying to steal it. My understanding of what is copyrightable boils down to the script itself and some very specific plot and character elements. I don't know exactly how far that extends, but I know it's very, very specific since plots are a dime a dozen and there are a lot of similarities out there.

For characters, you could well have a character named James Bond in your script, since it's just a name. But you can't have a character named James Bond working for MI-6 with a license to kill, numerical designation 007, who happens to be an orphan and have a penchant for gambling, alcohol, and women. You CAN, however, have a character named Jimmy Bond, who works for the CIA, lived with his grandparents, and has a penchant for cards, the occasional beer, and women. See the fine line?

Some things that I know CAN'T be copyrighted. Ideas are the biggest thing, though ironically they're sued over quite often. You cannot copyright an idea because they're so general. Titles can't either; you just have to consider whether you want to call your new script Romancing the Stone.

Here's the kicker though. Names and titles and items can be trademarked. A trademark means you cannot use it. How does this apply to us? Well, you can't call your new script Star Wars because Lucas trademarked it along with lightsaber, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and a host of other unique things from his space saga. That's where that little (TM) comes from. But people cannot trademark random words from the dictionary for their own use.

One thing I joked about some time ago that is completely legal (believe it or not) is find a script on here that sucks, tear it apart to rework the plot, rename all the characters and fix their shortcomings, rewrite it from the ground up, and boom, the new script is 100% yours since it would bear only a passing resemblance to the one you started with. You could also peruse the board that has ideas that people posted and use whichever one you want. Like someone's logline and think you have an awesome idea based on it? Knock yourself out. Is that scary enough for you?

These sites might be a useful:

http://www.entertainmentrights.com/

The entertainment rights site mentions various characters whilst the ones below are more about copyright-infringement and the renewal of intellectual property.

http://www.answers.com/topic/copyright-infringement-1

http://www.abanet.org/intelprop/comm106/106copy.html