Adapting a True Story? You May Need Two Separate Rights
The entertainment industry loves a good true story. From bestselling memoirs and investigative journalism to viral articles and podcasts, real-life stories continue to inspire films, television series, documentaries, and audio productions.
But one of the most common mistakes creators make when adapting a real-life story is assuming that acquiring the rights to the underlying work—such as a memoir or magazine article—is enough.
However, when a project is based on a real person's life, there may be two distinct sets of rights to consider:
Rights to the underlying intellectual property.
Rights associated with the person's life story.
Understanding the difference can help avoid costly legal disputes and chain-of-title issues down the road.
The First Layer: Rights to the Underlying Work
If a producer wants to adapt a memoir, article, podcast episode, or other copyrighted work, the producer generally must acquire rights from the copyright owner.
For example:
A memoir adaptation requires rights from the author or publisher (depending on who owns the adaptation rights).
A magazine article adaptation requires rights from the publisher or journalist who owns the copyright.
A podcast adaptation may require rights from the podcast creator or production company.
These rights are typically acquired through an option agreement, literary purchase agreement, or license agreement.
Without permission from the copyright owner, the adaptation may constitute copyright infringement because the producer is creating a derivative work based on the original copyrighted material.
The Second Layer: Story Rights
Acquiring the copyright rights is only half of the analysis.
If the underlying work tells the story of a real person, the producer should also consider whether they need story rights from that individual.
Story rights are contractual rights obtained directly from the subject of the story. They often include:
The right to portray the person's life and experiences.
Access to personal information, documents, photographs, and interviews.
Cooperation in developing the project.
Releases relating to privacy and publicity rights.
Rights to depict family members and other aspects of the person's life.
Importantly, a person's life story itself is not protected by copyright. Copyright protects the expression of facts, not the underlying facts themselves.
However, real people may still have legal claims involving privacy, right of publicity, defamation, false light, or emotional distress. Obtaining story rights can help reduce those risks and provide valuable protections for producers and distributors.
Common Examples
Memoirs
A memoir written by the subject often requires both analyses. The author may own the copyright, but producers frequently obtain separate story rights and releases to strengthen chain of title and reduce legal risk.
Magazine Articles
A journalist may own the copyright in an article, but the subject of the article may still have privacy or publicity interests. Depending on the circumstances, obtaining cooperation and releases from the subject can be beneficial.
Podcasts
Many successful film and television projects originate from podcasts that tell true stories. Acquiring adaptation rights from the podcast producer may not address potential claims from the individuals whose lives are being portrayed.
Unauthorized Biopics
Not every true-story project requires story rights. Newsworthy public figures may be depicted without their permission under First Amendment protections. However, unauthorized projects often undergo heightened legal scrutiny, and producers should carefully evaluate risks relating to privacy, publicity, and defamation.
The Chain-of-Title Question
Distributors, studios, networks, insurers, and completion guarantors often scrutinize chain of title before moving forward with a project.
One of the first questions they ask is:
Do you have all necessary rights?
If a project is based on a copyrighted work and a real person's life, the answer may require more than a single agreement.
The safest approach is to analyze both:
Who owns the underlying intellectual property?
Whose life story is being portrayed?
Only then can a producer determine whether they need adaptation rights, story rights, or both.
Final Thoughts
When adapting true-life material, producers should carefully evaluate both the copyright rights in the source material and any rights associated with the individuals being portrayed. Addressing both layers early in development can help strengthen chain of title, reduce legal risk, and make the project more attractive to financiers, insurers, distributors, and buyers.
If you're a screenwriter, producer, author, or creator looking to better understand the legal and business side of adapting intellectual property for the screen, these topics and others are explored in my book, The Screen Playbook: A Writer's Guide to Negotiating Creative Rights Like a Pro.