Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Singin' in the What?

Dear Rich: I am trying to write a play for a school based on the movie, Singin' in the Rain. I have changed the title to We Sing in the Rain, changed the story quite a bit to cut romance out (the school is very religious), changed the ending, edited lyrics to songs to make them more appropriate for this school, and cut the romantic songs out. Where do I stand legally? What else can I do to be able to copyright this script for myself? I feel like this falls under parody and fair use in every way except the changes are not for commentary or humor, but to make them more appropriate. Wow, who knew Singin' in the Rain was so offensive, so full of "excessive immodesty? Plus we're wondering, without the romance, what's really left? Ennyway ... Perhaps your efforts will go unnoticed by the copyright owners but cutting stuff out to meet religious standards is infringement (as the CleanFlicks company learned a few years back). You can always challenge that ruling in your area but we think you'll have to give up on a fair use defense; you admit you're not commenting upon or parodying the original work, just removing things you find offensive.

No comments: