It looks like Michael Douglas and his ex-wife Diandre are set to debate the difference between these two forms of derivative works — sequels and spinoffs — in Court. Under the terms of their divorce, Diandre is entitled to fifty per cent of income from spinoffs of movies in which Michael Douglas acted before their divorce.
The issue has come up with reference to “Wall Street 2″ which Diandre is treating as a spinoff, and Michael Douglas is treating as a sequel. The press and publicity associated with the film all seem to treat the film as a sequel as well. However, the terms “sequel” and “spin off” are not defined by copyright law, and the term “spin off” is not defined in their divorce agreement either. Also, it isn’t clear why the terms of the divorce refer to spinoffs and not to sequels given that the former term is usually used with reference to TV programmes, and the clause itself refers to films.
A sequel is defined as “a literary work, movie, etc., that is complete in itself but continues the narrative of a preceding work”, while a spin off is defined as “something derived from an earlier work, such as a television show starring a character who had a popular minor role in another show”.
The link between spinoffs and sequels appears to be only incidental — they are both derivative works, and that appears to be where the similarity between them ends. A spinoff would generally be primarily unrelated to the original work — think “Joey” and “Friends” — while a sequel would build on the story contained in the the original work.