Ind-E-Focus

This is a response to a question from Adam Fortner. If anyone has any other questions post them in the message boards, we will do our best to find the answers!

The written word is a powerful form of communication, we are still learning about ancient cultures from the words and stories they wrote thousands of years ago.

As writer’s it is our desire to be remembered through the stories we tell, (and make a bit of money on the side ;p ) but there are many who would be happy to take our words and use them for their own gain, and the truth is, doing so can be very easy.So how can we protect our work? – For those of our community in the U.S.A, here is some helpful advice from The Unknown Screenwriter about the screenplay copyrighting procedure;

In case you’ve not yet heard, U.S. Copyright Form PA is being phased out. To register a copyright for your screenplay, you should now use U.S. Copyright Form CO. And, unless you’ve already filled this particular form out before, I highly recommend that you read the instructions for completing Form CO.

The new Form CO is seven pages long. The U.S. Copyright Office actually prefers you start using this form because it’s quicker for YOU — quicker for THEM to process your copyright using 2-D barcode scanning technology.

The U.S. Copyright Office processes these forms much faster and efficiently than paper forms completed manually. Simply complete Form CO on your personal computer, print it out and mail it along with a check or money order and your deposit. The fee for a basic registration on Form CO is $45.

You wouldn’t believe how many times during the week I get asked the following question…

    Should I register my screenplay with the WGA or Copyright it?

The short answer?

Copyright your screenplay.

Registration with the Writers Guild of America simply does NOT equal the same amount of protection as you get when you copyright your screenplay. If you can choose only one — choose copyright every time.

A copyright begins your legal paper trail and actually protects what you’ve written while a WGA registration simply corroborates the date the screenplay was registered i.e., the screenplay without a doubt was created NO LATER THAN the date of your WGA registration.

I’ve also been told that WGA registration offers a little protection against loss of your writing credit in case a WGA credit arbitration pops up somewhere down the line.

Which is why my long answer is to DO BOTH.

Secure a copyright for your screenplay on the off-chance that somebody somewhere were to actually rip you off. The only way to bring suit against this kind of theft is to have obtained a registered copyright. In fact, I believe I’ve read that you can’t even get into Federal Court without proof of copyright registration.

Which is another reason you copyright your screenplay. Unscrupulous producers — YES THEY EXIST — aren’t that well known for stealing actual screenplays but they are known for taking an idea or concept here and there and getting some other unsuspecting screenwriter to write it up into a new screenplay. The same thing goes for getting paid on revisions.

Just remember that a registered copyright doesn’t protect the following:

    *
      Ideas
    *
      Titles
    *
      Concepts
    *
      Themes
    *
      Historical Events
    *
      Information with no original authorship

What you can expect a registered copyright to protect:

    *
      Ownership
    *
      Story (expression of an idea)
    *
      Characters
    *
      Treatment

Another question I get asked…

    If I rewrite my screenplay, should I register another copyright and WGA registration?

Yes you should — ESPECIALLY if you’ve ever circulated any earlier drafts into the market.

What about pitching? How can you protect your idea if you pitch it to a producer?

Because so many lawsuits have been brought against producers and prodcos after an unsuccessful pitch, new developments suggest that before you actually pitch your idea or screenplay, make sure you ESTABLISH AN ACTUAL OR IMPLIED CONTRACT. Start your pitch by letting those you’re pitching to understand that YOUR EXPECTATION of them is that your material or idea is to be kept confidential and IF said idea or screenplay is actually used, you expect to be paid.

From what I understand — REMEMBER, I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY AND I AM NOT GIVING LEGAL ADVICE — you need some kind of confirmation of this expectation of yours and if you don’t get some kind of confirmation like a nod of the head or an actual statement of affirmation, you may not have met the legal requirement of an actual or implied contract.

If there is no actual or implied contract, you pitch at your own risk! Whether you pitch at your own risk or not, it’s always advisable to immediately send whomever you’ve pitched to, a confirmation letter… Expand on your legal paper trail by following up the pitch meeting with a letter thanking the producer for their time and reiterating the purpose of the pitch meeting i.e., to sell them your material or idea.

Get it?

Finally…

Do not — I REPEAT — DO NOT try to commit any of this to memory. I highly recommend the creation of a file for each screenplay (or idea) that you attempt to market. In this file should be a simple log sheet of some kind that contains WHO you sent your screenplay to. The date of submission. How long they had it before you heard back from them. The date you heard back from them. Any correspondence between YOU and the person or prodco you submitted to. Any notes or thoughts you might have had during the entire process. Any intelligence you may have gathered on said producer(s) and production company.

This may seem like a waste of time but it’s actually an outstanding extension of your legal paper trail that you can lug into a courtroom with you just in case… The more thorough and organized you are, the more credible you become LEGALLY.

Get it? (Source: The unknown screenwriter - Copyright Your Screenplay)