I know scripts can be copyrighted, but just an idea is different.

(I have patented and copyrighted things before)

Well, I take back the part about giving too many people here credit in not taking ideas... I've seen too many of you people take SCREAM, SAW, HOSTEL, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE & FRIDAY THE 13th and literally steal it and try and make it your story... You fail miserably at it, by the way, but you still do it.

The only thing people like Brea, Phil, Greg, Burt, Wes, Freak and a few others have going for them is that the people who'd actually steal their work wouldn't know the 1st thing about making a decent script out of it anyways... And by the time they did get one done it'd be so shot thru the ass that you'd never know it was your idea to begin with.

Quoted from Balt The only thing people like Brea, Phil, Greg, Burt, Wes, Freak and a few others have going for them is that the people who'd actually steal their work wouldn't know the 1st thing about making a decent script out of it anyways... And by the time they did get one done it'd be so shot thru the ass that you'd never know it was your idea to begin with.

I have to agree with Baltis here, if somebody steals your work for Hollywood by the time it is made it'll be so different you'll never know it was yours.

COPYRIGHT your work or don't, you ruin any reads you might get by starting these types of threads because they make you seem like someone who thinks they're so great. (Write some shorts)

Hollywood just isn't interested in stealing scripts. This is why they won't accept unsolicited work; they don't want to take the chance (no matter how slim) that they have someone developing an idea remarkably similar to yours. Ideas CANNOT be copyrighted. This means if you present an idea in the WIP section, anyone can legally take it and write a script based on it. You can't do a thing about it because the only thing you, as a writer, can copyright is your finished work, plot, and characters as they appear in your script.

Let's say I like your script to the point that I want it. Could I pull it off legally? The answer here is yes. Even if you copyright your script, the idea the script is based on is still free and clear for anyone. This means I could take your script, strip it to a treatment, rename and redefine the characters, and rewrite it from that treatment, and as long as it doesn't EXACTLY match yours, I'm legal.

Now Hollywood is not interested in doing this. Why? Because why the hell would they want to waste their time stripping down your script and paying a WGA writer $50,000 to rewrite the thing if they can buy your finished version for less than half that and pay Mr. WGA for rewrites. It's just not a cost-effective thing to do.

So, from Hollywood, your scripts are safe. If you're worried about other writers stealing it, make sure it is copyrighted and YOUR script is safe. But you might also look at it this way, any writer who wants to steal your script, probably won't be able to rewrite it anyway, and it sure as hell won't sell to anyone because they won't understand.

My determination: it'll be okay.

I'll register my feature length scripts before sending them out, letting people read them or posting them on the internet. For my shorts, I don't care - I'll post them when I'm done.

I've never heard of a story where a non-produced writer has had his/her story stolen and made by a Hollywood production company. Even the bogus companies out there are not stupid enough to steal your idea and use it. The bogus production companies out there are setup to steal your money more than steal your idea (ie. they will ask for money from you for re-writes or suggest proof readers etc..etc..).

You can't really copywright an idea, but I believe you can copywright a synopsis. So if you are REALLY worried, you can write a 1-page synopsis and register it. If it lets you sleep better at night.

Quoted from George Willson Hollywood just isn't interested in stealing scripts. This is why they won't accept unsolicited work; they don't want to take the chance (no matter how slim) that they have someone developing an idea remarkably similar to yours. Ideas CANNOT be copyrighted. This means if you present an idea in the WIP section, anyone can legally take it and write a script based on it. You can't do a thing about it because the only thing you, as a writer, can copyright is your finished work, plot, and characters as they appear in your script. Let's say I like your script to the point that I want it. Could I pull it off legally? The answer here is yes. Even if you copyright your script, the idea the script is based on is still free and clear for anyone. This means I could take your script, strip it to a treatment, rename and redefine the characters, and rewrite it from that treatment, and as long as it doesn't EXACTLY match yours, I'm legal. Now Hollywood is not interested in doing this. Why? Because why the hell would they want to waste their time stripping down your script and paying a WGA writer $50,000 to rewrite the thing if they can buy your finished version for less than half that and pay Mr. WGA for rewrites. It's just not a cost-effective thing to do. So, from Hollywood, your scripts are safe. If you're worried about other writers stealing it, make sure it is copyrighted and YOUR script is safe. But you might also look at it this way, any writer who wants to steal your script, probably won't be able to rewrite it anyway, and it sure as hell won't sell to anyone because they won't understand. My determination: it'll be okay.

Not to mention, it's easier and less expensive to buy your script for fifty or a hundred grand than it is to steal it, spend millions getting it made and then have to give it all to you in the lawsuit.

As many of you might well know... I have written over 73 short stories now. Basically all under the central story of "WHAT A LONG STRANGE TRIP IT'S BEEN"

Now, I've copyrighted a good deal of these as standard scripts... Just one by one as I saw fit for me to do so... Not all of them, however.

What I'm asking is this.

Can I log all 73 short scripts of mine under the name "WHAT A LONG STRANGE TRIP IT's BEEN" keeping the individual names of each and the scripts themselves, whole... But log them all as 1 script, called "WHAT A LONG STRANGE TRIP IT'S BEEN"?

Basically, like Stephan Kings "NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES" was a collection of his short works... I know he probably copyrighted them all, but he also had to copyright the name of the book they were placed in aswell.

So, could I "in theory" copyright all of my short screenplay material (that is worlds better than anything I've ever read or seen, mind you) under one name?

Thanks for your help and all that... I guess.

You can copyright everything as a collective, it's just a matter of putting it all into one file and uploading it to WGA or whoever you use for your copyrights.

Given an average length of 25 pages per short, you're looking at just over 1800 pages.

Best make it a PDF.

For a U.S. Copyright registration with the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress:

Yes, you can copyright them as a collection under one title. I believe that the rule is that it must have one unified title.

On the application,  where it asks “NATURE OF THIS WORK,” I would state that it was a collection of short scripts.

Since they were written over a span of time, I assume they were not all written in the same year. You cannot put more than one year on the form. You’ll have to put the year the collection was completed.

But don’t take my word for it:

If you call the number (202) 707-3000, you can request Form PA, Package 119, which is for screenplays, and they will send you the first package for free (at least they did years ago when I started). You can photocopy the application forms and never have to contact them again. The package will have instructions about filling out the form and answer all your questions.

Hope this helps.

My shorts are copywritten as a collection.


Phil

I have registered all the current Fempiror Chronicles scripts as a "series" under a single heading. One 800 page file.

I saw a movie the other day and I thought it really stank but I thought the story idea was cool. I've been trying to think of a cool idea and think I could do something cool with this one. I'm just wondering how legal that is. Thanx

What movie?

Sean

Well, I don't want to give it away right now. Call me paranoid and stuff.

Quoted from jimmywins Well, I don't want to give it away right now. Call me paranoid and stuff.

I don't think you need to be all that worried, since even though the movie YOU saw was the inspiration for what you're writing, you wouldn't be giving away the actual material of what you are writing, you know?

But I know I've been inspired by a lot of movies, and basically just think of a new take on it. As long as it's not exactly the same, and you have new characters and a new take on it. Like I have a story about a school shooting, and there are already the movies "Bang Bang You're Dead", "Homeroom", and "Elephant" that I've seen about the same thing, but mine is still different, you know. It depends on how you play it.

Unless you're talking about just an all out remake, in which case I think you could still write it and post it, I think if you sold it though, that's where all the legal stuff would come in. I'm not a lawyer though, so I don't know if that's right or wrong, but just how I think it would work.