Am I legally allowed to expand someone else's short story into a novel?

Question

For years I told a short story in my kindergarten classroom. It was written and freely shared by the writer. I rewrote the short story (2-3 pages) into a middle grade chapter book, expanding the plot, naming the characters, creating more clearly defined settings. It was a fun writing exercise that now I want to publish, but is that crossing a line? I've tried to track down the author of the original short story, but can't. I did find she was inspired to write her story based on a somewhat known poem. So am I plagiarizing or infringing if I publish my mg novel based on someone else's short story?

Answer 1

You should consult a lawyer.

Generally, you cannot expand a short story into a novel. You are infinging on the author's copyright if you do so. If, on the other hand, your own work is "transformative" enough, it could be argued that you have merely been inspired. Drawing inspiration from other works is commonplace and allowed.

How a court of law would decide in your case we can't even guess.

Personally, I would consider that novel a learning exercise, put it away, and start writing my own stories now.