Screenwriting : Personal copyright: How does this work? by Drayton Lewis

Copyrighting original works is very easy, although you have to pay a fee. Simply go on the US Copyright website and it will walk you through the process. Or you have the option of registering your works with the Writer's Guild, also for a fee. Both offer some protection against someone stealing your ideas, although neither method is entirely foolproof. I don't know, however, whether either method allows you to copyright ideas (which are essentially what loglines are) rather than completed works.

Drayton Lewis you can copyright or register a script or a pitch deck, as long as you have material to demonstrate the idea and enough detail to define specific aspects of the story (character names, locations, plot points, themes). Both WGA and Library of Congress are viable, and file type varies - PDF, Word Doc, etc. Depending on what you intend to register, I suggest referencing resources, like ones here on Stage 32, for specific formatting that can help inform what specific points to include (Title, Logline, Comps, etc.). Good luck!

Drayton Lewis USCO is now letting authors register up to ten unpublished works (of the same type) in one application/for one fee, which is great. You won't be able to copyright your Word doc with just concepts on it (like you can't copyright a recipe), the works would have to be literary, dramatic, etc...like screenplays, or songs, or poems, etc.

Welcome to the community, Drayton Lewis. Here's the link to register scripts, treatments, etc. with the U.S. Copyright Office (www.copyright.gov/registration/performing-arts). The page has information and videos about registering with the USCO. And if you still have questions about registering your work, the USCO contact info is at the bottom of the page.

So i would need fully formed screenplays or at least mostly formed screenplays before i could then distill the story into a more readily receivable package and not risk plagiarism? AND i have to pay someone to stand behind me and go "yeah he owns this thing he wrote, you can't steal it because I said so" ? Just completely new to this, trying to understand what I'm getting myself into

Save money and skip WGA registration. It's not legally enforceable. It merely fixes completion date.

Copyright is claimed upon full completion of a work. The USCO registers the claim. It's court-enforceable and honored in all signatories to the Berne Convention. About 160 countries save Iran, North Korea and a few other minor countries.

I believe up to 30% of a work can be changed without a new registration. A new title does not have to be registered, but can be done for free with an online form.

Drayton Lewis In theory Paul is right about potentially being able to copyright a pitch deck, but it would have to be akin to a really well built-out outline with a lot of detail (characters, plots, etc.) methinks... It would be interesting to see if any S32 members have attempted it before. I was under the impression NDAs are sometimes (often?) used when pitching to studios, but maybe someone else on here can tackle that issue. I think most people on here will suggest that you have your scripts finished, polished, and at-the-ready if you are at the pitching point. Despite the anecdotal tales of people selling ideas based on bar napkin scribblings...

Mike Childress damn. That seems like a disproportionate work to potential reward ratio, no? Obviously its an art form and to do it for reward is missing the point but shucks

Drayton Lewis It's about art that we create and then need to hawk so someone else can potentially generate revenue allowing us to...make more art! Re: reward artists need to eat too! Hopefully you enjoy writing as much as I do. The spoonful of enjoyment bit helps the medicine (industry realities) go down...

Copywrite (sic) law predates the personal computer and allowed a writer to provide evidence of their intellectual property if a situation called for it. Now, we have time stamps on our PC files, so saving your work on your hard drive (backup often) is now legally binding proof of your intellectual property at all stages of development. So, technically, I've been advised, you do not "need to copyright" your creations any longer. Today, it's more of a comfort-stamp than anything else.

Advised by whom? As stated, copyright exists upon completion of a work. However, time stamps can be tricked out. Hard drives fail, backups are lost. That's why incontrovertible proof of ownership was instituted by the USCO.

A writer who hopes to enter a work either into the marketplace or not without registering the work does so at their own peril. It's about $45 and 15 minutes of work online filling out forms. Anything else is really bad advice for writers.

Matthew Kelcourse Yeah, as soon as you "pen" that script it attains common law copyright status. Personally I am of the Fox Mulder "Trust No One" school of thought so I register my stuff too. I like that the US copyrights are good for the life of the author plus seventy years, and international weight they carry too. Kind of cool to get that first certificate of registration too haha.

To clarify, registering with the copyright office does not require the copyrighted material be a "completed" piece of work. To find out more about the process: https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-register.html

Hey Mike Childress - I too register my projects - it's cost friendly and another safe hosting site. Write on!

Incompleteness is a different aspect than basic protection of ownership through registration.

My goal is just to be able to show someone a GOOD but not fully developed idea and not have to worry about it getting yoinked out from under me.

Drayton Lewis I think a lot depends on WHOM you are pitching your partially-developed script idea to, i.e. it's not in the best interest of a big studio to go around thieving IP from spec script writers. Script/script idea theft does seem to occur, based on caselaw, and firsthand accounts on here and other sites, but doesn't appear to occur frequently/be widespread. Nevertheless protecting your IP is obviously ALWAYS a good move. From what it sounds like your best bet may be to craft a copyrightable treatment/pitch deck, register it/them, and then go forth and conquer.

Mike Childress cool, thanks for the clarification! Im gunna add u

There’s no self copyright, I think what you’re referring to is what musicians use to do to protect their work. The thing with writing entertainment is we’re all imaginative and could have similar ideas, so it’s best to register your work through the copyright website or if you so happen to have Final Draft, you can copyright through the WGA.

WGA's a waste of money.

WGA offers "five years of legal evidence", not a copyright.

Would anyone want to be mutual idea-bouncer-offers? I cant think of the name for that rn for some reason

I've been in book publishing since 1997, and spent eight years in the editorial department of a mid-level house reading the slush pile, going to bat for new writers as well as submitting forms for copyrights with the Library of Congress. What I can tell you is that filling out a 2-page form to secure a copyright for original literary material is easy and worth the small price in order to sleep at night. I highly recommend it for any and all scripts.

Rational and well said, Kimberly Shumate. And completely out of place here. :)

E Langley chill? she felt as though she had relevant experience and chose to share it.

E Langley Ouch but true. Kimberly Shumate All true and fits anywhere.

Drayton Lewis, the chill belongs to you. It's not about Kimberly Shumate, she's right. See the smiley emoticon. And thanks for posting the new picture.

Find any mutual idea-bouncer-offers yet. I'm a pretty good mutual bouncer-offer if bouncing-offing were to be bounced.

Seems more than one question here Drayton Lewis The question of "can you use something that you don't think belongs to you' - depends. Can you copyright something that doesn't belong to you? No. It's not yours.

Protecting your work using copyright is a good step like Kimberly Shumate said. It's not necessary for everything. Your pitch deck is a derivative work. Unless you plan on publishing it, there's not much point.

If it's copyrighting a script, treatment, or written works that you wrote, there are resources in either the WGA or the Library of Congress that will protect it in exchange for a fee. There's also a way to copyright it in Adobe PDF if you look into it. Copyrighting a pitch, I've never heard of it so probably for the best to not do that.

Sorry if I ruffled feathers. I guess I didn't understand the question. My apologies.