Can I publish a book about Miss Marple?

vascoribeiro.sintra

Hi there,

I don't know if anyone ever asked this... So here it goes:

If I write a book about Miss Marple, can I publish the book or do I need some permissions to do so?

Thank you!

GKCfan

Christie's characters are under copyright, so you can't write a novel featuring Miss Marple.  You can, however, write a non-fiction work of literary criticism about Miss Marple as she appears in Christie's books or in adaptations of Christie's work, since literature analysis is a very different matter.

Tommy_A_Jones

I would think you still needed permission but GKCfan is probably correct, why not write and ask an Author who has written a book about Miss Marple just to check.

vascoribeiro.sintra

Thank you for your answer GKCfan and Tommy_A_Jones.

I will try to ask an Author, but usually they have permissions and also access to Christie's family and notebooks.

I'm writing about Miss Marple, not in a fictional way, but something like a research... I also have some quotes, which are always referenced in the bibliography.

Frank

Hi @vascoribeiro.sintra - The suggestion from @Tommy_A_Jones is a very good one. Can I suggest you contact Anne Hart at Harper Collins. Anne Hart wrote The Life and Times of Miss Jane Marple in 1997. I look forward to reading your book when it is published.

vascoribeiro.sintra

Hi @Frank, thank you for your suggestion! I have that book and have used it to build a chronology of Miss Marple stories and life (did you notice that she would be really old in her last story - Nemesis!?).

I hope I can one day be a successful writer. This is a first experience, and I'm writing in my language - Portuguese, to publish for kindle. Maybe someone (or even myself) translates the book some time after I publish! 

I'll try to email Anne Hart, thank you!

Hello @Max Mallowan, thank for your suggestion but that would not work in this case because I'm really writing about Miss Marple, and not using her as a character in a fictional book. On the contrary, the book don't have nothing fictional, It will state real facts about her stories! ; )

vascoribeiro.sintra

Already sent an email to Anne Hart. Hope she answer soon!  8->