Screenwriting : The Gravity of options and legal rights by Eoin O'Sullivan

Wow so interesting. Thanks for sharing Eoin. I wonder what's gonna come out of this.

Yes Shannon, it's going to have a huge impact for writers in terms of contracts. It will be interesting to see what amendments her legal team make to the original complaint and how that plays out in court. More at Tess's blog: http://www.tessgerritsen.com/gravity-lawsuit-affects-every-writer-sells-...

It's difficult enough to write a great script and story, never mind someone trying to exploit it and sell it as theirs, and not yours.

I'm not a big fan of our lawsuit nation, especially when it comes to the notion of "ideas" -- however this is a big deal. The major conglomerate studios (and I would venture to guess this now extends to tech giants) have clauses in their contracts that they own the ideas -- relevant to their business -- that employees have while under said contract. I know at Disney it's in everyone's contract no matter what level they are. When I questioned it through my attorney -- who also represented many others there -- he said, don't even try to fight it. Which is precisely when I stopped pitching my ideas and one of reasons I decided to leave. The thing is, when people are handed a lucrative contract with signing bonuses etc. they most likely WILL sign regardless of clauses like this. I really hope she wins and the big conglomerates stop thinking they have the right to universally in perpetuity cash in.

http://m.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/915084