This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

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  • This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

    http://www.mypdfscripts.com/thelates...-legal-demands

    A great site has just been hobbled.

  • #2
    Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

    Yeah. That site was a godsend. Especially when it first got off the ground. Hate to go back to paying for stuff ... or reading them for a limited time at The Herrick ... or borrowing Shooting Script Series screenplays to films I'm not fond of.
    "I ask every producer I meet if they need TV specs they say yeah. They all want a 40 inch display that's 1080p and 120Hz. So, I quit my job at the West Hollywood Best Buy."
    - Screenwriting Friend

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    • #3
      Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

      are there any sites left to download new scripts? i used to get them off scriptshadow, got a few here, and i have no clue where else to look.

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      • #4
        Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

        And the thing with both the Warner Bros & 20th Fox things is that they are *not* just targeting development scripts, they are going after all scripts. Out of the *100* scripts in the PJ suit, only *one* was in development - the rest are things like DIE HARD. The WB thing is *only* about old scripts. The Don Murphy thing was *only* about old scripts.

        The "development scripts" argument is a smoke screen - that's not what's happening. WB isn't about projects in development at all. It's about scripts that have been online for decades and movies that may be out of print on DVD.

        Yet (as is mentioned in the piece) studios are not offering a legal place to buy screenplays in original form for screenwriters to study, and the best general advice everyone gives is to read screenplays.

        Okay, we can no longer read screenplays - how do we learn how to write?

        What is the ripple effect of this 10 years down the road?

        - Bil
        Free Script Tips:
        http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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        • #5
          Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

          Originally posted by wcmartell View Post

          Okay, we can no longer read screenplays - how do we learn how to write?

          What is the ripple effect of this 10 years down the road?

          - Bil
          There's still hundreds of scripts available online. As well as screenplay books one can purchase online.

          The ripple effect of this, as far as number of writers go, in 10 years will be nada.

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          • #6
            Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

            Right now this is Fox and WB, what if the other studios jump in and all of the screenplays online are gone? I think the WB lawyers are following Fox, and that means the Uni and Par and Sony and Disney lawyers are typing up papers right now.

            Potentially, screenplays gone from online... and then those Script City places with paper copies are closed down.

            Published book versions of scripts: - I think they are pointless for many important aspects of learning to write scripts - since they often change the page length/size/numbering. When I was learning to write, pacing by page number was one of the most important things I learned. Can't do that if they've messed up the format for a book. Also - you usually get the "conformed version" - which isn't just the shooting script, but an edited version that removes scenes that didn't end up in the release print of the movie. You aren't getting the actual script.

            If the studios offered scripts for sale, that'd be great - I'd buy them. But right now WB is removing the scripts without offering any legal place to get them. Give us a place to legally obtain scripts so that we can learn.

            - Bill
            Free Script Tips:
            http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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            • #7
              Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

              My two cents....saying that this is only about copyright protection is like saying that the Titanic sinking was only about it hitting an iceberg.

              It's not black and white, it's very gray, there are other issues at play.
              Last edited by LIMAMA; 03-16-2011, 01:27 PM. Reason: me
              http://www.pjmcilvaine.com/

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              • #8
                Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

                I don't get it, that's for sure.

                Unless they're going to turn a profit on the scripts they own -- set up little online catalogs with a price per script -- I can't see the up side of protecting 20+ year-old scripts like Die Hard that have been floating around the net for over a dozen years.

                Not to mention -- if they all intend to sue those offering Die Hard scripts online under copyright law, how do they explain to the court why they ignored those old scripts online, failed to assert their copyright, for so many years?
                Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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                • #9
                  Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

                  BTW -- I stumbled across this a couple months ago and forgot to mention it during the FOX V. PJ case discussion here.

                  I was surprised to find FOX has people combing through EBAY and sending cease and desist letters to people selling Fox scripts, movie posters and press kits.

                  Check out this ebay member profile for FoxMonitorCop:

                  http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI...d=foxmonitorcp
                  Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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                  • #10
                    Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

                    Originally posted by sc111 View Post
                    I don't get it, that's for sure.

                    Unless they're going to turn a profit on the scripts they own -- set up little online catalogs with a price per script -- I can't see the up side of protecting 20+ year-old scripts like Die Hard that have been floating around the net for over a dozen years.

                    Not to mention -- if they all intend to sue those offering Die Hard scripts online under copyright law, how do they explain to the court why they ignored those old scripts online, failed to assert their copyright, for so many years?
                    Elephant in the room - because of PJ's defense. All the studios want to assert their copyrights now as an insurance policy for all other properties in the future. They can't afford to pick and choose anymore. It seems that may bode well for PJ's case, though.
                    "The Hollywood film business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Hunter S Thompson

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                    • #11
                      Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

                      Originally posted by cshel View Post
                      Elephant in the room - because of PJ's defense. All the studios want to assert their copyrights now as an insurance policy for all other properties in the future. They can't afford to pick and choose anymore. It seems that may bode well for PJ's case, though.
                      Right. So it has to be all or nothing. Unless, of course, they would have chosen to argue "in-dev" scripts as "trade secrets." Which may have been a better argument. An argument that leaves scripts like Die Hard out of the equation.

                      re: BF. I hope so. I keep lighting candles.
                      Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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                      • #12
                        Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

                        This may be as simple as -- giant company gets the ball rolling and they just crush...

                        Maybe they are just too big to give a fvck about parsing details. Maybe this is just one of those cases where the goliath gets rolling and smashes everything with abandon.

                        I definitely don't know the inside details, but it's not far fetched that people are over thinking this.

                        At one point the studios didn't care about scripts on-line, now they do. Now they'll try to send a powerful message to drive online script sites into the ground (which sucks because most of the sites were cool)

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                        • #13
                          Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

                          Last year Ari Gold... ahem.. Ari Emanuel gave a talk about the new frontier of the industry and trying to find ways to monetize emerging revenue streams for his clients.

                          Maybe the studios have taken note of the demand for this product (screenplays). Maybe, with the advent of iPads and Kindles and Nooks and other e-readers they will be selling pdfs of scripts in the future. Maybe some day screenplays will be sold in conjunction with the release of films to bolster post-theatrical revenue streams (they are definitely trying to find ways to monetize other streams and brand product to make up for the loss of the dying DVD market).

                          Maybe in the future writers will be able to negotiate a cut of all sales of our scripts in print and digital formats (pros would know better - maybe writers with clout have been doing this for years and seeing a cut of published scripts).

                          I'm just saying - perhaps all of this can be seen in a good light for screenwriters. Maybe some day the script itself will still be an earner after it's been sold, developed, packaged, shot and exhibited - and MAYBE (if your reps do the work on the front end) we stand to get a cut of the action.

                          Beats people using it for free, educational or not.
                          Last edited by ihavebiglips; 03-16-2011, 09:28 PM.

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                          • #14
                            Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

                            As for educational purposes - people who want to write "How To" books can insert their own specs. For example, Craig, Derek and the other Writing Partners (or any working pro) could contribute a script of their own to a book/website where they explain the craft and how they applied it to their own work. Or submit one spec script and have them all discuss it to death.

                            Also, how many scripts does one need to read before they "get it"? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know we're always supposed to be growing, learning, but at some point aren't you supposed to "get it" and then, by "getting it" get repped? and then get whatever "educational tools" you need from your reps? Or am I way off base here? I mean, if you don't know how to write a screenplay after reading 25? 50? 100? what good would reading 500 or 1,000 do for you?
                            "All of us trying to be the camera behind the camera behind the camera. The last story in line. The Truth" Chuck Palahniuk - Haunted

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                            • #15
                              Re: This is really depressing (but not unexpected)....

                              Originally posted by Kermet Key View Post
                              As for educational purposes - people who want to write "How To" books can insert their own specs. For example, Craig, Derek and the other Writing Partners (or any working pro) could contribute a script of their own to a book/website where they explain the craft and how they applied it to their own work. Or submit one spec script and have them all discuss it to death.

                              Also, how many scripts does one need to read before they "get it"? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know we're always supposed to be growing, learning, but at some point aren't you supposed to "get it" and then, by "getting it" get repped? and then get whatever "educational tools" you need from your reps? Or am I way off base here? I mean, if you don't know how to write a screenplay after reading 25? 50? 100? what good would reading 500 or 1,000 do for you?
                              Agreed. Been echoing this sentiment for a while now.

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