ABSTRACT
One of the producer's primary jobs is the acquisition of the rights to turn a book, screenplay, comic book, or other underlying work into a film or television program. All parties involved will need to know exactly who owns which of the many rights involved. For instance, even though the production company is buying the right to turn the screenplay into a movie, the writer of an original screenplay might want to keep a portion of the copyright rights, such as the right to turn the script into a stage play. As part of the development and financing stage, the producer needs the right to raise money based upon the underlying work, even if they have not yet purchased it. A filmmaker who wants to make a movie using someone else's script must buy the motion picture rights to that script in order to make the movie.
