Who owns a story in law: author, subject or producer?

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Any concrete situation must be analysed in light of the applicable law and the contracts already signed, together with a lawyer familiar with intellectual property, media and personality rights.

1. The core question: is “my story” really mine – or can it end up belonging to someone else?

Many legal and human conflicts start from the same intuitive question: who actually owns the story? The person who lived it? The writer who put it into words? The publisher or film producer who financed the project? The platform that distributes it?

The tension appears in countless variations:

memoirs and autobiographies written with the help of a ghostwriter;
novels “inspired by true events” where family members instantly recognise real people;
films and TV series based on high-profile criminal cases or celebrities’ lives;
podcasts and long-form interviews where someone exposes intimate life details and someone else turns them into a monetised product;
broad contracts in which an author “assigns all rights” in a book or script, without truly understanding what that means.

Our intuition says that a person’s life cannot become someone else’s “property”. Legally, things are more subtle. The law does not protect “life” as such; it protects the way the story is expressed (text, script, film) and, on top of that, recognises rights to private life, image and reputation, and data protection rules.

2. What does the law actually protect? “The story” as life vs. as a work

2.1. Copyright: protection for expression, not for abstract ideas

Across modern copyright systems, the basic rule is the same: facts and ideas are free; original expressions of those facts and ideas are protected. WIPO summarises it by noting that copyright protects “literary and artistic works”, meaning concrete expressions of creativity, not the underlying themes or facts.

Romanian copyright law follows this logic. Under Law no. 8/1996 on copyright and related rights:

copyright in a literary, artistic or scientific work arises at the moment of creation, regardless of the medium or form in which it is expressed;
the author has both moral rights and economic (patrimonial) rights over the work;
co-authored (joint) works belong to all co-authors, who must generally act together unless they agree otherwise.

That means:

Raw facts, real events, life episodes, and information – cannot be monopolised via copyright.
The way a writer selects, arranges and narrates those facts – can be an original work protected by copyright, if it shows sufficient creativity.

2.2. Moral rights: the author’s enduring link to the work

Romanian law explicitly states that copyright is “linked to the person of the author” and consists of both moral and economic attributes. Moral rights include, for example, the right to be recognised as the author (paternity), the right to decide when a work is first made public, the right to be named, and the right to the integrity of the work. These rights are, in principle, inalienable.

In practice, this means:

Even if an author assigns economic rights to a publisher or producer, they normally retain moral rights.
They can object to certain distortions of the work that would seriously prejudice its integrity or their reputation.
Some moral rights may be exercised by heirs after the author’s death, depending on the applicable law.

2.3. The people in the story: privacy, image and reputation

Even if an author or producer holds copyright and contractual rights over a work, the real people portrayed do not lose their fundamental rights. Under the European Convention on Human Rights, there is a constant balancing act between:

freedom of expression (Article 10 ECHR) – which protects artistic and journalistic expression; and
the right to respect for private life and reputation (Article 8 ECHR).

Guides and case law from the European Court of Human Rights explain that even critical, shocking or disturbing speech can be protected, but there are limits when:

unnecessary intimate details are disclosed without any genuine public interest;
false factual allegations are made that seriously harm a person’s reputation (defamation);
images or identifying elements are used in ways that unjustifiably interfere with private life.

Domestic civil law (such as the Romanian Civil Code and related case law) also protects non-patrimonial rights like private life, dignity and one’s own image, and sets out limits to freedom of expression to safeguard these interests.

2.4. “Based on a true story”: real life vs. adaptation

In film and TV, the label “based on a true story” usually hides a mixture of:

copyright over a pre-existing text (book, article, investigative piece);
life story rights agreements, where a person consents to the dramatization of their life and often agrees not to license the same story to competitors;
a legal assessment of defamation and privacy risks, especially where events are recent or controversial.

So when we ask “whose story is it?”, the realistic answer is layered:

The story as life and facts – not owned by anyone in a strict property sense.
The story as a work (text, script, film, podcast) – protected by copyright and contracts between creators and producers.
The story as a bundle of rights and obligations – governed by publishing, production and “life story rights” agreements.

3. Who “owns” the story in typical real-world scenarios?

3.1. Author plus ghostwriter: my life, someone else’s words

A public figure hires a ghostwriter to draft a memoir. The ghostwriter writes the manuscript; the book is published only under the public figure’s name.

Legally, in systems similar to Romanian law:

the person who actually writes the text is, by default, the author with moral and economic rights;
through contract, the ghostwriter typically assigns economic rights (or grants a broad licence) to the client and/or the publisher, in exchange for a fee or royalties;
moral rights usually remain with the ghostwriter, although they may agree not to be credited and to allow certain adaptations.

Commercially, the story “belongs” to the celebrity; legally, the situation is more nuanced. The ghostwriter is not the “owner” of the life story, but is usually the original author of the literary work as such, unless specific law or contract says otherwise.

3.2. A “thinly disguised” novel about easily recognisable people

A writer publishes a novel labelled as fiction. Friends and colleagues immediately recognise a local politician, a former partner or a teacher, described in detail with embarrassing or damaging facts. Names are changed, but location, job and events make identification obvious.

From a copyright perspective, the novel is clearly the author’s work. However, for the person portrayed, several issues may arise:

invasion of private life, if intimate information is disclosed without justification;
defamation, if serious allegations are untrue or presented as fact;
unlawful use of image, if the character is essentially a portrait of the real person.

The author does not automatically lose copyright in the book, but may be ordered to pay damages, change or withdraw the work if a court finds that the limits of freedom of expression have been exceeded.

3.3. The journalist and the interviewee: who owns the reported story?

Someone opens up in a long interview, recounting difficult episodes from their life. The journalist builds a crafted feature from that material, adding structure, description and context. The article later becomes the basis for a book or even a film script.

Typically:

the journalist holds copyright in the text (narrative structure, wording, framing);
the interviewee retains rights to private life, image and reputation, even if they initially consented to publication – consent can be limited to certain uses or contexts;
the media outlet may hold economic rights based on employment or freelance agreements.

If the article later becomes a film, new rights and contracts enter the picture: screenwriters, producers, directors and composers may each hold their own copyrights in the adaptation. In parallel, the subject’s privacy and reputational interests must still be considered.

3.4. Books and films about public figures

Where the subject is a public figure (politician, celebrity, high-profile businessperson), courts generally allow a wider margin of criticism and scrutiny, on the basis that there is a greater public interest in their activities. ECHR case law emphasises that freedom of expression is a cornerstone of a democratic society, but it also stresses that even public figures retain some protection for private life and reputation.

Even in relation to public figures, however, there are clear red lines:

unfounded accusations of serious criminal or immoral conduct can lead to defamation claims;
purely sensational disclosure of intimate details with no public interest can be a privacy violation;
manipulated montages or distortions that create a false overall impression can also attract liability.

3.5. Works created in employment or on commission: whose story is it then?

Many legal systems, including Romanian law, address works created as part of employment or commissioned projects. As a simplified overview (details depend on the exact statutory text and contract):

the individual who creates the work is still the author and holds moral rights;
economic rights can, by contract, be transferred or deemed to belong to the employer or commissioning party for certain uses, territory and time;
if contracts are silent or vague, default rules may give the employer a limited right to use the work in line with its activities, while the author retains the rest.

In practice, a staff writer in a big media company may have limited control over the commercial exploitation of “their” stories, even though they remain the legal author.

3.6. When an author “loses” their story through contracts

It is not uncommon for authors to sign publishing or adaptation agreements that purport to transfer “all rights in the work in all media, in perpetuity, worldwide”. In many jurisdictions, including under Law no. 8/1996, there are statutory safeguards: economic rights must be clearly specified, and assignments are often interpreted restrictively if key elements like types of exploitation, territory and duration are missing.

However, in real negotiations, an inexperienced author may:

give up all control over future sequels, prequels or derivative works;
accept a modest lump sum instead of participating in long-term revenues (no royalties or profit share);
fail to reserve rights for formats not even discussed at the time (audiobook, podcast, series, stage play).

In that sense, the legal control over the story as a commercial asset can shift almost entirely to a publisher or producer – not because the person’s life has become their property, but because the economic rights in the work expressing that life story have been extensively assigned.

4. How to avoid “losing” your story: core contracting principles

4.1. Understand the difference between moral and economic rights

Before signing anything, keep these distinctions in mind:

Moral rights (authorship, the right to be named, integrity of the work) remain with you as author and are often non-transferable. You may agree on how they are exercised (for example, pseudonymity, forms of adaptation), but you usually do not “sell” them outright.
Economic rights (reproduction, distribution, public performance, adaptation, communication to the public) can be licensed or assigned, typically with limitations regarding territory, duration and media.

4.2. Beware of vague formulas such as “all rights in all media forever”

Under Law no. 8/1996 and comparable statutes, an assignment of economic rights usually needs to specify at least:

which economic rights are being transferred;
the modes of exploitation (print, e-book, film adaptation, merchandising, streaming etc.);
the territory (for example, Romania, Europe, worldwide);
the duration (for example, 5 years, 10 years, or the full term of copyright);
the remuneration (lump sum, royalties, profit participation).

If these are missing or written in excessively broad terms, you may be assigning far more than you realise. It is usually easier to negotiate reasonable limitations from the outset than to challenge an unfavourable agreement later.

4.3. Do not confuse “life story rights” with selling your entire biography

In the film and TV industry, “life story rights agreements” are common when producers wish to dramatise a real person’s life. Legal commentary shows that such agreements are often structured as option/purchase deals or outright sales, sometimes with reversion clauses if no production occurs within a certain period.

In substance, you are usually granting:

consent to portray certain life events and aspects of your personality in a film or series;
the right to fictionalise, dramatise and adapt your story, within agreed limits;
exclusivity over specific uses of your life story for a given period and territory;
sometimes an undertaking not to authorise competing adaptations.

You are not selling your life in a metaphysical sense, but you may be granting far-reaching exclusive rights to exploit particular versions of your story in media. That is why it is crucial to define:

which events and periods are covered;
what level of fictionalisation is allowed;
whether you have any approval rights or consultation rights;
what happens if the project is never produced (reversion).

4.4. Sort out co-authorship early

When you co-write a book or script, you should clearly agree:

who the co-authors are and in what shares;
how decisions about future adaptations or sequels are taken;
how revenues (advances, royalties, option payments) are divided.

Under Law no. 8/1996, in the absence of a contrary agreement, a joint work belongs to all co-authors, who must act together regarding its exploitation.

5. What can you do if someone else uses “your” story?

5.1. Emotional reaction vs. legal analysis

The instinctive reaction is often: “they stole my story”. Legally, it is worth breaking down the situation:

Did they copy literal passages or very close paraphrases from your text? That points towards copyright infringement or plagiarism.
Did they use the same facts and life events but tell them differently? Then copyright may be harder to invoke, although there may be issues of confidentiality, misuse of confidential information or unfair competition, depending on context.
Did they disclose sensitive details about your private life or make false, damaging allegations? That points towards privacy and defamation issues.

5.2. Evidence, notices, proportionality

A sensible strategy usually involves:

gathering evidence – your drafts, publication dates, screenshots, copies of the allegedly infringing work, contracts and correspondence;
getting a legal assessment of your position (copyright, contract, privacy, defamation, unfair competition);
sending a cease-and-desist letter or other formal notice, often through a lawyer, before suing;
weighing the expected benefits of legal action against costs (financial, emotional, reputational).

In many cases, a negotiated solution – editing problematic passages, adding proper credit, agreeing on compensation – can be more efficient than a long and uncertain court battle.

6. Frequently asked questions about who “owns” a story

Question 1: Can I write a book about my own life, even if other people are recognisable?

In principle, yes. You are generally free to tell your own life story, and you hold copyright in the text you write. However, other people appearing in your story still have rights to private life, image and reputation. To reduce risks, you should avoid unnecessary intimate detail, not present false damaging allegations as facts, and consider changing names and identifying details or obtaining consent where feasible.

Question 2: A publisher wants me to “assign all rights in my book”. Is that acceptable?

It depends on the specifics. Laws like Law no. 8/1996 require that assignments of economic rights specify which rights are being transferred, for which uses, territory and duration, and on what financial terms. Very broad, vague formulas can be risky for an author, especially if the work later has unexpected success or attracts adaptation offers. It is usually prudent to negotiate clearer limits and, where possible, retain some rights or revenue participation.

Question 3: If a producer asks for “the rights to my life story”, what am I really giving them?

Typically, you are granting an exclusive right to portray certain events and aspects of your life in a film, series or similar project, often with the right to fictionalise and dramatise. A well-drafted life story rights agreement should define the scope of events, the level of fictionalisation, any consultation or approval rights you have, the term, the territory, the fees and what happens if no production is made.

Question 4: Can I take a client’s or friend’s story and turn it into a novel without mentioning them?

From both an ethical and legal standpoint, this is sensitive. Even if the novel is formally labelled as fiction, if the person is identifiable and you reveal intimate details or untrue damaging allegations, you may face claims for invasion of privacy or defamation. A safer approach is to generalise themes, blend multiple sources and thoroughly anonymise identifying details – or, ideally, obtain the person’s informed consent.

Question 5: Who owns a book written by a ghostwriter on my behalf?

By default, the ghostwriter is the author of the text and holds moral and economic rights, unless national law creates an exception. In practice, a ghostwriting contract will usually transfer or license the economic rights to you or your publisher, often in exchange for a fixed fee or royalties. Moral rights typically stay with the ghostwriter, even if they agree to remain uncredited and allow adaptations.

Question 6: What can I do if someone “steals” my story and retells it in a book or podcast?

You cannot monopolise the bare facts of your life, but you can defend yourself if they misuse your confidential disclosures, reveal your private life without justification, or make false statements that seriously harm your reputation. If you have already published an original work and someone copies recognisable parts or structure, copyright enforcement may also be possible. In all these scenarios, obtaining tailored legal advice before acting is highly advisable.

7. Conclusion: your life remains yours, but works and contracts decide who controls the story

On a human level, “my story” feels inseparable from who you are. On a legal level, you need to distinguish between:

your actual life and facts, which are not literally owned as property;
the works through which that life is told (books, scripts, films), which are protected by copyright and related contracts;
the agreements that allocate economic control and revenues among authors, subjects, publishers and producers.

That is why the most honest answer to “who really owns the story?” is often: “it depends how it was written, how it was published, and what you signed.”