You can copyright it through the WGA if you're in America...

Fantastic, how do i contact WGA, or register or whatever i need to do?

wga.org.  The cost is $20 for non-members and it can all be done online or through the mail.  They will send you a certificate of registration in the mail in about a week.  But the material is registered instantly.

Registering it through the copyright office is permanent; the WGA is not.


Phil

No.  But WGA copyright lasts 5 years and you can renew for another 5.

The WGA also assists with arbitration should a dispute arise, don't they? The copyright office only takes the submission and files it.

I think people should worry more about writing quality scripts than worrying about people stealing them, if somebody wants to steal it they'll always find a way.

True, Wesley.  But every writer (I've met) is alway protective... and sometimes a little paranoid that their idea will be stolen.  And in many cases they have a right to be.  People should be more concerned about quality writing... but wanting the security of a copyright (whether the government or union) is a valid concern.

As for arbitration... the WGA only gets involved if you are a member.

As I understand it, a plot cannot be copyrighted. It is the way you execute the plot that is protected. Every year we manage to find almost identically plotted moies, but they are tweaked just differently enough to not infringe on each other. If someone likes an idea, not only will they steal it, but (and this is how I understand it) if they make your idea their own, they can legally do it. They just can't take your verbatim screenplay.

....just cause I feel like scaring everyone today...

Correct.  However... if the plot structure, plot devices... are too similar... or if you can show chain of custody issues... you have a case.  No studio with that kind of baggage attached will touch it.  

But why renew it with the WGA when you can do a one-time permanent registration with the copyright office?


Phil

Hollywood never steals good ideas if they do anyway, have you seen a lot of the crap they produce? They want the same old sequels and the same old predictable crap they've been making for god knows how many years.

Yes, there are good films and yes nobody will see the same the point as I see but the facts dictate the truth.

George here has a genuine shot at giving Hollywood a great film epic times 3 or 4 and a series as well, you can't steal the world he's created even if it wasn't copywritten.

People who write predictable horror scripts and so on and so forth have no reason to be paranoid because the ideas are the same ideas with 1 or 2 new things... That's exciting.

Fine, Wesley.  And we could argue the point to death.  However not only does a copyrighted or registered script give peace of mind... most agents and producers will not touch your material until it is copyrighted.  Why?  Because... say they decided to move forward on your script... they want to be sure YOU will be the one and only author of the material.  Without a copyright you open yourself and the (agent, producer, production company) to liability.

Bottom line: finished screenplays you're looking to shop must be copyrighted or registered with the WGA.  You must retain the registration number.  I'm just talkin' about real-world stuff here.  If you're trying to be a paid, professional screenwriter.. you have to protect your material.

Not that I would depend solely on this, but what about sites like this one?

Are you afforded any measure of protection by having your original work posted here for the whole world to see, definitively dated, with your own name attached to it?

That would strike me as pretty compelling evidence that you wrote the stuff.

Its nice, but not any sort of legal protection.  And, again, it won't be read by any writer or producer without a copyright or wga registration.