Thanks Steve,

I hope it can be resolved. All they have to do is add my name and I'll be sweet.

Michael was the one who left the comment. Gave me a good laugh

You weren't harsh, but I wouldn't go threatening legal action on the kids unless they respond negatively.

How did you find out, Daniel?

I'd only make them include me in credits but I know a guy who would never tolerate anything remotely close. He'll call it stealing period and tell them to remove it. And take action. So whatever you feel make you pleased in the end

I think they'll do whatever you ask them to.

I wonder how you guys keep finding out about these things...

Khamanna, whenever you have the chance, take the time to Youtube search the title of every single short script that you have posted on a public forum. It takes a while, but if you happen to spot something that belongs to you, then at least you know about it.

I searched Youtube after Zack's thread on his material that has been filmed and thought it couldn't hurt to have a look around. Poor buggers... The film was being posted, just as I started looking.

Hopefully, this can be resolved in a peaceful manner where I don't have to get rude or snappy. I don't like it when I'm like that.

Think about all the people who steal scripts and change titles. I wonder how many more scripts from this site have been made like that.

Quoted from Felipe Think about all the people who steal scripts and change titles. I wonder how many more scripts from this site have been made like that.

The basic premise of the original will still be there. If you're really serious about catching them, you could Google keywords from your logline. Not sure if you'd find anything, though...

Gotta take the good with the bad when posting shorts here. Best thing about it is that, last I checked, it only had 61 views, so nobody's really seen it. Probably most of the views were from people here checking it out.

Keep bugging them. They should at least add your name. I've had two things produced without my permission here, but i didn't fuss much because they at least had the courtesy to list me as a writer.

Sadly, I don't think there's much else you can do unless you want to hire a lawyer, and even then... What? This is a short film, more like an exercise. It's not making anyone any money. Now, if you find a scene from your short in a feature or on NCIS? then it's time to lawyer up.

James

I agree 100% James. If they had credited me as the writer from the start I probably wouldn't have said anything. I might have sent them a quick email to congratulate them on finishing a film and kindly reminded them that the writer still has to be notified.

It doesn't look like they're making a profit, so I won't bother with a lawyer, but if it isn't removed I will contact the Youtube administrators and see what I can do from there.

Just curious. Wonder if this was a film student that made this for a course requirement?  If so, it would be interesting to know if you could find out which film school it was for. If so, then you might have a lot of leverage with the kids, as they might be concerned you would alert their professors. Don't even know how to begin to find out if it was a class project though.

As an attorney, I can tell you that most letters sent by attorneys are still ignored unless there is some specificity about what you plan to do if they don't take action to rectify the situation.  If they don't feel like there is any real threat then they'll just toss the request in the same file where all our query letters go.  If there is something with teeth behind the letter (I am aware this is a project you did for your NYU short film class and I will present Professor Dumbledore with a copy of my script unless it is removed by midnight tonight), then they'll likely take it down.

Quoted from Gary in Houston Just curious. Wonder if this was a film student that made this for a course requirement?  If so, it would be interesting to know if you could find out which film school it was for. If so, then you might have a lot of leverage with the kids, as they might be concerned you would alert their professors. Don't even know how to begin to find out if it was a class project though.

A professor used on of my scripts without my permission for a film project for his class, so....

~Zack~

Gary, it looks like it's just a private thing that they did by themselves. I can't force them to take it down, I know that. But I can prove that I am the original owner of the script and I can report it to YouTube and get it removed... Even if they do somehow manage to keep it up, I'm persistent enough to keep hitting that 'report' button.

My biggest fear is that there are Guest users on this forum who get it into their head that it's okay to use my stuff because I'm in no position to do anything about it. I don't want to set an example of myself where film makers tend to abuse my rights every time I punch a short out.

They may well have not been aware of what they were doing, but I've told them now. There really isn't an excuse anymore. They either remove the film, or add my name to the film... It would only take 3 minutes to add something. It's a no-brainer, IMO.

Totally agree that it should be taken down.  Unfortunately there are leeches everywhere.

You'd be surprised how difficult YouTube makes it for all this to happen.  It's not worth their resources most of the time to have an investigation like this.

Quoted from Felipe You'd be surprised how difficult YouTube makes it for all this to happen.  It's not worth their resources most of the time to have an investigation like this.

YouTube won't take a film down.  They can, however, cancel your account if you get more than one copyright violation.  

They will send an email asking for the user to prove that they have permission to use all of the material in their video and I believe they decide they can send this email if credits are missing.

I've had this happen on a number of occasions because I used my own loop music for several of my videos and (without prompting) YouTube investigated.  I was unsure what they were after at first - because they weren't clear in their email, but after several tries I realized they were upset because the music wasn't credited.   I told them it was my music and then arbitrarily (it seemed) they decided some videos were ok but the other's weren't.   They didn't make me take them down but they did remove any ads from them.

Anyway, that's my experience with them and it's a couple of years old so it may be a bit different now.    

Quoted from Felipe You'd be surprised how difficult YouTube makes it for all this to happen.  It's not worth their resources most of the time to have an investigation like this.

I thought they were on the ball ????

I had one of my shorts posted on Youtube and because it was posted by the producer as well, they sent me a copyright infringement notice to take it down.

Once I advised Youtube that I was the writer and had an agreement with the Producer to use the video myself, they dropped the case.

I thought they where very professional about it and my contact with them was great.

Regards Alex