Bundling feature scripts under single copyright..OK?

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  • Bundling feature scripts under single copyright..OK?

    As a writer of short stories, I know one can bundle multiple items under a single copyright registration but what about for longer pieces, like feature-length screenplays.
    Is it a bad thing to bundle multiple (2-3) feature length scripts under one Copyright registration?
    I mean, I know you can, technically, as long as you don't go over maximum file size.

    I guess what I'm really asking is:

    It's not any less safe (legally) bundling...is it?


    Is there a good reason not to? Has anyone run into any problems doing this?
    Last edited by Terri; 12-16-2015, 06:19 PM. Reason: more Qs

  • #2
    Re: Bundling feature scripts under single copyright..OK?

    i've never tried (i guess it could be filed as a collected work) but feels like a terrible idea. in the (unlikely) event that you are able to sell one of the bundled works, i'm guessing it will be a pain in the balls for the buyer to try and unwind the copyright ownership since it's part of a collection, and not a single work freely alienable

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    • #3
      Re: Bundling feature scripts under single copyright..OK?

      Unless the works are going to be sold as a unit, it seems like a terrible idea. When you sell something, you need to go in a transfer the copyright ownership to them. In this case, you have told the copyright office, it is all those bundled works. So, unless you are transferring all of them across, you need to separate them out. To do that, you need to work with the copyright office. If you haven't noticed, they aren't the most nimble agency. It would probably take months to get it done. Why risk upsetting an exec rather than just paying the extra money, which is not that much, to just register them separately?

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      • #4
        Re: Bundling feature scripts under single copyright..OK?

        Originally posted by Terri View Post
        As a writer of short stories, I know one can bundle multiple items under a single copyright registration but what about for longer pieces, like feature-length screenplays.
        Is it a bad thing to bundle multiple (2-3) feature length scripts under one Copyright registration?
        I mean, I know you can, technically, as long as you don't go over maximum file size.

        I guess what I'm really asking is:

        It's not any less safe (legally) bundling...is it?


        Is there a good reason not to? Has anyone run into any problems doing this?
        On two occasions when I have sold scripts, they have asked for the copyright number so it could be legally transferred in the contract. I'm not sure you'd want to transfer more than one script with the number.... plus, c'mon.... I cannot think of a more amateur thing to do. You're in business for yourself as a screenwriter. Treat it like the business it is and copyright each script.

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        • #5
          Re: Bundling feature scripts under single copyright..OK?

          OK. I won't bundle.

          It's just something as a short story writer, I'm used to being told is OK.

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          • #6
            Re: Bundling feature scripts under single copyright..OK?

            Originally posted by Terri View Post
            OK. I won't bundle.

            It's just something as a short story writer, I'm used to being told is OK.
            I believe in the short story world you retain at least partial copyright to your work as the author, don't you? I know you do when it comes to stage plays. That's one thing that makes screenwriting different from other types of writing - it's considered writing for hire, so you don't keep any copyright at all once you sell the script. The purchaser fully owns the script, so they can do anything to it that they want (outside of anything you may have negotiated into the contract during the sale, I suppose).

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            • #7
              Re: Bundling feature scripts under single copyright..OK?

              Originally posted by omjs View Post
              I believe in the short story world you retain at least partial copyright to your work as the author, don't you? I know you do when it comes to stage plays. That's one thing that makes screenwriting different from other types of writing - it's considered writing for hire, so you don't keep any copyright at all once you sell the script. The purchaser fully owns the script, so they can do anything to it that they want (outside of anything you may have negotiated into the contract during the sale, I suppose).
              Not quite. With any work - short story, novel, screenplay - you retain whichever rights you don't sell or transfer or assign. In other words, all rights are the author's until they are owned by someone else, and which rights are transferred depends on the contract between the parties. Screenwriting is considered writing for hire if it's an assignment or the writer is engaged to write a screenplay, but if it's an original work it's owned by the writer just like any other work. For assignments it's unusual for the writer to receive any rights in the work, but if it's an original script there are some rights that are easier for the writer to retain, e.g. novelization.

              As to the original post, don't 'bundle' scripts for copyrighting, they should copyrighted as separate works.
              "Friends make the worst enemies." Frank Underwood

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              • #8
                Re: Bundling feature scripts under single copyright..OK?

                Don't do it. If you sell a script, the copyright is usually transferred to the buyer and treated after-the-fact as a work for hire. If you bundle, it gets messy.

                But, as always, the correct answer is, "Consult an attorney."

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                • #9
                  Re: Bundling feature scripts under single copyright..OK?

                  Originally posted by Terri View Post
                  As a writer of short stories, I know one can bundle multiple items under a single copyright registration but what about for longer pieces, like feature-length screenplays.
                  Is it a bad thing to bundle multiple (2-3) feature length scripts under one Copyright registration?
                  I mean, I know you can, technically, as long as you don't go over maximum file size.

                  I guess what I'm really asking is:

                  It's not any less safe (legally) bundling...is it?


                  Is there a good reason not to? Has anyone run into any problems doing this?
                  Don't do it. I bundled my four shorts (which weren't being picked up by anybody after 00's of pitches) into a screenplay anthology, and the copyright office refused me.

                  Now, anthologies are themselves okay, but not of published works or those that were independently marketed/publicized... which my shorts were.

                  So that was a waste of my $35 USD.

                  The office said I could appeal, but it was $250 USD minimum and still was no guarantee I could change their minds!

                  So, I'll just use the published status of my shorts as 'sort of protection', but I'd really rather have gotten that darned certificate.

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