Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related For writers: How do you handle using show dialogue?

I haven't used much original dialogue from the show so I am curious abou how other writers handle the issue of including scenes from the show in their stories and not tangling with copyright issues. I am in the outlining process of a full-length story that evolves into an episode rewrite, and I am debating how to handle the issue of using dialogue (or the general gist of dialogue) from the show without looking like I am plagerizing L&C's writers.

The journalist in me is pretty paranoid, so the only time I have referenced lines from the show (in a series of flashbacks in "Inside Out), I tweaked the lines I was using just slightly enough that they weren't the verbatim words from the show. And I have seen other stories that employed the same tactic.

On the other hand, I have seen stories where the lines were lifted directly from the show, right down to "um," "uh" and pauses. I don't know what the legal boundaries are, but I have wondered if that is acceptable -- and, in general, what is?

Hi Editorjax

You are much more of an expert on the subject of writing and protocols than me, so I doubt I can be of much help to you but you have got me a little worried.

I have only just started writing, but have been reading fanfic and nfanfic for a long time. When I wrote my first nfic I didn't really think twice about using direct quotes from the show in places, as I thought I had seen it done many times before.

As I was doing an nfic re-write of an episode, it seemed to fit best to use some extracts of the original dialogue as I wanted to stay true to the essence of that episode (Just Say Noah).

I did credit the original writers at the start and was of the impression (rightly or wrongly) that as long as I wasn't attempting to suggest the words from the ep were mine or making a profit from them I wasn't doing anything wrong.

I'm no lawyer (well I actually I am but I deal with real estate not copyright etc!) so I was simply acting on what I thought I had seen done before.

I am in a similar situation to you in that I am in the middle of another nfic episode rewrite, and although this one deviates a lot more from the original I have still used some of the dialogue (and quoted some past eps).

As I said, I doubt I have been of much help to you, but I am anxious for some feedback on this before I post the next part of my story as it is currently stands.

Emma

Hi Jenn,

I have lifted lines directly from the show, but I am careful to state at the beginning of the story that I have done so and attribute them to the writers of such and such an episode. I think that probably covers you legally, as long as people know that you aren't trying to claim them as your own. At least I hope so, because I wouldn't want anyone to think that I was trying to steal another writer's work.

Nan

I also have to claim to not know for sure what you are supposed to do. However, I faced this issue when I wrote parts of my "Door Slams" stories.

In "After a Door Slams" I used a few lines of direct dialog and included this line along with the standard disclaimer:
And in "The Evening After a Door Slams" I included this: I don't honestly know if that is good enough but it is what I did.

BobB

The fanfic archive has a great section on plagiarism , explaining the rules more succinctly and accurately than I ever could. Basically, if someone else wrote it, even if it's only a line of dialogue, you should credit the author.

My personal opinion about lines of dialogue from the show vary a bit depending on the situation. If you're focusing on a single episode (or specific episodes), I'd mention the specific writer. However, if you're quoting lots of lines from multiple episodes, I think you can credit the writers of LnC, without mentioning which writer in particular. But that's just me.

In my story, Master of Disguise, I pulled from and/or mangled dialogue from a couple of specific episodes, so I quoted the individual writers. Here's how I did it:
I also quoted authors from outside FoLCdom, shown here:

Just one example and my 2 cents.
BJ

Well... until this issue on plagiarism, I never used to credit the actual authors of the screenplay dialog in case I borrowed one. (Oh, I did use a disclaimer in case of other sources like in TMWAK for the title; just sorta ignored the ones from the show)


The pathetic excuse is, being a first time writer, I didn't think of it, either! I know, I know, the horrible excuse a plagiarist usually gives! But then, the FoLCs here pretty much know which dialogs are mine and which are from the show...

Yet, I've started using a general disclaimer crediting the entire show for the dialogs since my dialogs don't usually come from a single episode. Maybe you should just do that, too, Em.

Looking back, I see that I've done that a lot, too, but according to - Statement on Plagiarism by Charles Darling - (which Labby was so good enough to direct me to) that requires a disclaimer, too, I believe.

It's not a problem, Jenn. If you're using lines of dialogue from the show in a story, simply put in a couple of lines in an author's note at the start to say so. That's all that's ever been necessary.

There's no danger of you being charged with plagiarism within the fandom you're writing in, because the main issue with plagiarism is someone trying to claim authorship of someone else's words. No one in your fandom is going to fall for that one - they know those words off by heart. So there's never any danger that they could mistake something from the show for your own work, generally speaking. For that reason, many authors often don't bother with a credit because they take it as read that anyone in their fandom reading the story will be able to tell the difference as a matter of course.

But it's handy to make it clear anyway, just to be nice. Especially if you're a little worried about it. Bob's and BJ's examples are good templates. And I know it wasn't part of your question, but dialogue from sources outside of LNC - books, plays, movies, TV shows - always need to be credited, simply because they may be less familiar to your readers than LNC dialogue and it's best then to make it crystal clear that certain parts of your story aren't your work, so that there are no misunderstandings.

Using lines of dialogue from the show is an accepted part of fanfic - if you're tackling an episode rewrite you practically can't avoid it - no one will have an issue with you doing so. And in general legal terms it's no more a breach of copyright than using the characters etc from the show to write fanfic in general.

So have at it, when you need to. You'll be in good company with millions of fanfic writers before you.

LabRat

Well, since I am currently at the beginning of a whole bunch of episode rewrites with the "All the Daytime and the Nighttime" series, I thought I would explain my thinking.
Since we have a Kerth category called I assumed it was legitimate to quote dialog directly as long as you credited the writers in the Author's Notes. I really wouldn't seem to be a rewrite if you didn't. Turns out their writing is often way better than mine, but they are pros of many years standing. I feel it gives and authentic feel to the new concept.
I think of it as similar to a "cover", "tribute", or "remix" of popular songs with new artists.
My plan is to add more explanation to the author's notes when I send it to the Archive.

Artemis

I've never really liked writing stories set within episodes so it hasn't come up much for me - a couple of times in other fandoms I've used a scene that somehow goes differently as a springboard for an AU, there I've generally just used the dialogue normally and put a credit at the end.

I steal lines from the show on a constant basis. In fact, I doubt I've written any stories that don't have at least a line or two from the show. To acknowledge that, I put at the beginning of my stories, the following disclaimer:

And if you go to www.thompsonlawoffice.ca/Disclaimer.htm , you will find this:

What can I say? I want to be sure to cover all possible bases. And as Labby pointed out:

ML

MLT: Here's a question for the "I love irony" department.

Could I borrow/plagiarize your disclaimer? It's so much better than anything I could write.

Thanks!

Sorry I didn't respond sooner. It's been a few days since I've been here.

Feel free to borrow, plagiarize or outright steal my disclaimer if you want to. But just know that I don't promise you won't get sued anyway.

ML