Obviously, one wants to register / copyright their first draft before exposing their feature.  What about the second draft or any additional drafts.  Is it necessary to register / copyright those as well?  Thanks!

Barry

I don't think it's worthwhile unless you make MAJOR changes to the future drafts.

Brian

Quoted from Barry_Katz Obviously, one wants to register / copyright their first draft before exposing their feature.  What about the second draft or any additional drafts.  Is it necessary to register / copyright those as well?  Thanks! Barry

Most people don’t understand what a first draft is. When a script is first completed, that’s just a first rough draft. A first draft as far as the industry is concerned is when the script has been written, proofread, revised, and polished until the writer really doesn’t know of anything else to do with it.

If a writer is full well aware of things that need to be changed, then the writer should fix those things before registering the script. By the time you register the script, there should be nothing the writer knows should be changed. By industry standards, that’s a first draft.

The general practice is that the owner of the script is responsible for registering drafts. And yes, technically, if there are significant changes, it should be registered again.

The general practice is that a writer writes the first draft with the intention of selling it. Assuming you sell it, or option it, which isn’t all that different in practice, the property becomes the owner’s and they can alter it as they wish. Whether it’s altered by the original writer or a new one, it’s the owner’s responsibility to register the new drafts.

Generally speaking, with an option, if the whole deal goes bust, the work contributed by a new writer and the work contributed by the original writer are each their own and neither may use each other’s ideas.

If a writer is a newer writer, there’s a much greater tendency for a script to drastically alter in revisions between the time it’s first registered and the time it’s ready to be sold or optioned. And yes, if you alter it significantly, you should reregister it.

A good general rule is to make sure you copyright register the draft you plan to sell.

For an experienced writer, a draft won’t change significantly once it’s registered. At least not until after it’s sold. Most sales in Hollywood, for example, are first drafts. That should give you an idea of how professional looking a real first draft should be.


Breanne

Breanne,

Now you have my attention!

What would you consider significant changes?  Would the addition of a couple of scenes and the trimming of some others be considered major? Or are we talking the addition and subtraction of characters, a radical shift in plot, etc.?

AJR

Quoted from ajr Breanne, Now you have my attention! What would you consider significant changes?  Would the addition of a couple of scenes and the trimming of some others be considered major? Or are we talking the addition and subtraction of characters, a radical shift in plot, etc.? AJR

AJR,

To the best of my knowledge, there’s no definitive guide to distinguish specific changes that merit reregistering. Certainly something as significant as the addition of a new character would.

As far as those gray areas, such as scene additions, personally I would look at those on a case by case basis. What I would look for to determine how significant the changes were would be how unique or original they were.

Sometimes changes might add up to nothing more than standard storytelling conventions or common techniques that any writer might think of by a natural thought progression. In those cases, I probably couldn’t protect the ideas anyway.

In other cases, the changes might bring together a collection of ideas that are unique and not just any writer would think of. In those cases, I would definitely want to protect my additional work.


Breanne

Breanne,

Thanks. Though I'm more confused now...

In my case I put together what was by most accounts a good "first draft", entered it in a contest and also got professional feedback on it (though not a win or a place, 52 out of 60 by Script Savvy). I also posted it here obviously and received additional valuable feedback.

Of course I needed to register it before entering the contest, and I imagine that most people entering contests take the feedback and incorporate it. So does that mean that most people are re-registering?

AJR

Quoted from ajr …I needed to register it before entering the contest, and I imagine that most people entering contests take the feedback and incorporate it. So does that mean that most people are re-registering?

I don’t know. It’s up to each individual writer to determine if any changes they make are significant enough to warrant taking steps to protect. If the changes are significant then technically they should, though I suspect few actually do.

It won’t always be an issue. As writers get more experienced, their first drafts need fewer and fewer changes before being ready to shop.


Breanne

Breanne,

Thanks.  My wife, who I would describe as a tad more paranoid than me (if you knew us, trust me, that would be funny), said right away "re-register it".  Then she suggested I write to this person or that organization to get the answer first.

It got me thinking, because I told her that there is no right answer. No one can know except me if the content I added is significant or not, and the only time a true "answer" would ever present itself is if I was in court with a producer and a judge (wouldn't be a jury trial, would it?) rendered a verdict.

Also, how could someone steal only the content I added?

Guess I answered my own questions. Except the last one I just asked... (o: