Posting television transcripts on the web?

May 9, 2007 1:40 PM

Is it permissible to transcribe TV shows and post said transcripts on the web?

The copyrights to the TV shows in question do not belong to me. Does this fall under fair use?

posted by crickets to Law & Government (8 answers total)

I don't know whether it is permissable, but it is certainly done a whole heckuva lot.
posted by alms at 1:45 PM on May 9, 2007

Almost certainly not. Whether the show's producers would actually come after you is another question, though - the Good Eats Fan Page posts transcripts, apparently without explicit permission, and Be Square Productions apparently doesn't bother them.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 1:48 PM on May 9, 2007

You're in effect asking two questions.

Are tv transcripts copyrighted?

Yes.

Can I reproduce said transcripts without permission?

In the United States, you have the fair use doctrine that allows for limited use of copyrighted material. (Read about the test, that's the most important part.) In some foreign countries, you have a similar doctrine called fair dealing. Basically, there are legally defensible ways to appropriate somebody else's copyrighted material: usually if its for some type of academic use, or as part of a critical review, or as the basis of a parody.

The area here, however, is very grey, and you could very well receive a cease and desist order. You remember getting free packets of xeroxed articles from teachers for class reading, instead of buying the books? That's clearly an academic use, but if i understand correctly (IANAL), it is in fact illegal. So depending on the scope of your interest in this matter, you may want to speak to a copyright lawyer.

I'm actually applying the logic of copyrighted music to scripts here, as I have no direct experience with registered scripts. I imagine there is a complicated bundle of rights that I'm totally ignoring, as well as other unique aspects involved in that particular field. Here is a link to the Writer's Guild of America, West if you want their extensive take on it.
posted by phaedon at 2:14 PM on May 9, 2007

I've seen transcripts that differentiate themselves from scripts, i.e.

~~~~~~~~~~ Disclaimer ~~~~~~~~~~
I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Television Network.

This is not a novelization or a script. It is a straightforward and dry transcript of the episode "I Robot, You Jane". It also includes descriptions of the settings, action scenes and camera movements where I felt they were needed.

not that I'm a rabid Buffy fan or anything, no.
posted by bassjump at 3:54 PM on May 9, 2007

IANAL, but it is clearly illegal.

That said, you could certainly do it until someone told you not to.
posted by YoungAmerican at 3:59 PM on May 9, 2007

SNPP has been doing it for a dozen years, and from what I recall Fox is pretty tight about watching their copyrights.
posted by Kellydamnit at 7:15 PM on May 9, 2007

The funny thing about these situations is that you might post entire transcripts of every episode of TV Show A and video clips of the best scenes and not hear anything about it, but then you post a clear parody of TV Show B and their lawyers are on your ass like Joe Boxer. Doing the right thing doesn't guarantee that you won't get hassled, and doing the wrong thing doesn't mean that anyone will object.
posted by L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg at 7:15 PM on May 9, 2007

IANAL-- but I personally think it would fall under fair use if it contained commentary about the scenery/acting ("in a very sloppily acted way, David Spade says.."), being in one form a type of extended opinion/review. It could not be considered an actual copy of the original because it's as if you've just heard a song and are humming it -- it's not in the form it was originally distributed.
posted by vanoakenfold at 1:51 PM on May 10, 2007