Consider a semi-hypothetical situation where I am interested in developing an RPG based on a film. Assume there are already other RPG's based on that film, but I'm naive enough to think mine will be better :-)

Given that there are already RPG's, the companies who made them will own the licenses and I would have no chance, presumably. But assume that all I was interested in was releasing the game for free on a webpage, or a similar situation to that.

How would I go about trying to seek permission so I didn't get my ass sued into the dark ages? Would I contact the companies who had made the RPG(s)? Would I contact the film maker directly? (And how do you do that if he's a well known film maker?). Presumably in the US there's a register of copyrights and they could provide me contact info for the copyright owners? Who are they and how do I contact them?

Does anyone have any information/experience that could help me out?

Thanks,
Brian.

Brian,

This is a guess. I think it depends on the nature of the license. It might be possible that the license the existing game has allows 'sub-licensing', in which case contacting the licensee is probably the way to go (as I assume they will be far easier to reach and deal with, assuming they aren't WotC, and even then, well, probably easier).

On the other hand, it's possible you would have to talk to the Marketing department of the Studio that produced the movie (ie, the same people doing the merchandising). It's possible that the license that already exists has some sort of exclusivity clause. It might be that the movie is in turn based on another property, and you might need to go all the way to whomever handles the rights to that property.

AS I said, this is all a guess. A good one, I think, but still a guess. I'd say start with the existing licensee, find out if they can sublicense and/or if their license is exclusive. If you can handle it by talking to them, great. If not, start moving up the food chain.

Alternatively, wait for someone who actually knows the real answer to reply =)

I have a similar problem, in that i've been told I need to find the publishers of certain manga if I want to be considered to do an RPG based on them, but was not told how to contact those publishers.

I have a tough time figuring out how to contact Japanese manga publishers and artists, especially since I don't speak or read japanese, and I wonder what I should do about this situation.

As far as contact: You have to speak with the owner (or the representative of) the IP. No one else. They are where the buck begins and ends. If they don't have the licensing rights (they've been licensed to a third-party already, for instance) then they will let you know. If they own only partial rights, they will let you know.

If the IP has been licensed already, check the legal info on the copyright (or equivalent) page on the product the licensee made. That will list the entity of the licensor.

As far as how to contact them, that depends. Are they a person, corporation, estate? In what country are they located?

Contacting a separate licensee might put you on the right track to hunting down the IP holder but remember: another licensee can't grant anything unless they have been given that authority by the licensor. And the only person to trust on that front is the IP holder.

Brian, if you have further questions, feel free to contact me at jason@key20.com if you'd rather not post on these boards (for legal reasons or whatnot).