Books into films: reserved rights and creative control in the literary property option and purchase agreement

Introduction The topic of this article came from my experiences as a lawyer and from many years of enjoyment watching films and documentaries. I am a film amateur, who loves small theatres and likes watching subtitled black and white films. For that reason it is hard for me to be only a passive viewer and admit that there is no space for independency, cult classic or niche films because the industry is controlled by American Studios and by “blockbuster movies.” To check it out it is very easy. It is sufficient to verify the daily results in the Box Office and see that on the top three on the list there is at least one American film  or to go for a walk in Oxford Street during Christmas time: there is a gigantic light that is advertising the new Walt Disney’s film. I don’t want to start any discussion about the artistic value of these films, yet I want to analyze the rule of the author, in particular a writer, who would like to produce a valuable product and has to enter an agreement for selling his rights for producing a film. “Using the word ‘film’ might create the misimpression that somehow ‘film rights’ are limited to ‘theatrical motion picture’ rights. This typically is not the case.” It is well known that when a producer acquires the rights to a motion picture property, typically he wants to acquire all right, title, and interest to the property in any and all media now known or hereafter devised throughout the world in perpetuity. This means all rights including without limitation theatrical rights, television rights, video rights, non-theatrical rights, airlines, ships at sea, military installations, theme park rights, restaurant rights, music publishing, soundtrack album, multimedia, commercial tie-in, animation, advertising, promotional, and all other exploitation rights. So how can an author manage his rights? Can he influence in any way the contract and reserve any kind of control during the pre production and the production of a film based on his story? What can he do to help or, better said, to contrast the production? What is the contribution that he can give? The purpose of this article is to analyze the author’s control when he has to enter the agreement in which the author transfers the rights to the producer to allow the development of a motion picture. The agreement generally used in film industry for acquiring rights from a book and making a film is the option agreement and purchase agreement. I am going to point out rights, which normally are transferred and clauses, which can be negotiated and used by the writer to protect his rights and to be involved in the film production or anyway to have some control on his own work. 1) From book to screen Film rights are the rights under copyright law to make a derivative work, in this case a film, derived from an item of intellectual property , in the case of this article a book. There are basically two reasons why, from the earliest days of film industry, books have been used as the basis for the narrative structure of greats films.   The first is that a novel is one view for testing the market, for verifying in advance the successful of a story. The second reason is aesthetic: movies and books share many common features such as plot structure, characters and tone. “It has been estimated that in one year approximately one third of all films produced in Hollywood are based on previously published literary work; 42% of the Oscars awarded for best picture are based on novel, as opposed to 28% based on original screenplays . “ Yet there are some difficulties in using a book for making a film. “In film criticism, it has always been easy to recognize how a poor film “destroy” a superior novel.”  Films became different artistic entity from the novel on which they are based. Adaptations can be tricky and do not always result in artistic and/ or commercial success. There are thousands of examples of writers who are upset about how the film transformed their material. A case that might illustrative of an author’s regrets is that of “The Natural” . I once heard (and this may be apocryphal) that Barry Levinson changed the story’s ending to be uplifting rather than depressing what the novelist Bernard Malamud so much regretted that it hastened his death . There are also plenty of stories about writers who gave up the rights to their work and, despite being paid a lot of money, loudly regretted it. One example is the author Anne Rice when she sold the rights to “Interview With The Vampire.“ When the lead was cast, she told the Los Angeles Times, “I was particularly stunned by the casting of Tom Cruise, who is no more my Vampire Lestat than Edward G. Robinson is Rhett Butler.  ” At the other extreme, there’s the standard tale of the writer who sold the rights to his work for a negligible sum, while the film went on to make millions. One example is the writer Chuck Palahniuk with his first novel “Fight Club.” Although Palahniuk did go on to garner fame and a tremendous boost in book sales because of the film. While some writers are relaxed about signing off on their work, like author Jonathan Lethem with his Promiscuous Stories Project – with which, a couple of years ago, he “…decided to start giving away some of his stories to filmmakers or dramatists to adapt ” – others are militant about maintaining control over their characters and storylines. Author J.K. Rowling is an example : “she could impose demands on the studio, including having a say in the choice of director, and even demanding that the screenplay of the first book remain exactly as written in the novel. This is because Harry Potter was then, and still is, a monster hit. ” Another iconic case is that of “Mary Poppins.” The relationship between the book author Pamela L. Travers and Walt Disney can be qualified as an epic personality struggle over rights. Mrs. Travers would never agree to Poppins/Disney adaptation, though Disney made several attempts to persuade her to change her mind. Disney already had invested a lot of money in the film before he had obtained the rights while Mrs. Travers “…disapproved of the dilution of the harsher aspects of Mary Poppins’s character, felt ambivalent about the music and disliked the use of animation to such an extent that she ruled out any further adaptations of the later Mary Poppins novels.”  So fervent was Travers’ dislike of the Walt Disney adaptation and due to the way she had been treated during the production, that well into her 90s, when she was approached by producer Cameron Mackintosh to do the stage musical, she only acquiesced upon the condition that only English born writers (and specifically no Americans) and no one from the film production were to be directly involved with the creative process of the stage musical. This specifically excluded the Sherman Brothers from writing additional songs for the production even though they were still very prolific. Authors sometimes are concerned about credits. There have been a number of cases where authors were so distressed by treatment of their work that they required that their name be removed from the credits. Michael Crichton , better know as the author of “Jurassic Park” and “The Lost World”, in addition to his screenplay credit in “Jurassic Park,” is credited in “Jurassic Park” and “The Lost World” with “based on the novel by”; and in “Jurassic Park III” his credit is “based on characters created by.” These are some examples and reasons why authors should try to find some ways of control their own rights and exploit their creations maintaining same control on them. The agreement to choice for these purposes is the option agreement. 2) Why option? Why not buy the film rights in the book outright?  It’s undoubted that option agreements can be a win-win situation for both the writer and the producer. For the writer, selling a story by a purchase agreement is always risky. A purchase agreement is an outright purchase of the rights, after which the producer owns the work and may do whatever it would like with it. Instead, trough an option agreement the writer is paid for a limited period of time and when the option is over he keeps the payment, all rights revert back to him and he could decide to option the script again to another producer. The “option period” is the best and the only choice for a writer to be actively involved in the development of the film and to negotiate clauses, which, for example, assures him that he will also direct the project or at least have a first negotiation right to direct. Despite the role that lucky undoubtedly plays, there are steps which authors can take to manage their property wisely. As most of the lawyers say, “effective management won’t bring instant success but it might just help to improve the stakes. ” If the property does become successful, the author can then rest assured that she or he will enjoy a fair share of the financial benefits of his creative endeavours. An author, to maximize opportunities for a successful exploitation and protect his rights in the property, should: (i) never assign his rights away: maintain some rights can give him a kind of control on his work; (ii) reserve the right to approve all the key elements of the deal (the right to approve prototypes of any merchandising products to be derived from your property); (iii) consider and address the protection of intellectual property rights and who should bear the financial burden. Another rule that the author should follow is to take care of his reputation. In this regard I like the thought of Daniel Mr. Satorius, an American lawyer, who says : “A skeptic might say the author’s reputation boils down to what the author got the last time one of the author’s books was optioned. This is referred to as “precedence” or the author’s “quote.” Agents always want to get at least as much as the author got for the last book. Sometimes it is merited. Sometimes not. Have the author’s other books been made into successful films? Is the author living? Living authors can help promote a film and may write more books that can also help the film.” Producers prefer to option rights rather than buy them to minimize financial risk involved in the development of a film production. What typically happens is that a producer doesn’t want to buy a script unless he knows that he can get it made. For every single production that actually reaches the screen, hundreds of projects are developed by production companies and major motion picture studios. The option agreement allows the production company to exclusively control the book for a period of time for a relatively small sum. When a screenplay is optioned, the producer has simply purchased the “exclusive right” to buy the screenplay at some point in the future, if he is successful in setting up a deal to actually film a movie based on the screenplay. During this “option” period, the producer develops the film project, approaches financiers, banks and distributors to arrange for financing and distribution. He puts a ‘package’ together consisting of a budget, commitments from actors and technical personnel, and a synopsis or screenplay. This is an expensive and time-consuming process in where the producer attempts to get the project greenlighted, to formally approve its production finance and allow the project to move forward from the development phase to pre-production and principal photography. 3) Literary property option and purchase agreement In this section I am going to describe the literary option and purchase agreement on the author prospect and I am going to point out all the rights that he can generally reserve to himself and all the rights that he can negotiate to control the development the film. As above said, the agreement used by producers to acquire motion picture rights from the author of a book is the option and purchase agreement. The option and purchase agreement is two agreements wrapped into one, and consequently, rights are granted from the author to the producer in two parts. First, during the option period certain rights are granted temporarily but exclusively, so that the producer can develop the film. Second, when the option is exercised, certain rights are granted exclusively and perpetually. 3.1) Rights granted (during the option period, when the option is exercised and in the purchase agreement) Rights granted to the producer during the option period include the right to do preparatory in anticipation of making the film. It might be described as follows: “During the option Period the Writer acknowledges that the Production Company may undertake preproduction activities in connection with any of the rights to be acquired under this Agreement, including, without limitation, the preparation and distribution of proposals, treatments, outlines, and/ or teleplays based on the Property.” The writer might have the possibility to participate in the preproduction of the film just reserving the right to be engaged in it. Rights granted to the producer when the option is exercised include, at a minimum, the following exclusive, world-wide and perpetual rights: (i) the right to make a motion pictures (or more motion pictures) based on the book (the “Picture(s)”); (ii) the right to distribute, copy, sell, promote, publicize, market and exploit the Picture in any and all media, now known or hereafter known; (iii) the right to change, modify and rearrange the book while the Picture is created; and (iv) the right to use the name and likeness of the author in the promotion and marketing of the Picture. To protect himself in relation to the right to make one or more motion pictures based on the book, a writer can request to limit the producer’s rights to a single motion picture so that, once the first film is made, if the producer wanted to make another film he would have to interrogate again the writer. Another option would be to have the right to take the first shot at writing the screenplay of both the first film and any films that come after that (however the producer can have someone else write another draft which may vary significantly from the original one.) Another option would be to only grant the producer the right to make additional films if such filmed were based on other author’s books. This would have to include additional purchase prices for each book, which could be negotiated in the option agreement, but it would be an advantage to the producer if the book series suddenly took off. The rights granted in the purchase agreement are typically broader than just making and distributing a film based on the book because all the participants (the distributor, the broadcaster, the financier, the banks and others who invest in or take rights from the pool of rights owned or controlled by the producer, also called “downstream participants”) want their risky investment to pay off in all possible ways and they do not want other parties to unfairly profit from their investment. Without the broad grant of rights, the producer will not be able to attract these parties to participate in the financing and distribution of the film. The rights granted in the purchase portion of the agreement are also customarily exclusive, worldwide and perpetual. Exclusivity is crucial to the producer, so that no other films are made based on the rights. Likewise, in most situations, producers insist on the grant of rights being worldwide and perpetual, especially in the case of theatrical films. Limiting the exploitation of the production by time or geographic area is not financially desirable for the producer, financiers and the distributors. Films are often distributed worldwide for many years. Other rights granted are (i) the right to make sequels, mini-series and remakes; (ii) the rights in the plot, theme, title, story and characters in the picture; (iii) the rights to manufacture merchandise based on the film and to make a novelization of the motion picture. 4) Reserved rights and creative control The control that an author can have in the production of a movie based on his book is represented by the rights, which, if it is not differently negotiate, are reserved to him by law, and by other rights, later listed, which can be obtained by the author according to his notoriety (only superstar authors may be able to negotiate some control over the film.) Anyway, in the case of a book option, there are certain standard reserved rights retained by the book’s author, such as print publication rights and the right to write “author-written sequels.” In other words, while the producer may have the right to make sequels/prequels from his movie, the writer would also retain the ability to write his second book related to his first one. 4.1) The Author-Written Sequel The Author-Written sequel is the right to use characters, themes, and plots contained in the original work in subsequent literary works. From the author’s prospect, it is essential to preserve them because “this means that the author may write an additional novel(s) with the same leading characters for literary publication. However, the studio will require various restrictions on how that author may or may not sell the motion picture rights in such author written sequels. The studio/production company will always buy the right to make sequels that are not necessarily based on additional sequel novels.” From the producer’s prospect, he may seek to acquire rights in author- written sequels or restrict the author’s exploitation of such rights and character rights. The reason is simple: the producer does not want another film based on those other books to be distributed. The studio/production company doesn’t want the writer competing with them. Furthermore, the producer will argue, the audience’s interest in the sequels may have been created by the producer’s film. The producer’s financiers and distributor will be very unhappy about the prospects of a competing film and the potential of reduction of revenues or missed opportunities. At the time the author and the producer enter into the agreement, the author already may have written several books containing the main character. In such an event, it is likely that the producer will bargain to obtain the right to produce a motion picture based on any of those books and any future ones written by the author containing that character. Obviously, an author would not wish to tie up character rights to a valuable property in perpetuity if the producer is not continually exercising rights with respect to that character. Rather, the literary purchase agreement will provide that for a period of time (“the holdback period”) the author may not authorize the release of any motion picture production based upon the author-written sequel. If, after the holdback period, the author wishes to dispose of motion picture rights in and to the author-written sequel, the author will be obligated first to offer those rights to the producer. If the author and the producer are not able to reach an agreement, then, generally, the author may offer those rights to another producer, with various possibilities. One might be that the original producer has the right to match any offer made by the second producer; another might be that the producer has the right to acquire such rights by topping by a certain percentage any offer made by the second producer. 4.2) Novelization rights The novelization rights belong to the author at the main conditions that the writer was the one who created the material that is turned into a film and that the actual screenplay for the picture cannot be so different from the original material as to have a different plot or different characters. Furthermore, the agreement generally includes a clause reserving to the author all rights not specifically granted to the producer. 4.3) Restriction on author-reserved rights The marketing and distribution of a film can contribute significantly to the sales of the adapted book as well as the author’s other books. If the author has reserved rights, such as the right to produce a live-stage version of the book, the marketing of the film can add value to such works. The producer may wish to restrict the author’s ability to exploit one or more of the retained rights. Those restrictions may take several forms. 4.4) Print publication rights Print rights are commonly reserved in option and purchase agreements for books and are often broadly described. They are usually reserved exclusively to the author in all languages, in perpetuity, and throughout the world. Print rights typically contain any publication medium that reproduces in whole or in part the text and/or original illustrations of the book and serves as a substitute for or supplement to the book (e.g., computer software and projectable transparencies of text and original illustrations) and CD, CD-ROM, CD-I, download or other similar audio and/or visual systems. These include rights to publish and distribute the text of the book in print and to record and distribute audio recordings such as audiobooks. 4.5) Franchise Film A “franchise” is a project, which would have a continuing and substantial life beyond one motion picture, primarily because the main character or the main concept could appear in one or more sequel productions. The agreement between the producer and the author includes not only the book which is the subject of the agreement, but also the themes, plots, and the characters contained in the book. Thus, in the absence of other ameliorating provisions, the author grants to the producer, for motion picture, the exclusive rights to the characters contained in the book. It is these characters that the producer of a would-be franchise intends to use in sequels to the first motion picture. 4.6) Author consultation right Many expectations have to be satisfied during the production of a film. While the author wants the film to be true to the spirit of the book or, at a minimum, not to reflect poorly on the book, it is customary for the producer to have creative control over and complete discretion in the alteration of the book’s story in adapting the story for the screen. Financiers and distributors do not want their investment subject to such things as an author’s approval, and in most cases, it is unwise to grant the author creative approval over the film. A possible compromise is to give the author consultation rights. Option and purchase agreements may include provisions whereby the producer hires the author as a consultant to the production. This may give the author the ability to influence the project and the portrayal of the characters and narrative. 4.7) Right of approval Very few authors are able to negotiate for a right of approval over essential creative elements (which would include the screenwriter, the screenplay, the director, the producer and the actors who are to play the leading roles). Such control may be accompanied by provisions requiring that there be pre-approved lists containing names of creative talent. There also may be provisions granting relief to the producer in the event of production exigencies. 4.8) Right of final approval An additional possibility for the author is to provide that he will be meaningfully consulted on all of the major creative elements, with the producer retaining the right of final approval.  In such a case, it is possible to construct a mechanism in which the author is provided with information about the various choices sufficiently in advance in order to allow him to evaluate and perhaps meet with the candidate. Another possibility is to list in the agreement certain events, which cannot occur or character traits, which must be adhered to.  If the producer is willing to engage in a discussion of this nature, it will insist that the character traits be totally objective in order to enable the producer to know with precision whether or not it has breached a contractual requirement. 4.9) Credits-book author The author may wish to specify the size and placement of the author’s credit (e.g., open-ing credits or ending credits), whether the credit appears by itself on the frame or with other credits; the wording of the credit (e.g., “story by,” “based on the novel by,”); and whether the credit appears in advertising and promotion for the film. If the title of the book is not the title of the picture, the book may be credited as: “based on the Book [“title”] by [author’s name]”, or equivalent. 4.10) Reversion Upon payment of the purchase price, the producer owns the rights. But what if the film or is not produced or not distributed? The author may wish to specify that the rights revert to the author under certain conditions. The producer may demand that in the event of reversion, the author must repay to the producer the purchase price paid or an amount equal to the producer’s investment in the project. The author may require that no fee is payable unless or until the book is set up with a third-party financier. 4.11) Book author as screenplay writer Writing novels and writing screenplays are very different skills. Many great novel writers fail as screenplay writers. But there are successes too. If the author will also be the writer of the screenplay, the agreement must specify the terms under which such writing is undertaken. The author will be interested in determining who owns rights in the screenplay if the book falls out of option. Conclusion The contract provisions specify when, how and how much the author can get involved in the production of the film. The power that an author has to retain his rights or has a word in the production of a film is limited only by the imagination and the bargaining power of the parties. The author’s bargaining power comes from the parties’ perceptions of the value of the book in the financing, making and marketing of the film production. Because there is great financial risk involved studios want to avoid any interference from authors as well and very often, the terms offered by studios and production companies are one-sided and seemingly unfair. Also to be considered is the interrelationship of the provisions of the agreement. For example, the author’s lack of creative control may be saved by a generous purchase price. Similarly, restrictions on an author’s use of retained rights may be considered reasonable and appropriate if there are corresponding financial compensations. It seems reasonable for the writer to demand appropriate compensation for handing over such freedom to the filmmakers, considering that films would not exist without a writer to first craft a story to film.  Anyway if the writer decides he doesn’t like the direction the work is taking, he can’t say anything unless specifically negotiated “… which virtually never happens.” Note 1. Top three on the list this week are “2012”, “The Blind Side” and “Twilight saga.” See http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=front_page#Film. 2. This what said entertainment attorney Jason Sloane who specializes in literary rights and partner at the Los Angeles firm of Sloane, Weber, Offer & Dern. 3. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_rights. 4. “Films like “The Big Parade” by King Vidor in 1925 was based on a story by author Laurence Stallings; or Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel “Frankenstein” was made for the screen by James Whale in 1931. James Hilton’s best selling novel “Lost Horizon” was adapted for the screen by screenwriter Robert Riskin and made into a film in 1937 by Frank Capra. Two greats of American cinema were made in 1939 and were adapted from books: the “Wizard of Oz” and “Gone with the wind.’” See From books to screen, Mining literary works in the movie business, by Daniel M. Satorius, in  24 Ent. & Sports Law. 1 (2006-2007). 5. See Selling Rights, Fourth Edition, p. 215. 6. It has been known for film companies to acquire rights in a book in order to use only the title, or to use the personality of one character from the story in the context of a very different plot, destroying completely the harmony or the integrity of a work. See also Novels into Film, by George Bluestone, p. 62. 7. The Natural is a 1952 novel about baseball written by Bernard Malamud. A film adaptation of The Natural starring Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs was released in 1984. 8. Thom Powers, documentary producer and filmmaker. 9. See http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/7577.Anne_Rice 10. See http://newenglandfilm.com/magazine/archives/2009/01/adaptationrights, Buying and Selling the Rights to Adapt a Film, By Kate Fitzgerald 11. See http://www.jonathanlethem.com/promiscuous.html 12. HARRY POTTER (Rowling’s royalties are close to £400million): The character was created by JK Rowling in a cafe in Scotland and went on to appear in six bestselling children’s books – topping the charts in almost every country where sales are registered. See Initial Print Runs for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, available at http://www.veritaserum.com/books/book6/ 13. See Never sell…always license, by Lee Penhaligan. 14. Mary Poppins and her mystic Aussie creator Catherine Barnes, 5 September 2004, The Express on Sunday. 15. This also comes up in a new documentary called THE BOYS: The Sherman Brother’s Story. 16. John Michael Crichton (October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author, producer, director, screenwriter, and medical school graduate, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. 17. What does it mean to buy an option? “A person who buys an option is buying the right to purchase something on pre-agreed terms for a set period of time (the ‘option term’); see http://newenglandfilm.com/magazine/archives/2009/01/adaptationrights. 18. See http://www.ehow.com/about_5269844_good-option-purchase-agreement screenplays.html. 19. See The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers: A Legal Toolkit for Independent Producers, By Thomas A. Crowell. 20. See Lee Penhaligan, Never sell…always license. 21. See above. 22. See From books to screen, Mining literary works in the movie business, by Daniel M. Satorius, in  24 Ent. & Sports Law. 1 (2006-2007.) 23. He needs a little time to secure funding, interest actors, and hopefully, set up a distribution deal and he can’t attach all those elements (financiers, talent, distribution) to the project unless he has the right to make the film. This is where the Option Agreement come in handy. See The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers: A Legal Toolkit for Independent Producers, By Thomas A. Crowell 24. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenlight 25. The producer, therefore, must insist on exclusivity: during the option period, the producer does not want anyone else to develop a film based on the book or to approach distributors and financiers with the project. 26. During the option period, the Producer will have the right to undertake all phases of development, including rewrites of the property, as well as financing activities (take it to a studio who can provide distribution and more financing), attaching creative elements to the project (obtain informal agreements with the director, the principal actors, and the financiers), and even making domestic and foreign pre-sales of the property, subject, of course, to the actual exercise of the option (Preproduction activities). 27. See www.artsandbusinessphila.org/pvla/…/literary_agreement.pdf 28. RIGHT TO ENGAGE IN PREPRODUCTION: “During said option period or extension thereof, PURCHASER shall have the right (at its own expense) to engage in preproduction with respect to a motion picture or other production intended to be based on the Literary Property” See http://www.karemar.com/blog/option-and-purchase-agreement-short-form-legal-forms-and-contracts 29. The producer may seek the right to create a novel based on the film (this is called a “novelization.” ) There have been many books sold based on that film series. Authors generally abhor novelizations and, consequently, the right is not often granted in an option and purchase agreement for a book. The issue may come up, particularly if the original work is a short story, play or an unpublished manuscript. 30. John Grisham wanted control over the film version of his first and favorite novel, “A Time to Kill.” When that film was being developed, several of his books had been made into successful films: “The Firm” (1993), “The Pelican Brief’ (1993), “The Client” (1994), and “The Chamber” (1996). This track record gave Grisham bargaining power. Moreover, he had a working relationship with director Joel Schumacher who directed “The Client.” This enabled Grisham to take an active role in the making of the film as a producer. 31. See http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=148816241892, by  Matt Galsor and Jesse Saivar, attorneys in the entertainment transactional department of Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP. 32. Author-written sequels and character rights can be a challenge. For example, there have been three films in the “Jurassic Park” series. Michael Crichton wrote two novels: “Jurassic Park” and “The Lost World” that were the basis for the first two films, both directed by Steven Spielberg. He also cowrote the screenplay for the first “Jurassic Park” (1993) with David Koepp. Koepp wrote the screenplay for “The Lost World” (1997). Peter Buchman wrote the screenplay for “Jurassic Park III” (2001) with Alexander Payne and John Taylor. William Monahan wrote the screenplay for “Jurassic Park IV” In screenplays, new characters and events are added. Certainly “The Lost World” and “Jurassic Park IV” include new events and new characters that are not in the original novels. 33. See http://newenglandfilm.com/magazine/archives/2009/01/adaptationrights. 34. A second motion picture (a sequel or one featuring the same character(s)) in the marketplace at the same time or in close succession may compete with and cut into the revenues of the producer’s film. 35. It was the case of the film “Jaws”, and the endless sequels the studio made without author Peter Benchley. Another legacy of “Jaws” is less trivial. Benchley began to feel guilty about how his novel had turned sharks into villains, and had a very public change of heart: he is now an ardent ocean conservationist – saving sharks is at the top of his agenda. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3400291.stm, The book that spawned a monster, by Stephen Dowling, BBC News Online entertainment staff. 36. In such a scenario, issues arise as how much will the producer pay the author for each subsequent book which is made into a film and by what time must the producer produce a sequel to the original picture in order to maintain rights to produce further sequels. 37. For example, the agreement might provide that the producer must exercise its right to produce a sequel within three years following its theatrical release of the original film. In such a situation, additional questions arise such as what happens if the original film never is released, or what happens if principal photography starts by a certain time but is not completed. In the event that the sequel movie is not produced within the applicable time period, all rights to produce further sequels revert to the author although, of course, the producer retains the rights to any film theretofore produced. This is a rolling concept, so that the same provisions will apply to the second, third and fourth sequel which is produced. 38. The screenwriter’s legal guide by Stephen F. Breimer. 39. See http://www.cypressfilms.com/book_option_author.html. In addition, it often goes further in expressly reserving certain rights to the author (most of the time the list included the right to publish the Work in printed form and to make spoken-word, audio-only recordings of the text of the Work and novelization rights in the Work or Motion Picture.) 40. Examples are James Bond, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Batman and Spiderman. 41. Authors may be very protective of their characters, particularly if the characters are part of an ongoing series of novels or stories, or where characters are based on real people and he may require assurance that the character will not be depicted in a negative light or inappropriate manner. 42. It took Pamela L. Traves, the author of Mary Poppins, who retained that right form her, nearly 20 years to approve a script but, for Walt Disney, it was worth the wait – and the 13 Oscar nominations that followed. 43. For example, most authors would not wish to see their character die or become physically maimed in the film or they don’t want to show a character taking drugs or conducting an unethical activity. 44. Option Agreement for Potential Franchise Film Provisions in Option Agreement for Potential Franchise Film, by Michael I. Rudell Oct 24, 2003 (Originally published in the Entertainment Law column in the New York Law Journal, October 24, 2003.) See http://www.fwrv.com/news/article.cfm?id=100662 45. For example, rights could revert if no film is produced or distributed within 10 years from the date the rights are purchased. 46. As often is the case, the negotiability of the provisions discussed above depends on the relative influence of the parties involved. Studios are reluctant to negotiate away key protections for themselves that they perceive to be of value, even with high-profile authors and in these difficult economic times studios appear to be more focused than ever on preserving all opportunities to create a profitable more than a valuable product. 47. A famous exception took place during the filming of The Color Purple when Steven Spielberg brought Alice Walker on the set because he wanted her available to consult with the actors and to write dialogue on the spot. 48. See the Writers‘ Guild  of Great Britain, in Writers‘ Guild  Writing Film. 49. Says Attorney Jason Sloane’s comments. For related stories, see “How to Make Low Budget Soundrtracks” or “The Legal Side of Film.” Bibliography Articles • From books to screen, Mining literary works in the movie business, by Daniel M. Satorius, in  24 Ent. & Sports Law. 1 (2006-2007) • Mary Poppins and her mystic Aussie creator Catherine Barnes, 5 September 2004, The Express on Sunday • Option Agreement for Potential Franchise Film Provisions in Option Agreement for Potential Franchise Film, by Michael I. Rudell Oct 24, 2003 • See Never sell…always license, by Lee Penhaligan • Writers‘ Guild  of Great Britain, in Writers‘ Guild  Writing Film. Books • Novels into Film, by George Bluestone, published by The Johns Hopkins University press • The Legal Side of Film, by Jason Sloane • The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers: A Legal Toolkit for Independent Producers, By Thomas A. Crowell • Selling Rights, Fourth Edition, by Lynette Owen • The screenwriter’s legal guide, by Stephen F. Breimer From websites • http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=front_page#Film • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_rights • http://www.sugarpictures.com/ • http://stfdocs.com/films • http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/7577.Anne_Rice • http://newenglandfilm.com/magazine/archives/2009/01/adaptationrights, Buying and Selling the Rights to Adapt a Film, By Kate Fitzgerald • http://www.jonathanlethem.com/promiscuous.html • http://www.veritaserum.com/books/book6/ • http://newenglandfilm.com/magazine/archives/2009/01/adaptationrights • http://www.ehow.com/about_5269844_good-option-purchase agreement screenplays.html • http://www.artsandbusinessphila.org/pvla/…/literary_agreement.pdf • http://www.karemar.com/blog/option-and-purchase-agreement-short-form • http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=148816241892 • http://newenglandfilm.com/magazine/archives/2009/01/adaptationrights • http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3400291.stm • http://www.cypressfilms.com/book_option_author.html • http://www.fwrv.com/news/article.cfm?id=100