Do you suggest copyrighting every script that gets posted on this site?  I see some people posting first, second, third and final drafts.  Are all of these being copyrighted?  Do you copyright everything you post?

I would suggest copyrighting your first draft but unless the future drafts make MAJOR changes to the story and characters, I don't think you would need to copyright them again.

By all means, copyright your work before you post it here.  There have been numerous instances where scripts have been stolen from here, some by former SS members.  Some have been produced without the writers' permission.  Others were found on other sites with someone else's name attached to them.

It's not necessary to copyright each draft of a script but, as Brian said, you should do it if there are major changes in the script.

Also, you can copyright several scripts together, filing them as a collection.  This can save a lot of money in copyright fees.


Phil

You do not need to copyright anything, by publishing your work on Simply Scripts you already have already copyrighted it. The only thing required of you if somebody else steals your work is to prove your copyright, i.e. prove that you wrote it first. Some people register a script with the writers guild, this is a solid method of proving copyright.

And remember though, you cannot copyright an idea, only an expression of an idea. So if you wrote a script with a brilliantly original story there is nothing at all to stop me from ripping it off just by changing the characters and locations enough to not break your copyright. It would cost you a fortune in legal fees to try and sue me and you would most probably fail anyway.

If you do write a script that is good enough to get passed around agencies then register it with the WGA first, otherwise you have very little to worry about. If your script is not good enough for Hollywood then it certainly is not worth anybodies time ripping it off!

A WGA registration lasts only a few years.  A copyright registration lasts 75 years after your death.

No offense to Don but I don't think that posting your script, here, would be enough should you have to go to court.  SS is a private website; Don could play with the dates on when scripts where here if he wanted to.


Phil

the best precaution to take before posting would be to copyright?  

Okay, after a quick check I have realized it is different in the US. I never knew you had to register for copyright over there. In Europe and Australia there is no body that registers copyright, you automatically own the copyright on any work that you publish. You simply publish and ensure that you can prove that you own the copyright if challenged. There are many ways of doing that, some commercial organizations will provide a service for you but to be honest I would wonder whether that was any different to using Simply Scripts as evidence.

So, it depends on where you are from I guess.

IN the UNited States, the law says that you automatically own the copyright of anything you've written.  Unfortunately, putting copyright 2009 by GM Miles doesn't mean shit.  If I see your script and I want to steal it, I can simply print my own copy with copyright 2006 by Phil Clarke Jr..

The point of registering your script with, say, the Library of Congress is that the registeration can be used as evidence in court.  Real evidence.

Keep in mind that a copyright registration is only proof that you had a copy of the script at the time you registered it.  But if you go to court with a 2009 LOC registration and I come along only with copyright 2006 by Phil Clarke Jr. on the cover, the court will be more impressed with what you have.

This subject, btw, is brought up every four or five months, here.


Phil
Phil

Quoted from dogglebe IN the UNited States, the law says that you automatically own the copyright of anything you've written.  Unfortunately, putting copyright 2009 by GM Miles doesn't mean shit.  If I see your script and I want to steal it, I can simply print my own copy with copyright 2006 by Phil Clarke Jr..

This is true.

British law is very similar to American law.  

I read this years ago, and not sure where.  But alongside this law there was a note to say there was nothing stopping another writer from changing the names, location, altering aspects to make a script read slightly differently.

Not to long ago we had two writers here with similar con scripts, scenario and I believe a character name.  Yet never read the others work.  How would this work in court?

I think some guy claimed the 'Lost' series idea was his from the seventies.

I wonder if any of the current crop of writers have caught someone else using their script?

All this applies for the features. Shorts generally don't need to be copyrighted. Shorts (most of the time) don't make any money. What's the use sueing someone if he didn't get any money with your story? Well, you're not credited. That's right. But, after all, what the H#ll? At least, you know your work is good enough to be shot.

Stolen shorts are not so frequent. Am I right?

Every idea has been used, all we are doing is using the same old ideas and trying to make them different enough as to not infringe on existing work. I could take Dreamscale's 'Fade to white' and re-write it today, change the character names and set it in the Alps and there is not a thing he can do about it. No Copyright laws are going to prevent that happening and no amount of lawyers will. - Okay, I have messed up there because now I have come out and said it he will have a very good case.

That is the golden rule when it comes to copyright claims on movies, keep your mouth shut about the source and you are fine. Go shooting your mouth of to the press about how you were influenced by some great Japanese film God then you might get sued.

The only way that copyright will ever help you is if somebody produces a movie that is too close to your own script that a court would find it hard to agree with the 'coincidence' defense. If that movie is a big hit then you are lucky, you obviously were incapable of selling your own script and are fortunate that someone else could. You should have little problem in getting your share of the spoils if you can prove you wrote it first.

But honestly, think about it. Who in their right mind would steal a script without changing it enough to avoid being sued? Only a moron.

Copyright works best for work published in a salable form, i.e. books and music. It stops other people photocopying your novel and selling it on ebay. I think it has very limited use for screenwriters until your movie is made - then you can use it to stop Don posting it on Simply Scripts. Otherwise it is next to useless, believe it or not the studios want you, not your spec. Most specs will never get produced, but they can lead to other jobs for their writers. You will only know someone is passing of your work as their own if the script actually gets made, the vast majority of times you will never know and copyright will never help.

Just write good scripts.

Stealing/Plagiarizing happens all the time.  I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry was stolen from an Australian movie starring Paul Hogan.  Coming to America was stolen from an Art Buchwalf story.  Even J.K. Rowlings has been accused of plagiarizing with the Harry Potter books.

Shorts are stolen regularly.  One of mine, Not Even Death was produced without my permission by film students.  NED won the Gimmecredit Competition a few years, the main prize was production of the winning script.  I was nearly disqualified because someone else produced it.

I had to hire a lawyer to help me.  And I wasn't flattered by this because the plagiarized film was extremely shitty.

Former SS member, Chris Pender, (alledgely) plagiarized more than one script from here.  And he (alledgely) tried filming some for some up and coming production company.  When his (alledged) deals fell through, he (alledgely) posted here that the production company was plagiarizing scripts from here.

If you don't care about what happens to your script, then don't bother copyrighting it.  If you care, then you have to protect yourself.


Phil  (alledgely)