Screenwriting : Protection Rights by Kevin Hager

Your ideas cannot be protected. Ideas cannot be copyrighted. I suggest that you wrote it out as a narrative story. Can be a shabby as shit. What you are doing is expressing your idea as a unique artistic interpretation. This can be protected. You will own the rights to that.

People cannot use it to make a screenplay, poem, song or anything else without your permission as it would be considers a derivative work (based on your work, which you own the rights).

You can then make a screenplay based on rights you own. I hope this helps.

I agree with Craig. Write it out and copyright it. Go from there, my opinion.

You can't copyright ideas, Kevin Hager, but you can register your synopses, treatments, scripts, etc. with the U.S. Copyright Office (www.copyright.gov/registration/performing-arts/index.html).

It costs $45.00 to register one document (a synopsis, treatment, script, etc.) with the Single Application. Only use the Single Application if the document you're registering was created by one person.

Are there any who do it for free?

Maurice you said it better!

I'm not sure, Kevin Hager, but you don't want to register your work just anywhere, and I don't think anyone else (except the WGA) is legally able to do what the U.S. Copyright Office does.

The Copyright Office is the best place to register your work, and the Copyright Office gives your work the strongest protection. Registering your work with the Copyright Office gives your work A LOT more protection than registering it with the WGA.

Thanks, Shanell Mitchell.

Except both U.S. Copyright Office and WGA require a fee.

Would finding Representation help?

I'm not sure if finding representation would help with copyright, Kevin Hager.

Kevin Hager Hi Kevin, finding representation will also have a cost implication.

Ideas cannot be protected unless they are written down in formal detail (such as a screenplay or treatment). As for ideas connected to existing IPs (be they film, tv, games or comic books etc), best to stay away from those unless writing for pure fun. No industry professional will read anything from a non-repped writer, never mind a non-repped writer with an idea based off someone else's IP. It's makes them vulnerable to getting sued. Fees, as in obtaining the rights to adapt an existing IP, are ridiculously expensive unless it's an extremely obscure IP that has no real value. Again, better to develop your own, wholly original projects.