Folks,

Just a heads up for some of you who may be searching for scripts to produce.  Today I received eight scripts purportedly written by "Oz Rudd" .  In each case, I was able to determine that they were not infact written by him, but rather by members of the SimplyScripts community.  

I've notified each of the members of the community affected by this dicovery.  

This individual was not a member of the discussion board nor posted scripts on SimplyScripts.

If you wish to learn in more detail how the individual was discovered, please visit http://www.moviepoet.com/reply.aspx?thread=3248&forum=1

Don

++++

Update:  I've had to remove "Oz Rudd's" real name because some idiot moron is emailing people with "Oz Rudd's" real name writing very nasty things.  

Wow. Thanks for bringing this to people’s attention. This guy offers services as a story analyst, script supervisor and consultant! He's defrauding filmmakers as much as he is writers. What an outrage.


Breanne

Outrageous indeed!

I believe all of this was uncovered thanks to Don's excellent detective work.

Wow! Way to go Don!
Nice to know you've got your backs!

Thanks for looking out for us!

Regards,
E.D.

Nobody likes getting burned. It also hurts legit writers and filmmakers who are trying to make a break. Luckily, peeps got wise to this clown Stefan.

I'm going to share this news over at Talentville as well (if not already adressed). While TVile uses scrib'd, Ben Cahan has recently put in a download function (people have to email the author to do this or be assigned the work- records ARE kept)

There is a saying from the theme song from the TV series Baretta.
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

Stefan/Oz 's shop is getting KO'd. The jig is up.

Nice catch, Don and to the folks at MP.  Amazing how low some people can get.

Pia, I noticed your post about Martin Lancaster's film from On The Lot?  Which contestant was it?

Greg, do you remember the TV show the  lot? It was sort of like a reality show competition that Steven Spielberg was behind. It didn't do well in the ratings, but it was a big thing at the time. Filmmakers had to make short films after given assignments. A little bit like survivor in that one filmmaker was eliminated each week.

By the way, I'm starting your feature tomorrow. I've been crazy busy. I got this Dragon speech recognition software that I hope would help me get things done faster, but it seems to have its own mind when it comes to recognizing my voice and pronunciations. I still have not been able to make it write my name.    

Oh I see. You were asking which contestants he was. I cannot remember his name. I do remember his face however.

Quoted from Grandma Bear Greg, do you remember the TV show the  lot? It was sort of like a reality show competition that Steven Spielberg was behind. It didn't do well in the ratings, but it was a big thing at the time. Filmmakers had to make short films after given assignments. A little bit like survivor in that one filmmaker was eliminated each week.

Of course.  I was one of the 7 people who watched it very week    Who was the filmmaker who stole Martin's script?  Was it one of the final 15 or however many there were?

And absolutely no rush on the script

As an offended party, I just wanted to thank Don publicly for his efforts.  Also, I've just finished reading the MP thread, and wanted to offer a hearty thanks to Khammana (who used to post here, apologies if you are still active) and Pia for being the first to sniff this guy out.  Much appreciated.

Greg, this guy was discovered while the selection process was still going on on which filmmakers to choose.  

Quoted from greg Pia, I noticed your post about Martin Lancaster's film from On The Lot?  Which contestant was it?

I do not remember the guy's name -- but no one else will either -- as it pretty much ended any hopes he had of a career.

He stole Martin's script "Anniversary", put his own name as writer, and got totally, utterly creamed with a very high-profile outing.

Jackass got what he deserved, if you ask me.

Eyes are everywhere today.  Literally everywhere.

Thieves be warned.

Quoted from Grandma Bear Outrageous indeed! I believe all of this was uncovered thanks to Don's excellent detective work.

I had absolutly nothing to do with the detective work.  Check the movie poet link at the top of the thread for the folks who did the actual work.

Don

Even after being found out, this idiot's actions can still hurt the original writers.  Filmmakers get skittish when they hear that there was a dispute regarding a script's ownership.

Hopefully Stefan Simonovic gets his balls nailed to the wall and may he never recover.


Phil

Quoted from Don I had absolutly nothing to do with the detective work.  Check the movie poet link at the top of the thread for the folks who did the actual work.

Oz Rudd would have taken complete credit for it

Now that it's mentioned, I vaguely remember Martin's incident.  Thanks for the info.  The bold stupidity really is amazing.  I'd be interested to hear the mindset of one of these people as they're attaching their name to work that's not theirs.  

Incidents like this are exactly why you need to register your work.  Unless you do, you'll have nothing to stand on when someone steals your work.


Phil

Quoted from bert I do not remember the guy's name .

ahh yes, i remember this.

After a little research... the guy's name was Andrew Babington.

Hmmmm....that name does not ring a bell at all. Seems like he had a jewish name and was from Holland or something like that. He's name could have been Andrew, but not Babington, I'm pretty sure.

Incidents like this are very rare, but what is not rare is how the screenwriting community rallies together to catch thieves and support those affected.

It was very cool watching SimplyScripts, Stage32, and MoviePoet come together to handle this.

Quoted from dogglebe Incidents like this are exactly why you need to register your work.  Unless you do, you'll have nothing to stand on when someone steals your work. Phil

This is exactly why I put my WGAw registration on scripts I upload to public sites.
One would hope it would deter other Stefan types from pilfering it.

It seems feasible a thief would see that and move on to another potential victim.

E.D.

Having the script posted on a site should be enough in a court of law. The upload time should be trackable.

Quoted from Felipe Having the script posted on a site should be enough in a court of law. The upload time should be trackable.

Electronic information can be easily doctored.   Not saying it would be but it could easily be and that's why you would never see it as evidence.

Good to know. Thanks!

I once had a script called "The Godmother" and I heard some guy mario puzo stole it and just changed the name to "The GodFATHER" I mean seriously who does that! Thankfully this movie was never made or I would have a serious court case!

Mark

My advice is to register all of your screenplays with the U.S. patent office/library of Congress. That way, no one can steal your work. I tell you this from hard experience

Pete Fedorenko

It's thing like this that always make me a little worried when I post something online.

I hope this guy gets punched in the face. No one has the right to take someone else's work without the person's permission.

Oz, huh?  He should steal a better name...

Great work Don,

Someone should stuff him with the rough end of a pineapple.

Low, Low, Low, Low, Low, Low.

Hey here's an Idea..... Let's write a script about a guy who steals a script and gets it produced in Hollywood.
We can name the guy " Oz Rudd"

Hee Hee

Alex