Can our youth write and present a play at our church that uses the characters and plot of a movie?

Question

Our youth want to write their own condensed version of the movie, The Princess Bride, using some of the same characters and a condensed story line. They have the ability to do this but how can they present it to the church and not violate copyright laws?

Answer 1

You can't.  If you base it on the movie you have to have permission from the holders of the copywrite.  Usually they ask a fee for that.

If you do it without paying, you are breaking the law.  It's called copywrite infringement.  You probably would not get caught, but is that what you want to do?  Break the law?  Hardly church worthy is it?