Hey, I thought I would introduce myself. I am a disabled combat veteran and my doctors thought writing could be therapeutic. I used to write, before I got hurt, and still love telling whoppers so here goes nothing! I enjoy and am trying to write, military science fiction by simply jumping into the deep and learning to swim while the sharks circle around. I am new to Scrivener and dedicated/disciplined writing.
Now that we got that out of the way, here goes my question. I find that pictures, or art, help you visual things when you are talking about futuristic stories involving as yet unimagined technology. I tend to use whatever Mr. Google provides when telling tales to my boys but now that I am attempting to write something worth publishing I am concerned. How does this work in the professional realm? Would I need the rights to the pictures to even use it for my own visualization? Please help point me in the right direct! Thanks in advance!
Nope. As long as you’re not including the pictures/photos with your story, as long as they are only for your own private use (visualization) you can use whatever you want.
The key is, of course, that if you aren’t going to ask a publisher to print the image in your book/novel, you don’t need the rights.
If you have, for instance, a photo of Sandra Bullock because a character looks exactly like her, you can describe her exactly as you see her in the photo. Just don’t call her Sandra or give her the family name ‘Bullock.’
If you’re doing it with places (restaurants, office buildings, homes, etc.) you’d really have to go out of your way to violate anyone’s rights. Change the name of the business establishment if you think you must (although I doubt if, as an example, McDonald’s is going to object if you have a scene take place in one of their restaurants unless you imply that McDonald’s is somehow aligned with an evil you’re portraying in your story).
If it’s a photo of an event, set the event somewhere other than where it took place in the photo, change the names of those involved, etc. After all, we’re talking about fiction writing, not documentaries, right?
But with your follow-up question, I’m getting the feeling you’re talking about a very specific thing you want to write about. If it’s that specific, perhaps you should just say what it is (PM me, if you think it’s really delicate) so I’m not misleading you.
If you are describing a space ship with a saucer-shaped top, with 3 vageuly tubular sections attached by a swooping buttress-like structure, you’re fine. But if you go on to say that “USS Enterprise” or even just “NC - 1701” or similar, then you might get in trouble.
But then I wouldn’t recommend relying on that specific of a space ship design for a publishable work. Far better that you come up with your own iconic design. If you don’t plan to sell your work, but are more interested in sharing fan fiction with a community of similarly motivated writers, then you can get away with a lot more, so long as you’re not copying words verbatim from another published work.
Rontarrant, I was thinking of using existing art as jumping off points for the weapons, gear and ships in the science fiction universe I want to create. I do hope to sell it one day, though whether or not people buy it is another question! If they see my work is describing their art work, would that be problematic?
Robert D Guthrie, I plan on creating my own ideas for some of the tech but I also want to write my science fiction in such a way as it appeals to the expectations of the readers so the world doesn’t become a distraction from the story. I hope that makes sense?
If the description doesn’t include details that take away all doubt (like where Mr. Guthrie came right out and said it’s the NCC-1701 Enterprise) you’re good to go. From the description he gave up until that point, I wouldn’t have known. Did you?
If they see my work is describing their art work, would that be problematic?
