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Original poster

Copyright advice, am I going to get into trouble?

39 replies

Owlsintowels · 30/04/2020 12:13

I've got an older child who is mad about a certain book. Her younger brother is only 2 and far too young to understand it, it's not a picture book.

I have written a brief, 2 year old appropriate version of the book, and added a few vaguely relevant pictures. The toddler loves it, he asks for it repeatedly and it's meant he can play with the older child really nicely, role playing this story.

I was thinking of sharing my version with some friends, my nct group all have toddlers and older ones, so it might be good for some of them too. I'm not thinking about asking for any money obviously, but in the back of my mind I was thinking about asking for feedback with a view to maybe turning this into a business idea further down the line. I'd approach the publisher properly etc obviously.

My question is, is there any copyright or other legal issue with distributing my childish version among friends for free?

TIA

OP posts:
Lightofthephoenix · 30/04/2020 12:15

Plagiarism I would of thought

Original poster
Owlsintowels · 30/04/2020 12:18

I agree it is plagiarism, but since I'm not making any financial gain and I'm not pretending it is my own work, or rather I'm being very clear it's a toddler version of the story, is it illegal?

Presumably it's not illegal to do my own creative writing in my own house, so where is the line in sharing this for free with eg nieces, friends children?

OP posts:
CarlottaValdez · 30/04/2020 12:18

Yes definite breach of copyright but unlikely to end in any problems if you’re just giving it to friends. The publisher won’t be aware:

Original poster
Owlsintowels · 30/04/2020 12:19

If the publisher did become aware then is what I'm planning to do illegal?

OP posts:
User202004 · 30/04/2020 12:23

It depends if the book in question is still in copyright or not. What year was it written?

Original poster
Owlsintowels · 30/04/2020 12:25

It was published a little over 20 years ago, less than 25

OP posts:
Pelleas · 30/04/2020 12:26

The copyright notice at the front of a book normally states it mustn't be reproduced 'by any means' so you would be in breach of that, but I can't imagine in practical terms that the publishers would ever find out or care if they did, unless what you made had the misfortune to go viral on the internet.

PotteringAlong · 30/04/2020 12:26

Have you checked that a toddler version isn’t available for you to just buy?

Original poster
Owlsintowels · 30/04/2020 12:30

I haven't checked but I'm pretty sure it isn't pottering, plus I'm on furlough and it was fun making a version which suited my little boy, referencing his favourite colour in it lots for example.

OK thanks for info, I'll only share to a select few friends

OP posts:
INeedNewShoes · 30/04/2020 12:30

I certainly wouldn't distribute it anywhere online, like on your Facebook page...

INeedNewShoes · 30/04/2020 12:31

Cross post.

Be really clear with anyone you share it with that they mustn't share it.

I can just imagine others wanting to help you 'go viral' with it and sharing it with their friends.

Teenytinyvoice · 30/04/2020 12:31

Copywrite doesn’t protect ideas, it protects expression, but as you are aiming to produce something which is recognisably the same I suspect you will be copying. This would be against the law.

If you are not making any money, the furthest it is likely to go is a cease and desist letter. The publisher will be thinking about reputational damage as well as copywrite.

Famous books often have trade marks associates with them as well.

Bluntness100 · 30/04/2020 12:34

I think what you’re doing is sweet, I doubt there is a business idea though and you can rework someone’s property and sell it as your own, I suspect you’d get immediate knock backs even if it was legal.

ChandlerIsTheBestFriend · 30/04/2020 12:36

I can’t see any reason you’d want to share it with friends other than for the praise and attention you’ll receive. (Which is if it was your own story would be fine- but this isn’t) Your friends will be aware of how to purchase books their children will enjoy. They’ll all already have books. So this isn’t a case of charity- delivering stories to children with no books. There is no reason your friends children need to have your version of another authors book.

Pelleas · 30/04/2020 12:36

In the unlikely event they did find out, as you're not planning to sell it, the worst they could do would be to ask you to recall and destroy copies.

An interesting high profile plagiarism case in the USA was that of a novel called 'How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life' which was found to have heavily plagiarised a novel in a similar genre called (I think) 'Sloppy Firsts'. The Opal Mehta book had been launched to a fanfare and was climbing the bestseller lists before fans of the Sloppy First book highlighted the extensive plagiarism. Opal Mehta was immediately withdrawn by the publishers and the author lost her contract with them, but I don't think anything else happened to her - she was a Harvard student and went on to finish her course as planned.

An interesting story and well worth a Google if you want a rabbit hole to fall into.

chipsandpeas · 30/04/2020 12:37

but once you pass it on you have no control over who sees it, your friends may share it and say the same dont share but it wont matter

ChandlerIsTheBestFriend · 30/04/2020 12:37

You’d be far better writing your own children’s book and sharing that with your friends as that’s clearly the route you want to go down.

HermanHermit · 30/04/2020 12:39

Are the illustrations your own or from the original? You’ve created a fresh copyright in the text based on the original story but the individual characters etc may have separate protection esp if it’s a very well known book or has been televised / turned into a film. It’s essentially fan fiction. Use of the original illustrations would be copyright infringement. Too many “it depends” to give a clear answer

Dyrne · 30/04/2020 12:48

Fan fiction (which is what you’ve done here) is always a bit of a grey legal area. Some authors love it and actively engage with and encourage it, others loathe it. Many mainstream authors even started out as fanfic authors (50 shades of shite being the biggest example but a lot of fanfic is actually much better written!)

Most fanficcers shove a disclaimer at the beginning acknowledging they don’t own the characters, setting etc, and that they aren’t making money out of it etc etc; but I’m not sure if the disclaimer has ever been legally tested.

(Top tip: do not google whether there is fanfic of the children’s book already. There probably is, and it’s definitely hardcore porn).

SeasonFinale · 30/04/2020 12:49

Actually if you distribute it they could arguably contest that you have prevented sales being made and ask for account in respect of profits they have lost out on.

Just do not distribute at all.

Pelleas · 30/04/2020 12:53

Actually if you distribute it they could arguably contest that you have prevented sales being made and ask for account in respect of profits they have lost out on.

I doubt that would be enforceable because they couldn't prove that people who'd received the OP's free book would have bought a copy of the official version, especially as the two are not the same. Producing a 'fan fic' version of something isn't the same as pirating it.

MagnoliaJustice · 30/04/2020 14:31

I wouldn't share the book. Why don't you write something original to share with your mum friends instead? You're obviously creative. Invent your own characters and your own storyline. You could be onto a winner!

Original poster
Owlsintowels · 30/04/2020 16:18

Aaargh seemingly conflicting advice!

I am pretty sure I'm not creative enough to write my own book, this mini project used a tiny bit of creativity but with a well established template, ie the original book. My input was to shorten from 200 pages to 15, and obv massively dumb down the story, only capture the main parts.
I'm not especially itching to write my own book, I just wanted a way to make the book accessible to my toddler, primarily as the bigger one kept trying to read it to him and he'd understandably wander off.

I'm pretty sure some of my friends are in a similar situation so I think this would be beneficial to them. I think the comment about leaving them to buy their own books is weird, we share parenting ideas often and it's fine.

The fan fic thing is an interesting point.

The pics i got online are taken from various places, eg I wanted a pic of a family with parents and children so I searched until I found a suitable nice pic. But actually a good friend is a decent cartoonist and she's agreed to draw me a fresh set of pics for my book as at the moment it is disjointed - ie a watercolour for one pic, a photo of a car for another etc. And I like my friends cartoons so would love to see what she comes up with. She's not remotely phased about me distributing her work to others.

I'll compile my next version, share with a couple of friends who I know this will be useful for, and keep mulling over this as a potential business, but mostly its a lockdown project which has made my two children happy so I'm chuffed

OP posts:
ChandlerIsTheBestFriend · 30/04/2020 16:44

I don’t understand what potential business you could expect to have from cutting other authors books down to 10% of the original? Confused how can you make money from that?

Reginabambina · 30/04/2020 16:57

Good grief. Just don’t. This is really not a good business idea. It’s a great way to get yourself sued is what it is.

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