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"Copying" an idea - and avoiding it.

L

londonfilmmaker

I think this has been discussed numerous times, but it's nice to go over old ground.

I have a concept for a documentary style feature, fly-on-the-wall type film which very basically would show a documentary crew following a hitman/serial killer going about his "day to day business", culminating in the crew assisting him in his crimes.

Immediately, this will probably jump out to a lot of you as the same plot as "Man Bites Dog" - in that a documentary crew filmed a thief/serial killer, assisting him in his crimes including murder.

Now, many say that every possible storyline has been done and done several times just with slight differences (e.g. 'Die Hard', 'Terminator', 'Indiana Jones', 'Friday the 13th') - the basic idea has been repeated tons of times.

How can I stay legal here? I HAVE NOT seen Man Bites Dog nor intend to as it may influence my concept, and only came across it through researching my idea through Google.

I want to make sure that what I explore isn't going to infringe anything in the long run. Man Bites Dog is a 1992 black and white film set in Belgium, I intend mine to be a modern (full color!) film set in present day London.
 
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Man Bites Dog? Never heard.

If you don't use the same names and title you will only make people scream. If they who scream have more connections than you and you make money, you might regret every possible short cut.
 
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If your not shooting in the same area, creating a likeness to any of the character that would be easily distinguishable including names, certain features, also you are not creating a script that is very similar then it doesn't really matter, also the likely hood that you get sued for it is slim unless you make so much money from it, although not to do with film, there was a case of grand theft auto San Andreas using a character similar to a real life rapper http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming...l-backup-singers-suit-against-rockstar-games/

He failed, despite it being very similar, so go ahead make your film, no one will think nothing of it
 
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I haven't heard of anywhere where you can copyright an idea.

Virtually everything is just a derivative of another idea.

Legally speaking, I've heard of methods where you just keep a log of how you developed the script and you'll usually be fine. Throw things through a clearance service to make sure you haven't broken any rules.... but that'll cost money.
 
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MileCreations said:
You can't copyright an idea, unless you're Apple. However it may pay to watch the 1992 film so that you can steer clear of a similar feel....
Click to expand...

This. Anyway, I think I'd want to watch that 1992 film precisely so I could very conscientiously avoid making my story too similar. Not saying that that is or is not necessary legally. I'm saying that I wouldn't want to make a film that's already been made because I would want my version to be as original as possible...or, at least as is reasonably practically so. Better to know ahead of time what's what. But of course, different strokes... ?
 
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