Posted by Mrs. Isis Fabulous at syr-24-169-78-10.twcny.rr.com on December 10, 2003 at 09:27:41:
In Reply to: Clerks stage production closed after good review posted by Joel Walton on December 09, 2003 at 14:41:54:
: We started by attempting to contact View Askew productions. Our efforts went unnoticed by the principal power players responsible for such permission. In short, we were ignored. We were told by some “unofficial” individuals that the rights to “Clerks” were now owned by Miramax Pictures, and any rights would need to be secured solely from them. We were also told in no uncertain terms that the idea had come up several times, but that if we were not making any money on the production we could proceed without any fear of legal recourse. These casual assurances did not ease our minds. Roger went on to contact Miramax Pictures who stated they did indeed own the rights to the movie, but once again any stage productions based on their pictures were allowed as long as they made no profit.
You should have gotten a letter from ViewAskew stating that the rights are owned by Miramax, and you should have gotten a letter from Miramax stating that you didn't need to get formal permission as long as your production can be proven to be non-profit.
If you didn't get any of this in writing, you haven't a leg to stand on. I'm sorry, but this is basic, good information to know in your future ventures.