Should I sent my script to a start up company?

wanabe,

CALL A COPYRIGHT ATTORNEY.

To protect your work; REGISTER the Copyright and regester with WGA. thats it there aint no more.

no attorney will bring up a mailed script as evidence... it wont hold up period. as a matter of common fact the defending lawyer will not allow it to be presented as it could most certainly have been tampered with. (steam that sucker?)

its rediculous as it has been explained to me by copyright attorneys. do you know that YOU yes YOU can purchase a postal stamp? and with this stamp you can change the date? YES change the date?

again bruh-man, what prevents you from mailing an empty, unsealed envelope to yerself and stuffing it with whatever wins the oscar for best screenplay 5 years later???????

(hint.. get the manilla kind, they always look old and tattered and they have those little metal tabs to bend it shut while it is in post... and maybe spit in a bottle just in case they do forensics to see how old the spit is.. where else will you find 5 year old spit?)

dude

If you do decide to go with a start up company, you need to get a top entertainment lawyer to do your contract. Someone who can guess what might go wrong and plan for it. You'll need a reversion clause, etc. Problem is - if there's no real $ on the deal, you can't get the lawyer to work on a %, so you'll have to pay him/her cash... probably more than you'll make up front. But that's the only way to protect yourself from all of the things that can go wrong with people who have no experience making films.

There are enough established companies looking for scripts that I don't see why you'd want to deal with a start up (unless they are established in the biz).

The "master/student" thing works both ways - a new company is better off buying a script from a writer who has some experience so THEY can learn. Especially if they are working on a limited budget.

- Bill

As soon as you write something, you own the copyright. You don't have to register it with anyone to own the copyright. I just wrote a poem on a napkin. I own that sucker.

HOWEVER, in order to PROVE your ownership...this is where registration comes in. Registering with the WGA will prove that you sent the WGA something that you claim that you wrote. Registering with the U.S. Copyright Office will prove that you sent the Copyright Office something that you claim you wrote under penalty of perjury.

HOWEVER, if you're afraid that someone will steal your work, keep in mind that it's not enough that you can prove that you wrote something by a certain date. You have to prove that the OTHER PARTY HAD ACCESS TO IT, and INTENTIONALLY copied your work. Man, that's difficult.

Bottom line...it's probably enough to register with the WGA (but don't note this on your script...it says "rookie"), send your stuff out and hope for the best. You're not going to win a plagiarism case anyway, unless you're an established writer. Buchwald beat Eddie Murphy, George Harrison got beat because he copied a hit song...how many unknowns win a plagiarism beef? They don't. So register your stuff, send it out, cross your fingers, and maybe you'll get lucky.

Your pal,
Couchguy

"Registering with the U.S. Copyright Office will prove that you sent the Copyright Office something that you claim you wrote under penalty of perjury."

WHAT?? couchguy, thatS what registering the MATERIAL at the WGA or anywhere else does... registering your copyright does MUCH more than that. you can learn what by READING @ the library of congress/copryright office website linked here on done deal.

i honestly dont think anyone should dispense advice to newbees unless they, themselves, have done their homework. I think most who post on this board realize the responibility that comeS with giving advice to others. The regulars generaly answer what they can and diScuss what they are not sure of WITH HUMILITY and a shared interest in finding the truth. These kids are here with open minds asking for direction.

what happens when a young screenwriter reads a post that says "WGA reg. is prolly enough" and 3 years down the line finds that their script is now a movie???? that writer will undoubtedly want to litigate. BUT WILL BE UNABLE TO COLLECT ANY OF THE FILMS PROFITS BECAUSE HE/SHE DOESNT HAVE A REGISTERED COPYRIGHT. A REGISTERED COPYRIGHT ENTITLES THE AUTHOR TO LITIGATE FOR DAMAGES.. WGA OR ANY OTHER DEPOSITORY REGISTRATION DOES NOT. its industry standard, yes, but NOT the library of congress. if anything, registering the copyright is enough.

im going to say this one more time and walk away...

to protect your script:

REGISTER your copyright and register with WGA.

Thats it peeps. thats all. no more no less.

we are supposed to be helping each other here. if anyone else wants to argue they can email me haackbaack@aol.com instead of junking up threads.

dude

Registering with the U.S. Copyright office does not "entitle the author to litigate for damages" as you so strenuously put it in your post. You have the RIGHT to sue for damages at ANY time, whether you have registered your work (or not) with the U.S. Copyright office (or anywhere else)...PROVING you deserve to collect those damages is another matter entirely. (A discussion of the difference between rights and entitlements can wait until later.)

Case in point: Stephen King writes a manuscript, and on the way to his publisher's (and BEFORE he has registered his copyright) his car crashes and he (and the manuscript) are resuced by a crazed fan. Is the crazed fan legally allowed to publish his manuscript and make millions? Of course not. But if she does, is Stephen King legally allowed to sue her and collect damages? Of course, if he can overcome his hobbling. Mr. King's failure to register the manuscript with the Copyright Office (or anyone else) does not prevent him from suing the pants off of Kathy Bates (if that is indeed the crazed fan's name) if he can escape her Deathtrap, and PROVE that he is the true author.

I'm sure that if you read the Copyright Office's legalese carefully, you will find that a "copyright" exists from the MOMENT THAT A WORK IS CREATED, not after registration, and registration is NOT required to exercise your copyright. I'm sorry if this rubs you the wrong way, but I have rights in this country...and I don't have to notify the government every time I want to exercise a right. When I write a screenplay, it's copyrighted, whether I tell Big Brother about it or not. Or maybe you'd like to debate that point. You'd lose, but it would make for interesting clutter.

The Copyright Office can say that you registered a work with them on a certain date, and that you swore the work was yours. They will NOT send officials to testify that you DID write it...only that you said you did. So for my two cents (or is it $45?), it's not really that much better than registering with the WGA, except that the Copyright Office will lose your manuscript much faster than the WGA and be far less responsive to service issues than the WGA. But hey, it's your money...go ahead and send your money to both Hollywood and Washington, if you're really that concerned. Dude.

Your pal,
Couchguy

P.S. Can I get an amen?

Couchguy... Amen!

www.wordplayer.com/column...olumn.html
check out that column on plagiarism and other assorted pearls of knowledge re. wga and copyrights.

"""I'm sure that if you read the Copyright Office's legalese carefully, you
will find that a "copyright" exists from the MOMENT THAT A WORK IS
CREATED, not after registration, and registration is NOT required to
exercise your copyright. I'm sorry if this rubs you the wrong way, but I
have rights in this country..""

couch, mayhaps a course in reading comprehention....

what the hail are you talking about? never would i debate this.. i am not debating this.. i am perfectly aware of when a copyright begins... not surprising that you are restating obvious points.. you may go on in circles my friend but, i dont have the time... again, your problem here is you dont seem to READ very well.

dude

PS i have been in litigation over one of my screenplays... against a well known agency/agent. and i am telling you with all good intentions that you are giving poor advice. someday when you move up the ladder you will hear it from people you respect more than me that copyright registration isnt an option.. you do it automaticly..its just good sense. im outtie (and this time i mean it) : )

After reading the above posts, I'm afraid to say this with any certaintly now, but it's my understanding that a copyright applies to the right of publication. It doesn't cover a script being turned into a movie. And the WGA will not litigate on your behalf if you are a non-member. It's just a third party which will record a date and a name to a draft of a script. And on top of all that, most ideas and stories have been thought of. If you send a script to Paramount about a jewel thief and two years later they release a movie about a jewel thief, don't call a laywer, just keep writing.

But to take a more positive view, it's generally cheaper for a prod. co, especially a start-up, to option your script rather than risk the legal fees and problems involved in stealing it.

I don't really see what you guys are actually arguing about. If someone wants to be as safe as they possibly can be, they should register with the WGA and with the US Copywright office. Of course they don't have to, but it doesn't hurt them to do that. It's their money and if they wish to spend it that way, it's up to them. There's nothing wrong with covering all the bases you can.

Herein lies the problem: if someone really wants to steal your script, they're gonna steal it and there's damn little you can do about it. I don't care if you've registered it with the Almighty himself. Sure, you can start some long legal tussle, but the person you're suing probably has more resouces than you do to fight the case.

I personally don't believe that producers and agents sit around plotting ways to steal our scripts, but I'm sure there are a few bad apples out there. I've had ideas that I believe COULD have been stolen, but there's no real way I could prove, registered or not, that they didn't just have a similar idea.