[susan67]

I had a really strange (and scary) dream while napping this afternoon. It was about a serial killer (not sure why I would dream about that) and how he was torturing his victims. I am not a writer and don't plan on writing in the future but I was wondering if writers are able to use someone elses dream or ideas without getting into any legal hassles? I am totally willing to give my dream "away" as a story idea if anyone is interested. I found it an unusual story line and don't think I have read or watched anything like it.

 

[Decon]

I had a really strange (and scary) dream while napping this afternoon. It was about a serial killer (not sure why I would dream about that) and how he was torturing his victims. I am not a writer and don't plan on writing in the future but I was wondering if writers are able to use someone elses dream or ideas without getting into any legal hassles? I am totally willing to give my dream "away" as a story idea if anyone is interested. I found it an unusual story line and don't think I have read or watched anything like it.

I doubt I will be writing another serial killer book in the near future, although I have an unusual one in mind for maybe 5 books down the line, but I would never discuss it, or someone else may go with it. Ideas can't be copyrighted, so it would not be a problem for an author to pick up the idea and run with it. The problem comes if 4 or5 authors run with the idea and you finish with many versions of the same story, which would sort of make it unoriginal.

 

[kcmay]

Ideas can't be copyrighted. Only the written words can. Two people taking the exact same idea will write two different stories.

 

[Decon]

Ideas can't be copyrighted. Only the written words can. Two people taking the exact same idea will write two different stories.

The only situation I am not sure about is where I watched a short silent film on you tube which puts forward a very profound statement. There is one sentence shown in writing at the beginning of the film and two spoken at the end. As a practice at flash fiction I wrote a short piece and changed the words and the scene, but I wouldn't dare even publish it on my blogs short story page, even crediting the film with the idea for fear of legal action.

 

[greenpen]

I had a really strange (and scary) dream while napping this afternoon. It was about a serial killer (not sure why I would dream about that) and how he was torturing his victims. I am not a writer and don't plan on writing in the future but I was wondering if writers are able to use someone elses dream or ideas without getting into any legal hassles? I am totally willing to give my dream "away" as a story idea if anyone is interested. I found it an unusual story line and don't think I have read or watched anything like it.

It's obviously meant for you. Your higher self is trying to tell you something. I don't see why writers shouldn't use somebody else's dream. Anything is worth looking at. It's obviously not copyrighted. I would be interested in reading it although I have more than enough of my own ideas. They come at me constantly. I write down the bones and save them so I can come back at a later date. I have scores of good ideas backed up a mile down the road to date. That large boobed traffic warden with the fangs is coming after me in my dreams and telling me to shift some before I get a ticket Or could it be Stephanie Meyer come to tell me her good ideas? I wish.