Question re WGA Registration

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  • Question re WGA Registration

    Okay, speaking hypothetically. I write a piece. I like it. I register it with the WGA. Then, for whatever reason, I start making changes to it. At what point does WGA effectively say "well, you registered something with us, but this is a different work that isn't registered." Put another way, when does the registration no longer really apply to the work as it stands now?

    The moment I correct a single typo?

    When I break up my sitcom spec to have three acts instead of two?

    When I pull every character but one out of my gritty action thriller and turn it into an uplifting story about a broken down race horse who becomes a champion through the love of a plucky ten-year-old girl?

    Basically, how flexible or inflexible is a registration with regard to subsequent editing?

    Thanks,
    John


  • #2
    Re: Question re WGA Registration

    From my understanding, you're essentually registering the premise. Of course changes are going to occur to the script after you register, so it's not as if you're expected to kick down with an extra twenty everytime you retool a scene.
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    • #3
      Re: Question re WGA Registration

      registration never really applies -- it's a waste of time.
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      • #4
        Re: Question re WGA Registration

        I believe that the registration needs to be updated when you there is sufficient deviation from the script, such as adding significantly new material.

        This means a new act, or the deletion of an existing act.

        Editorial changes such as breaking up portions so they work better, do not count, unless they have been done consistently throughout the script, in which case you will be re-registering when you are comfortable that there will be no further editorial changes.

        In any event, the reason you register with WGA is to prove the work is yours. Save all drafts, because in the unlikely event that you need to enter litigation, the registration is only one of several methods of proving you were working on your screenplay.

        Drafts are another method, and also email correspondence, and copyright are all useful evidence of your involvement with your script.

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        • #5
          Re: Question re WGA Registration

          Originally posted by YBandali View Post
          Drafts are another method, and also email correspondence, and copyright are all useful evidence of your involvement with your script.
          Put copyright (even above registration) at the top of the list and go from there.

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          • #6
            Re: Question re WGA Registration

            Originally posted by jmsullivan View Post
            At what point does WGA effectively say "well, you registered something with us, but this is a different work that isn't registered."
            They'll never say that, because they will never look at what you are registering.

            What a WGA registration does, the ONLY thing it does, is establish legally provable date for the existence of the material and your claim to its authorship.

            It's up to you if you want to re-register your script and when to do it. The Guild suggest you re-register "when the storyline has been affected or changed extensively."
            ==========

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