...based on books or computer games? When a screenwriter writes a film or television script based on a book or computer game, do they need to contact the original creator/author to gain permission to do so or does the production company take care of that once the script is bought and put into production.
For example, If a computer game was made/released in the late 80's/early 90's that a screenwriter wanted turn into a film script, would it be necessary to contact the creator prior to writing it or submitting it to a production company and gain their permission to do so?
A concern in doing such a thing might be that the creator might not give permission and then go and write a script themselves having not thought of doing such a thing before.
Also, if the computer game was released by a company such as Fox or Universal, or one of their game publishing subsidiaries, would this mean that permission from the original creator would not be needed if you managed to get the script produced into a film by the same production company that released the game since the company would likely hold the copyright?
For example, If a computer game was made/released in the late 80's/early 90's that a screenwriter wanted turn into a film script, would it be necessary to contact the creator prior to writing it or submitting it to a production company and gain their permission to do so?
A concern in doing such a thing might be that the creator might not give permission and then go and write a script themselves having not thought of doing such a thing before.
Also, if the computer game was released by a company such as Fox or Universal, or one of their game publishing subsidiaries, would this mean that permission from the original creator would not be needed if you managed to get the script produced into a film by the same production company that released the game since the company would likely hold the copyright?