jcenters

Hi everyone. Just the other day, I had a craving to write a short story. Short of ideas (I have plenty, but most are too big for short fiction), I googled for some creative strategies.

During my search, I found a homepage, where the guy had various ideas he had, but said specifically that he wasn't interested in turning them into stories. He said they were free for the taking.

One of the ideas really caught my eye. After thinking on it some, I came up with a (I think) great story to use it with.

So here I am today, with the story basically finished. I would like to send a PDF of the manuscript to the guy attached to an email expressing my gratitude. I think it would be a nice gesture, but I'm wondering if it could cause problems later on? I do plan on trying to sell the story.

To be honest, I do feel kind of odd about using someone else's idea, but it seems to be a common and somewhat legitimate practice (Especially in SF). Besides, you can't copyright an idea, just the way it's presented, IIRC.

Eiji Tunsinagi

Did you USE his idea or did you just build upon it into something more?

__________________
"nothing is perfect, nothing lasts, and nothing is finished."

"how will you go about finding that thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you?"

jcenters

I used his idea, which is more of a basic concept, and built a story around this. I actually made it two interconnected stories in one, sort of in a Neal Stephenson style.

So I basically did both. lol

gabriella

I'm thinking yes, depending on how specifc his idea was.

If it was something like, "A guy and a girl fall in love only to realize that they're half brother and sister" then no, it's ok.

But if it was something like "A guy named Bob and a girl named Jill fall in love while working at a fast food restaurant, and start off as friends because they havea a lot in common (their parents are divorced and seeing other people). They're first date is at a carnival, and then they see their parents together kissing..." and blah blah blah, then yeah, that might present some problems.

As for what he said in the site... that should be okay, but the problem with websites is they can be edited easily and never retrieved again.

Also, I'd be too paranoid to send the whole finished story, but then that's just me. Just tell him you've used the idea, you plan on selling it, tell him how you molded the idea into your own thing, and ask if he's still okay with you using the idea and planning to sell it.

__________________
You write by sitting down and writing - Bernard Malamud.

Spudley

Of course, you could always go back to the site and ask him what he thinks.

__________________
Spudley Strikes Again
www.BadPuns.com
Poetic Threads
The Poetry Tree

jcenters

Couple of things:

One thing I plan on doing anyway is printing out the initial page. I figure I can't go terribly wrong if I have hard proof that he said what he did.

Second, I would have already asked him, but I wanted to check on here and see if anyone knew of anything legally (Or possibly even ethically) that could trip me up.

I figure at the very least, I'll print out the page and drop him a line.

Thanks for all the advice. Anyone on here experienced with publication law?

Leapord

Legally: Copyrights only cover an expression of an idea, not the idea itself, so you can do what you like.

Ethically: I'd check with him to be sure he's ok with it, but that's just me.

__________________
Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard, be evil.
People would sooner die than think. In fact, most of them do. -- George Bernard Shaw
Leapord is my name, leopard is the animal.

Talia_Brie

Cover your own arse is the only advise I'd provide.

__________________

fairygirlfairies

Personally I wouldn't do it unless I had his express agreement with his website printed and attached. No I wouldn't send him the whole story, especially if you want to sell it. The internet has made things really crazy in the copywrite world.

-Faith

__________________
"Know thyself."