A frequently asked question

[cleolinda]

Okay. I've been asked about performing and/or recording various Movies in Fifteen Minutes scripts before, and I've gotten three requests in the last two weeks alone, so I feel like I need to set this down where people can see it, and where I can link back to it when necessary.

I've had probably two dozen requests or more over the years, so this is something I've had to come up with a policy for, and this is it:

1) Don't sell your performance for profit. A school fundraiser-type talent show or something, I consider that charity; that's fine.

2) You can shorten the script as much as you need to. I would just ask that you not add significant amounts of your own material, because people then get confused as to who wrote what; I understand if you have to come up with a line or two in order to bridge a large gap caused by having to leave something out. You can change or leave out curse words, but please do not get creative with your alterations. If it says "Oh, shit!" and you want to say "Oh, crap!" instead, I understand that. Please do not, as one group wanted, substitute "Oh, poopy!"

3) You have to credit me. Please, you have to. I need this to be in print ("Written by Cleolinda Jones," "from the parody by Cleolinda Jones," "adapted from the parody by Cleolinda Jones," etc.) if there is a sign, marquee or program, and if not, I need it to be verbally acknowledged in some way. If it's a video, it ABSOLUTELY HAS TO be in the video in some way, like on a title card or in the credits, and not just linked in the YouTube description or something, because the video could be reposted without your knowledge. In fact, this has happened before.

Here's why I'm so uptight about this: I gave a group permission to perform and record "Phantom of the Opera in Fifteen Minutes." They did not clearly, explicitly credit me in the video or on the YouTube page (the YT page may not have even been theirs; someone might have taken their video and uploaded it, which is why the credit needs to be in the video). What happened then was, a girl claimed she had written the material for the video. She then "sold" "her" "script" to her younger cousin (for something like $12.47, if memory serves), who then wrote her own, very close version of it and posted it on fanfiction.net. When confronted by readers of mine who discovered this and reported her for plagiarism, the younger cousin was very angry and defensive, because in her mind, she "owned the rights" to the POTO/15M material. Because she had "bought" it... from someone who didn't actually own it or write it. If my name had been in that video, it would have been a lot harder for the girl to pull that shit. The way the whole thing went down, even considering that the cousin had been deceived, was extremely frustrating and insulting ("I've never run into anyone I had to ask to take something down who then turned around like, NUH-UH, IT'S MINE! I DO WHAT I WANT! I ALSO DEMAND AN APOLOGY!" Yes, this was the "you accusatory squirrel-like person" incident), as far as I'm concerned. I really do not want to go through that again.

So #3 is, basically, "Do whatever you have to do to make sure that people understand who wrote this material and it doesn't escape into the wild where people have no idea where it came from."


Any additional questions?

Comments

[randomhero2006.livejournal.com]

Your parodies are surely worth more than $12.47, IMO.

[nicolars.livejournal.com]

What a weird, random price.

[ctina.livejournal.com]

What boggles my mind the most is why that girl would choose to write a parody of a parody. I can see being inspired by something to write something of your own that's slighty similar. But... yeah. Boggled.
I also feel like Movies in Fifteen Minutes wouldn't be as funny when taken out of their original format.

[annachovi.livejournal.com]

Your icon made me smile.

[greyduck.livejournal.com]

Looks perfectly fair and reasonable to me.

I predict, actually, that you'll get more trouble out of Rule 2 than Rule 3. But that's just a gut feeling, probably on account of my job in IT Support: Give the user license to tinker, and you'd best be prepared for the results... *wry grin*

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Ironically, #2 is actually trying to tell people not to tinker. I'm just saying, I understand if you need to shorten the thing for time. And I understand if maybe "Oh shit!" isn't appropriate for your school talent show or your state drama competition (both occasions have come up). Just... don't get "creative" and add to it.

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

You might want to crosspost this in the community.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I probably should. Except that I dread the "While we're here, ARE YOU EVER GONNA WRITE ANOTHER ONE??" comments that would inevitably follow.

[scornedsaint.livejournal.com]

She then "sold" "her" "script" to her younger cousin (for something like $12.47, if memory serves), who then wrote her own, very close version of it and posted it on fanfiction.net.

...I'm intrigued how they came up with that figure. I mean, besides the obvious insanity.

[brandied-plum.livejournal.com]

Apparently it was "all the money" the poor little drama-queen-in-training had.

[soleta-nf.livejournal.com]

I read the posts Cleo linked to, and it was actually $47.12. Which is still an odd figure, but a little more pricey.

[cellardoor28.livejournal.com]

I'm a bad person, cos 'accusatory squirrel-like person' still makes me giggle :p

[sugarcages.livejournal.com]

Me too!

[kvschwartz.livejournal.com]

Totoro!

[last-haven.livejournal.com]

She "sold" it to her "cousin".

...is "cousin" the new "nanny" ala Ms.Scribe?

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

In conclusion: cousins.

[roseredhoofbeat.livejournal.com]

You have won today, please accept the internet and enjoy. =P

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

The 'You Accusatory Squirrel-Like Person' line is freakin' hilarious.

[drpeprfan.livejournal.com]

What I can't understand is why people would steal from you like that. They can't replicate the genius, and wouldn't people they knew go, "Hmm, this sounds nothing like what they usually write..."? Plus, I always use M15M quotes as a chance to show people the parody and get them to read all the other ones. And then read the book. But then again, I tend to have too much faith in humanity, I guess. Hopefully this clears things up.

[flameraven.livejournal.com]

I was reading one of the comments on the linked post where the poster was like "wtf plagiarism? Do they not teach these things in schools anymore?"

And of course, they do, and yet... people still turn in Wikipedia entries as essays. >_>;

[dianesoprano.livejournal.com]

I still think that the cousin nonsense was a lie. The kid probably didn't understand what plagiarism even was and all of sudden, the entire internet is descending on her. I think the knee-jerk response in that situation is to be defensive and make excuses. That's especially true of smart kids, because when you're smart, you're not used to making big mistakes and you have no idea how to handle being wrong. The details in her story are exactly what I would have come up with at her age.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, even as a lie, it's a good example of what could happen if my name gets separated from the material.

Here's the one reason I'm slightly inclined to believe at least some parts of her story: you've got to have some genuine nerve to know you're secretly in the wrong and then demand an apology from the other side. I mean, I guess if you're going to try to brazen it out, you're going to have to commit to the facade no matter where it takes you. But still, you know?

I do think the hurricane and parents' divorce stuff, even if true, was a blatant OMG FEEL SORRY FOR ME! last-ditch ploy.

[numbedtoe.livejournal.com]

Isn't it amazing how many times in life you're the one who gets dicked over and that person(s) has the balls to DEMAND! an apology? It's unreal.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

That was the part I could just never get over. I've dealt with some plagiarizers and "omg I didn't realize it belonged to you" thieves in my time, but that was a brand new one for me.

[zero-design.livejournal.com]

See... at the start of the post, I completely misunderstood what it was people were asking for - I thought they were asking if _you_ were going to be making audio recordings of M15M.
I was all ready to jump in with an "if you do, can I help?!"

I am much less excited now ;)

[editornia.livejournal.com]

Me too. :)

[barrelgoddess.livejournal.com]

Sounds pretty reasonable to me; but then, I'm of the mindset that you are in no way obligated to let someone do such things at all. ^^

[lady-tolwen.livejournal.com]

I always make sure you're name is on any m15m that I print out for professors and work. If it doesn't show up automatically when I print it, I'll take a pen and scribble somewhere "by Cleolinda". I've done that even before you asked for credit. And I encourage other's to check out the other stuff you write on here, and explicitly tell them "Go to LiveJournal and look for CLEOLINDA." I can't imagine how some people could pass this up as their own. Sorry this has happened to you.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you for doing that.

[sunni-sideup.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I remember the POTO in 15 Minutes escapade. It would've been mildly hilarious if it wasn't so bizarre. People are so stupid on the Internet.

I actually did a lame video (slideshow) version of Twilight in 15 Minutes for a high school course in photojournalism. I think I credited you as "The Brilliant and Amazing Cleolinda Jones" or something. XD

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heh. Well, that is certainly one way to credit me.