Are there any particular steps I must take to write a screenplay based on a public domain novel (written in 1902)?
Screenwriting : Public Domain by Heidi Schussman
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If it’s truly public domain, no. If it’s an influential work, people may still fight you for the sake of it.
No. Public Domain is free. There are some issues about ongoing intellectual property.
Sherlock Holmes the character is public domain. But phrase and storylines from later novels may not be public domain yet.
What about publications in Facebook, like programs to study for designers??? Can one publish some websites and not have copyright,? Guess so, but just in case. My late husband has put all his inspiration in Facebook during 4 years, and I would like to publish a resume.
I found among my families' books after my Mom died a book called My Faerie Reader. It was printed around 1905. One of the stories is the exact same storyline Cinderella came from.
And secondarily, my understanding is, it is good to have IP, this gives your story prior value. I wonder about this as nearly everything we say and do is from something all of us read or watched at some point. EXCEPT, unique things that have happened in our lives, like the guy upstairs telling me about how he watched some guy get his head shot off being held up down the street, or the other guy I was in college with, that I partied with one night, he went parachuting the next day, and didn't come back because his chute didn't open.
Thanks for the input you guys. I would be completely acknowledging the original story in my screenplay... in fact it is part of the appeal.
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Heidi. You don't need to take any steps.
Copyright is yours until you assign it. It will be hard to enforce if you have published it in a public forum. Read social media conditions. Often by using their platform you are assigning them your copyright.
Okay, one can use some parts of this story, and change names places, and rewrite all. Take the story to another country, or continent.
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Elisabeth. If it is in the public domain you can do whatever you want with it.
Ok Dan, thanks, just not ask for copy rights, because I would like everybody to learn if that would be possible.
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Write it. You might want to look through script deals for the past few years and make sure that someone didn't beat you to the punch.