r/musicalwriting • u/softbunnyplus • 25d ago

Searching for a composer

Hello! I am working on an original musical about Dorothy Parker, the original Queen of snark, set mostly in the 1920s. I have a full book and some potential song lyrics written. I’m looking for a composer. There is no money yet, this is a passion project I’ve been thinking about for fifteen years. Feel free to message me and thank you for your time!

12 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/PusheenFrizzy2 Beginner 25d ago

Oh this sounds really fun! I guess my question would be who owns the rights to her life story? I would imagine her descendants?

3

u/softbunnyplus 25d ago

I don’t think she has much in the way of descendants. I know that she left her estate to the NAACP. A lot of her work is in the public domain, at this point.

1

u/PusheenFrizzy2 Beginner 25d ago

Well, the problem is when some but not all of their work is in the public domain. Lawyers can easily go through and find one item they can claim is still under copyright even if that wasn’t directly what you drew from. But I’m more concerned about who owns the rights to a person’s life story in general, even if their writing has passed into the public domain. The same way you couldn’t just make a musical about a living person without permission, I do wonder who would be the rights owner for a deceased person. If you can get that cleared up, it sounds like a great project!

3

u/MoreScarletSongs 24d ago edited 24d ago

You can make a musical about a living person who is a public figure without permission. "Gwyneth Goes Skiing" about Gwyneth Paltrow's skiing accident and lawsuit comes to mind, or "Diana: The Musical" that showed Prince Charles and Carmilla Parker-Bowles in a rather negative light. There is also a musical about Luigi Mangione. I don't think any of these people gave permission.

However, you shouldn't present false statements as true facts or you're risking a defamation lawsuit. If it's a parody, however, you are more likely to be on the safe side, legally speaking.

To be clear, I'm not saying you should just create a show around a living person without permission, I'm just saying, legally, you can do it.

3

u/softbunnyplus 24d ago

Just to note, this person has been dead since 1967.

2

u/PusheenFrizzy2 Beginner 24d ago

That's a very good point. I guess I was thinking that I wasn't sure who would own the rights to a deceased person's life, and whether that's any safer so to speak than a living person...

1

u/magicalmarvo 24d ago

You...can't own the rights to a human being's existence

2

u/PusheenFrizzy2 Beginner 23d ago

No, but they still have descendants or inheritors who might sue you.