I've had at least 7 people with actual resumes approach me to produce one of my shorts (After Mom's Funeral). So far, none have gone through with it. Except, that is, for at least 3 different people who have shot the thing as several amateur productions without my permission, two of which gave me actual credit but never notified me of their intent to make it or otherwise informed me of the fact that they'd just finished shooting a short based on my work.

First was done by a guy in the Middle East (I was too embarrassed to ask where lol), which I consider somewhat of a special case. The filmmaker did try to reach me extensively, but I did not see his communications. I liked his enthusiasm and his eagerness, so I let it slide.  

Then I found another one, which seemed to be a heavily rewritten version of my script with aged up characters. They gave me no credit even though some scenes are directly lifted from it and the title is intact, but the short is so far removed from my original short that I wouldn't necessarily want it.

Then there's a couple made by kids, one made my a high schooler in America and another one done by a young lady somewhere in England judging by the accent.

Obviously, I do not plan to litigate or anything like that; I don't think a script this short has a lot of monetary prospects. At this point, however, I'm starting to feel as though these productions have begun to hurt the short's chances... more people with proven track records and access to professional equipment keep approaching me to shoot it, but go radio silent after the multiple versions out there become apparent.

What do you think I should do? Should l I reach out to the creators and get them to privatize the videos? Try to get them taken down? I would feel a bit bad doing the latter, since they seem to be either beginners or really young.

But for real, I feel like every time I search for the short on YT, more and more versions pop up.

Just looking for people's thoughts on this.

P.S. A simple search for the script title + short horror seems to yield most of the results that I'm discussing, in case you're curious.

I would deluge them with emails till they took it down

Quoted from eldave1 I would deluge them with emails till they took it down

Squeaky wheel gets the oil.

If it bothers you that much it's your right, of course, to be pissed. Maybe it's because, to the best of my knowledge, I've never had anything like this happen, that I don't look at it as that big a deal. I might actually feel flattered, or embarrassed, based on how it came out. And those who don't take the time to ask for permission, my guess is it's gonna come out like shit anyway and only, like, 9 people are ever gonna see this thing.

Quoted from SAC Squeaky wheel gets the oil. If it bothers you that much it's your right, of course, to be pissed. Maybe it's because, to the best of my knowledge, I've never had anything like this happen, that I don't look at it as that big a deal. I might actually feel flattered, or embarrassed, based on how it came out. And those who don't take the time to ask for permission, my guess is it's gonna come out like shit anyway and only, like, 9 people are ever gonna see this thing.

I have. I made them take it down. In my view, the existence of a non-approved film impedes my ability to option the script in the future.  In addition, it's just wrong. My view anyway.

I'm with Dave. Have them taken down, Julio. This has happnened to me literally dozens of times. Leave a comment on the video stating who you are and have them remove the video immediately. If they do not take it down, report them to YouTube.

I've never looked to see if anything has been filmed and not sure where I'd start. I would think if someone is going to steal your content that they'd change the title at least.

I've had a ton of interest in some of my shorts from peeps but then communication just drops off and I'm unsure if the contact was just a courtesy or if they've continued on.

Are YT shorts hash-tagged for searching? What would be the best way to search and filter?

Quoted from JEStaats I've never looked to see if anything has been filmed and not sure where I'd start. I would think if someone is going to steal your content that they'd change the title at least. I've had a ton of interest in some of my shorts from peeps but then communication just drops off and I'm unsure if the contact was just a courtesy or if they've continued on. Are YT shorts hash-tagged for searching? What would be the best way to search and filter?

Not sure what the best way is - I start by googling your title - a separate Google on your name - both under the video search filter

I’d want to think I’d fight for them to take it down. But that’s if you sure there’s no written permission from you given to them on the usage of your short.

Hey, must be a great short. Where do I read it?