Reader question: What do I need to do if I want to adapt a book into a screenplay?

From Benjamin:

hey scott — i just read a book that would be a perfect movie. what are
my options as a rookie screenwriter if i want to write the adaptation?
should i take the idea to a production company who could aquire the
rights? contact the author? write the adaptation?

I’ve addressed this indirectly elsewhere, so let me try to take it head-on here — with the standard proviso that I’m not a lawyer, I don’t play one on TV, etc.

My advice: Secure the rights. Here are some of the issues if you write an adaptation and don’t secure the rights:

* You don’t know if the rights are even available

* If they’re available, you don’t know if the author or publisher will give them to you

* If you approach a producer or studio without the rights, what’s to prevent them from going around you to obtain the rights directly?

Besides why would you want to spend any time writing a script if you don’t know for sure that you control the underlying rights?

On the specifics of going after the rights, there are two helpful links — here and here.

Any GITS readers with legal backgrounds or experience re book rights, please feel free to weigh in with your advice.

Comment Archive