Horror Character copyrights

CHamburger

CHamburger

Hey does anyone know if these are correct...

(using the moving images of these characters)

Freddy Kreuger--new line

Mike Myers--??

Leatherface--New line

Ghostface--dimension

Chucky Rogue pictures

Jason--Warner Bro

Tallman--new line

IT-- Warner Bros

Pinhead--??

If I were to use the characters in my own movie would I contact these people or the actual creators of teh character. Clive barker for Pinhead, Wes Craven for freddy etc.. How does that all work? I rerad somewhere that mike myers is a fictional character and can be recreated by anyone. but if what I create is for profit who would I have to secure teh rights from? Thanks
 
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I believe Micheal Myers (notice I wrote Micheal, the name Mike Myers reminds me of Austin Powers!) is owned by the Akkad family, I assume with rights being passed from Moustapha to his estate. Malek Akkad produced the Halloween remake.

Not 100% sure, but I'd guess in most cases you'll want to speak to the current owner of the trademark, not the creator, except possibly for IT and Pinhead, who (again, I'm guessing!) are likely still owned by the publishers of the original fiction (so not Stephen King or Clive Barker, but whomever owns the current publishing rights). All guesswork, but that's what I'm thinking.
 
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I'm pretty sure Dimension has Pinhead (he wasn't *really* even in the novella). Current conspiracy theory is that they're chucking out direct to dvd sequels every few years just to keep the film rights (for the long-delayed reboot). Of course, I enjoy some of them MUCH better than the last two theatrical releases anyway, but that's a different story.

They're all fictional characters, and you do need to secure rights before doing anything with them.
 
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I wonder how I can get the contact info of the Akkad family. Are they affiliated with any more pop names?

Josh, I was thinking dimension had pinhead but couldn't find exactly and didn't wanna take a chance.

I think IT is owned by warner bros. as they're teh dvd distributors. And King's novel character is not an "image" only what was on screen, I think, is what I need to worry about.
 
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True! Pinhead himself is a movie creation. And, I dare say, having a monster-clown called IT wouldn't be a problem. Referring to said monster-clown as Pennywise might throw up some issues.

Just noticed as well, pretty sure Jason Vorhees belongs to New Line, while the title "Friday the 13th" belongs to Paramount. The Akkad family seem to be pretty close to the Weinsteins right now, as they have produced the past few Halloween movies.

What are you planning with these characters anyway? I hope you realise that the rights to use these characters will cost you an arm and leg (if they'd ever give you the rights in the first place!).
 
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mad_hatter said:
True! Pinhead himself is a movie creation. And, I dare say, having a monster-clown called IT wouldn't be a problem. Referring to said monster-clown as Pennywise might throw up some issues.

Just noticed as well, pretty sure Jason Vorhees belongs to New Line, while the title "Friday the 13th" belongs to Paramount. The Akkad family seem to be pretty close to the Weinsteins right now, as they have produced the past few Halloween movies.

What are you planning with these characters anyway? I hope you realise that the rights to use these characters will cost you an arm and leg (if they'd ever give you the rights in the first place!).
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I had an idea a while back about a horror character fighting game similar to mortal kombat or street fighter that would use famous horror villains as the playable characters. I just got a programmer like weeks ago but he's outta commission for a while. I thought while he was recoopin I'd try and get quotes for copyright licensing for our game to sell to one of the bigger companies. I wanna write teh demo then sell to a bigger vg co. with the quotes i'd be getting and possible sales number based on the sales in the horror genre in general, individual films & accompanying memorabilia.
 
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Not a film then!

I was just curious, as a few years back, out of sheer boredom, I started writing a screenplay for a movie with a load of the horror icons in it. Then I got bored of the whole idea, came up with something original and wrote that instead.

I'm sure I've still got it somewhere, I'll have to dig it out. Could be good for a laugh!
 
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I have some experience licensing character for Halloween events.
The license is very, very expensive and is very, very limited.

The character of Michael Meyers - that is the depiction of the guy
in the mask and jumpsuit - is currently owned by the Weinstein
Company. Josh is correct about “Pinhead”. Again it’s the Weinstein
Company (which owns Dimension).

Do I understand correctly? You want to license the characters and
images of these characters for a video game and the sell that
concept (and license) to a third party?
 
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Well not exactly. I wanna get the quotes and wanted to provide those numbers to the big video cos that do like mortal kombat or one of the freakier games. It's great for a large co that's had lots of success in other genres but don't have a fighting game. Then from there wed sell them the idea with a demo or work out some aort of hefty royalty deal with us still making flow, and expect the cos to work out the copyright issues.
 
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CHamburger said:
Well not exactly. I wanna get the quotes and wanted to provide those numbers to the big video cos that do like mortal kombat or one of the freakier games. It's great for a large co that's had lots of success in other genres but don't have a fighting game. Then from there wed sell them the idea with a demo or work out some aort of hefty royalty deal with us still making flow, and expect the cos to work out the copyright issues.
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I do not want to discourage you from trying - it will be great experience,
but you will not be able to get any quotes.

None of the license holders will ballpark a quote.

This license holders will need all the information before quoting a fee. What
company will design. What company will distribute. What platforms. And a
bunch of other answers I know nothing about - I'm a filmmaker, not a gamer.
They will need a full business plan including a complete budget and time line.
Getting cooperation between competing companies is also a factor - and
damn annoying. When I was working on a Halloween event and seeking
character licensing for mazes and posters and promotion I ran into issues
where one group would not even talk to me if another group were involved.
"We won't license ______ if ______ is part of the deal." Some are very
protective of their property.

I was told by two different companies that they feel if we have a maze
with Character A and Character B and the Character B maze gets better
on-line reviews or more people per hour than the Character A maze
it could harm the marketability of their character. Maybe that's silly, but
it was a concern that affected my negotiations.

Another thing to keep in mind; if you gather all the information and the
quotes and bring this idea to a company they are under no obligation to keep
you in the loop. After all, even though you did the work, the info you gather
is info anyone can gather; thus not your own intellectual property.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't go for it. I think you should. But you should
go into this understanding how the business works so you are fully prepared.
 
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directorik said:
I do not want to discourage you from trying - it will be great experience,
but you will not be able to get any quotes.

None of the license holders will ballpark a quote.

This license holders will need all the information before quoting a fee. What
company will design. What company will distribute. What platforms. And a
bunch of other answers I know nothing about - I'm a filmmaker, not a gamer.
They will need a full business plan including a complete budget and time line.
Getting cooperation between competing companies is also a factor - and
damn annoying. When I was working on a Halloween event and seeking
character licensing for mazes and posters and promotion I ran into issues
where one group would not even talk to me if another group were involved.
"We won't license ______ if ______ is part of the deal." Some are very
protective of their property.

I was told by two different companies that they feel if we have a maze
with Character A and Character B and the Character B maze gets better
on-line reviews or more people per hour than the Character A maze
it could harm the marketability of their character. Maybe that's silly, but
it was a concern that affected my negotiations.

Another thing to keep in mind; if you gather all the information and the
quotes and bring this idea to a company they are under no obligation to keep
you in the loop. After all, even though you did the work, the info you gather
is info anyone can gather; thus not your own intellectual property.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't go for it. I think you should. But you should
go into this understanding how the business works so you are fully prepared.
Click to expand...


Thanks Rik. I know it's not easy but I think a couple of the characters I'd be using are icons from a dying franchise that I might be able to use to my advantage. "My game will give your character new popularity with a new generation, a gaming generation." I'm hoping most of these people will play ball. I'm not going to tell them I'm probably using a hypothetical scenario to get the info that I need. I'm hoping that I can use whatever if I can come up with, along with a workable demo to help sell the idea to a larger videogame company who will then use their better networks to secure rights and whatnot.

Is there a site that UI can get the contact info for each other these cos? Thanks.
 
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