I have never formally copyrighted a script.

Just checked out the Fed's website - man - it's $65 bucks a pop now! If I decided to do all my features that's nearly $800.

I think I would rather invest that $800 in contests.

eesh

I’ve only copyrighted one and that’s because I was asked to when the IP was optioned. Don’t legally quote me on this, but I think as long as you have a dated copy online (like here at SS) it could be used as evidence in a lawsuit should anyone ever steal your story. Especially if a bunch of other members read and commented on it. But the entire copyright lawsuit thing is a giant mystery to me. Seems like someone is always suing someone else and it’s an ugly business.

James

Only ever did it for one script (Shaka).

I can't really see myself doing it again.

Quoted from jwent6688 I’ve only copyrighted one and that’s because I was asked to when the IP was optioned. Don’t legally quote me on this, but I think as long as you have a dated copy online (like here at SS) it could be used as evidence in a lawsuit should anyone ever steal your story. Especially if a bunch of other members read and commented on it. But the entire copyright lawsuit thing is a giant mystery to me. Seems like someone is always suing someone else and it’s an ugly business. James

I'm not sure....

emailing it to yourself may prove you own it, but doesn't necessarily permit suing for infringement. You have to have a formal copyright in order to access the courts.

A good article on it is here:

https://screencraft.org/2019/11/12/5-things-screenwriters-should-know-about-copyright-law/

Still - I am not going to be running off and doing that just yet. I think if I sold a feature I would for sure.

so just to give the legal scoop on this (putting on my attorney hat now):


As Dave notes above there are all sorts of ways to "copyright" your work. Most of the time all that does is show that you're the person entitled to utilize, market and profit from your work.  But, it doesn't help you in a court of law if you're trying to sue someone for breaching your copyright if all you did was email it to yourself or (as I used to do) copyright through the WGA.  This is the group that's supposed to be looking out for writer's rights, right?

The problem is that if you are going to sue someone for violating your copyright, the only one that works for that purpose is the federal copyright (according to the US Supreme Court).  So if you try to sue for copyright violation and you haven't gotten the federal version, your case will be swiftly booted from the court.  There is a question whether you can retroactively fix that by filing for federal copyright after your case has been booted, then filing again.  The bottom line is that if you're seriously worried that someone is going to poach your intellectual property, the only safe bet is federal copyright.

Just to give our position over here, this is taken from the Writers Guild of Great Britain.

Quoted Text As an author you automatically have copyright over your script, unless you assign it to someone else. You do not have to go through any formal procedure – if you wrote it, and you have not infringed someone else’s copyright, then the copyright is yours. Copyright means that no one can use your work without your permission. As an author you also have moral rights over what you have written, unless you waive them in a contract. Moral rights include the right to be identified as the author or director of a work as appropriate, the right to object to the derogatory treatment of a work and the right to object to false attribution of a work.

and from the government's website...

Quoted Text You get copyright protection automatically - you don’t have to apply or pay a fee. There isn’t a register of copyright works in the UK.

So a writer need only make sure they keep solid evidence should they need to prove they own the copyright. There are a few registers you can use that help with evidence, but no formal copyright register is needed for court action.


I do wonder how this all works internationally though, It's all well and good me being covered here in the UK, but what protection is there from overseas thieves?

Matthew, you'll likely be protected in the UK against any copyright violators there, but if someone here in the USA stole your work, where would you sue them?

It's a question that vexes many litigants.  Can you sue an American citizen in a British court for a copyright violation that took place in the United States?  In the US if you have residents of two different states at odds, the suit can be filed in federal court in the state where either party resides or where the violation took place.

But when you have a UK resident trying to sue an American citizen for actions that occurred in the US, there is a real question of whether a UK court could exercise jurisdiction over an American citizen.  You could easily sue in the US, but that's a real pain.  There is a case of copyright infringement, Graduate Management Admission Council v. Raju, where the US allowed a suit against a citizen of India for copyright violations that occurred outside the US but affected an American company.  I think the reverse ought to be true, that a UK citizen could likely sue an American citizen for copyright violations that occur in the US and UK copyright law would be applied.  

NOTE: This is just my opinion and not actual legal advice (required to add that little tidbit).