What happens when they make a movie about you?

October 7, 2014 1:07 PM

My cousin was married for years to an infamous criminal and all-around bad guy--let's call him John. John is infamous only to people in and scholars of his particular professional sector; the world at large isn't aware of him. John is no longer living. ~20 years ago, a local reporter wrote a book about him, which of course included his wife, my cousin. The book made a brief stir but was quickly forgotten, my cousin has moved on, and life continues ... except I've recently heard rumors that someone may have optioned the book for a movie. So now what?

I don't know quite how to phrase the question I have about this, but what I want to know is this: if this has happened, does anyone (the book's author? The studio? Their respective lawyers?) have to let my cousin know, or do anything else? Do they owe her anything in terms of notification, input, legal protection, or whatever? Should she get a lawyer? In general, what happens behind the scenes to real-life people when they make movies about real-life events that involve those people?

For what it's worth, this question is less about how my cousin might benefit from this, and more about how she might protect herself from whatever follows from this unpleasantness being dredged back up.

posted by rhiannonstone to Law & Government (10 answers total)

Best answer: I know about this from the perspective of a journalist and a playwright, and suspect this is also true of movies:

If your actual names are used and the film is being represented as a dramatization of actual history, it is the responsibility of the filmmakers to be factual and fair. With that comes a caveat that there is plenty of room for creative interpretation here -- I know that Dolores Fuller, Ed Wood's ex played by Sarah Jessica Parker in the film if Ed Wood's life, was quite displeased by how she was portrayed in the film, although she liked the film in general.

There is a careful line filmmakers must tread between public figures -- anyone who was publicly involved in the trial -- and private figures. The families of public figures are often heavily fictionalized and given different names in dramatizations to protect their privacy, and they have a right to privacy. If a piece of art has made public somebody who prefers to remain private, and especially if the art has misrepresented them in a way that can be proved to be detrimental to the actual person, it's a potential lawsuit.
posted by maxsparber at 1:17 PM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

Also, books get optioned all the time. Most of them never become movies. So your cousin probably shouldn't worry about it until hears that a movie is actually on the path to production.
posted by COD at 1:20 PM on October 7, 2014 [10 favorites]

. except I've recently heard rumors that someone may have optioned the book for a movie. So now what?

Realistically, nothing, because the movie will almost certainly never be released, unless you see some big names attached to it. The vast majorities of books that get optioned never go anywhere.
posted by empath at 1:22 PM on October 7, 2014

Just FYI, when someone just "options" a movie, there's a reasonable chance it won't get made. I know the ex of a relatively famous dead author, and there have been options on some of his books for 20 years.

On preview: yeah, I think that real people can refuse to allow their real names to be used if they don't like the way something is headed. For example, in the movie "Chariots of Fire", Lord David Bughley did not want his real name to be used due to the fictional characteristics they were giving him, so he became Lord Lindsay in the film (and supposedly later regretted it when the film was such a success).

On 2nd preview: what they said!!
posted by Melismata at 1:22 PM on October 7, 2014

Response by poster: I'm aware that the book being optioned does't necessarily mean the movie is likely to be made, and given the uninterestingness of the subject to the general public, I assume that's the case here, too. But I'd like to have some idea of what my cousin can expect in the unlikely event it does happen, and I'd rather we get a handle on it now than have to start scrambling to deal once a movie is actually in pre-production.
posted by rhiannonstone at 1:25 PM on October 7, 2014

Best answer: I found this answer to a question about rights/clearances from someone wanting to make a film about a deceased public figure:

The simple answer is: no, family permission is not needed to make and distribute a biographical film about a deceased war hero. Most states do not protect "post-mortem" rights of publicity or privacy, and even those that do hold that a biography of a famous person or person of public interest is protected by the First Amendment. The more complicated answer is: you can only do this kind of project if you have it cleared by lawyers who specialize in pre-publication media clearance. There will be possible defamation, privacy, and right of publicity issues raised by depicting the living family members (or other of the subject's associates), and if you do not have permission, great care must be taken to depict everyone properly. Your project will not get insurance and thus will not be financed or distributed unless you have a lawyer clear the rights.

So I think your cousin will be hearing from the legal department of the studio if this thing gets going, at which point she should lawyer up, I reckon. Couldn't hurt to get a meeting with an attorney who specializes in this early on though, although I expect that could be pricey. Can she afford to just wait to see how serious this gets?
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 1:31 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]

Should she get a lawyer? ... this question is less about how my cousin might benefit from this, and more about how she might protect herself

The lawyer she'd get to protect herself can be the same type of lawyer she'd have if she wanted to benefit. She wants a lawyer who has some experience in getting movie studios to agree to particular contract terms. Entertainment law is the speciality she'd want.

The question is whether she'd need a lawyer now. It seems like it might be less of a worry to her if she had a brief consultation with a lawyer now.
posted by yohko at 1:35 PM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

> It seems like it might be less of a worry to her if she had a brief consultation with a lawyer now.

It will be a significant expense for no good reason. Seriously, there is almost no chance this movie will get made (my wife used to write screenplays, and I have seen this from the inside). In the extremely unlikely event it gets produced, she will have plenty of time to consult a lawyer—movies take a long time to get from script to screen.
posted by languagehat at 5:16 PM on October 7, 2014 [3 favorites]

Set Google alerts for the main character's name, the cousin's name, the writer's name, the people in the "rumors" you've heard, whatever's pertinent. You'll hear about it if something's in the pipeline.
posted by JimN2TAW at 6:21 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]

As per languagehat's response, I guess I should have included more detail in my answer instead of just typing up a quick short answer.

A brief consultation is usually fairly cheap compared to having the lawyer actually do anything, and if it's going to worry her to no end that the film has been optioned might be money well spent.

It might not be a good reason from a legal or financial standpoint, but there is some value in having peace of mind, if she isn't reassured by people pointing out how rarely these options get made into movies. That's what I meant by: It seems like it might be less of a worry to her if she had a brief consultation with a lawyer now. She'd be able to find out what the next steps would be, if it came to pass that this was one of rare optioned books to be made into a movie.

Some people are reassured by having a plan for these sorts of things, and some people find the idea of the chance of something being low to not be much comfort. If she's that sort of person it certainly would not hurt to look into what lawyer she'd want to use, call them up, and see how much an initial consultation would cost. If that seems like something she wants to do, and seems like a worthwhile expense to have the opinion of a professional who she can share all the details of this with, she can have an initial consultation with the lawyer.
posted by yohko at 4:44 PM on October 8, 2014