Can I legally make my thesis video based on a Twilight Zone episode?

I would seek permission, a lot of the movie/TV show makers give permission without cost for school/educational reasons

According to the Fair Use Clause of the Copyright Act of 1976 says you can.

It allows you to rebroadcast copyrighted material for the purpose of education, commentary, and criticism.

I could email and ask permission of I need to. Tell me if I’m wrong but the Fair Clause Act seems to be saying I can broadcast the actual original episode of I need to. For my thesis i am taking the storyline and making my own, new video and I don’t want to be accused of stealing the idea

If your script is entirely different from the original, then you have an original. the concept may not be so original, but the question I would like to ask is, does the course require original concept, and if so, how much of a weight does it have towards your grade.

If you really need to cite the original, instead of saying “based on…” you can say ” inspired by the movie . . . .”

@JesseTylerSpeer I’m confused. It sounds to me like “stealing the idea” is precisely what you want to do.

Great points thanks! I’ll discuss with my professor and see if they require original ideas. I would definitely write my own script. Thanks again

I’m not stealing anything. I dont want to try and pass the story as my own creation. I’m trying to find out if I need to legally give credit or money to the person that did come up with it. Wasn’t sure it just mentioning it in my work was “enough.”

Check out this video regarding fair use, it might answer some of your questions.

A PhD thesis? Pffft. No one cares. Now, one day if you want to air in on IFC, that’s a different story.

I think mentioning it is enough. Especially if you just copy the basic story. Many of the basic stories on TZ are copied from other SF stories anyway.

Thanks everyone got all the answers I needed! Appreciate it very much

@Zaku, on what do you base this statement?

Many of the basic stories on TZ are copied from other SF stories anyway.

I believe they were quite original, most (if not all) written by Rod Serling for the program. I can’t remember a single one that was based on other work.

@Jeruba TZ is pretty original as SF goes, but when I wrote “basic stories”, I meant the concepts, structure, etc… and I was writing without really having examined it all that closely. But Science Fiction (and fiction) is full of people adapting story ideas from one another, with or without attribution. But ya, I’m sorry, I guess you are right that many (most?) Twilight Zone plots may be fairly unique arrangements of story elements.

As far as I know, Rod Serling’s widow, Carol Serling, still holds the copyright to her late husband’s work. I have no idea how aggressive her legal resources might be, but given the pioneering role of The Twilight Zone in TV history, I would advise great caution in appropriating anything from the series without full attribution and preferably permission.

If you do find an episode that is based on something other than an original script by the series host or one of the other writers who worked with him, then I would say the question goes back to the source of the idea and not to the TZ script. The TZ episode, of course, would still be a proprietary realization of the concept. Serling was such a font of ideas that I find it hard to think he copied from anything, other than to make use (as all authors do) of themes and motifs present in the culture, such as space exploration, racism, nuclear holocaust, etc. That is not what “copying” means. Most serious authors have immense respect for the rights of authorship of others.

I would not think it was a good idea to demonstrate your skills in a medium beginning by violating the fundamental concept of an artist’s rights in his own material. I would want to show extreme respect for the best work of others in my field and also showcase my own originality.