Writing A Pilot for company, legal advice

You might want to consider getting one.

Yeah, you seriously want to consider getting one. As I've heard it said: "You don't need an agent cause you already have a job, what you need is an attorney."

Also, (I'm purely guessing on this) since you've already agreed to write it for them I don't think you can register it under your name.

But I very well might be wrong.

I don't think anyone here is going to give you legal advice.

Besides, would you take medical advice from people who aren't doctors but are more than willing to offer their completely unprofessional advice online??

If you can't afford one you could try searching for lawyers who do pro-bono work in your area, law students, university legal centres or writers organizations.

Here's some basic information.

When you decide to work for/with someone - you draw up an agreement. Its called a 'contract'. In this document, you outline the scope of work you are to perform, the amount of money to be paid, and a schedule for delivery for each of those items.

If you start to work without such an agreement - then you have decided to hire an attorney later on, to sort out the 'misunderstandings' that came about by taking work without a written contract.

So basically - whatever you've 'agreed to do' for these people - is what you are bound by. Since we don't know the scope of your agreement - we can't offer you any helpful suggestions to a question that doesn't give enough information to draw any conclusions.

No one here is going to offer you legal advice- beyond suggesting you seek it... There are usually organizations that offer services to artists for low or no charge - Usually called something like Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts - or similar name.

Part of your agreement with these people SHOULD have included who OWNS THE RIGHTS. If this was not determined before you started working - you are in a very real sense of the phrase - painting yourself into a corner.

So here is MY advice.

Stop painting until you know where the door is.

WriteKnight said:

Here's some basic information.

When you decide to work for/with someone - you draw up an agreement. Its called a 'contract'. In this document, you outline the scope of work you are to perform, the amount of money to be paid, and a schedule for delivery for each of those items.

If you start to work without such an agreement - then you have decided to hire an attorney later on, to sort out the 'misunderstandings' that came about by taking work without a written contract.

So basically - whatever you've 'agreed to do' for these people - is what you are bound by. Since we don't know the scope of your agreement - we can't offer you any helpful suggestions to a question that doesn't give enough information to draw any conclusions.

No one here is going to offer you legal advice- beyond suggesting you seek it... There are usually organizations that offer services to artists for low or no charge - Usually called something like Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts - or similar name.

Part of your agreement with these people SHOULD have included who OWNS THE RIGHTS. If this was not determined before you started working - you are in a very real sense of the phrase - painting yourself into a corner.

So here is MY advice.

Stop painting until you know where the door is.

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First rate advice! As a former Business and Legal Affairs guy for a major film studio, I say get some basics down on a napkin if you have to. It doesn't have to be Johnny Legalpants, just get something written that says who owns what (you can't copyright an idea, but you can copyright the elements thereof, e.g., your script), what the pay is upon delivery (if they're SO certain this will air, then they must have some kind of show order from someone, and hence, an amount of money on the table), if they don't like your script, in a perfect world you should get paid anyway (but if not, that doesn't have to rule out the project), dates of delivery, etc.

You get the idea.

Another that would be enormously helpful for you is to get... Uh, how to put this delicately. Nope, there's no way to put it delicately. Determine the Tosser factor of this company. Which is to say, find out what credits they have (imdb.com) and how do they feel to you? Do they have day jobs, or is this their bread and sausage?

A quick homily from Uncle Verbal: I knew a guy who was contacted by some producers who threw around all kinds of big names (and they actually worked with those folks), and convinced this guy to write an entire movie for them for no money. This writer was incredibly obnoxious to me. His ship had arrived. He has no need to listen to my advice. F-me, right?

This was, by the way, a year before I worked at the major movie studio.

Ffw to him calling me when I was a VP at the studio 2 years later. "And how did that project go? You know, the one with those producers who--"

Obnoxious Writer Dude: "--I never got paid. It never became anything and I wasted a year in development hell as I wrote it because they wanted to have a hand in the story. But, that's all water under the bridge. I wasn wondering if, now that you work at the movie studio, you'd help me get my script in there?"

Me: "Eh, you wouldn't want my help since your ship arrived and everything."

So there ya' go.

By the way, I'm not one of THOSE guys. I helped lots of my friends get their scripts read at the studio. Just not that guy. It was a good lesson for him to learn about how people don't exist in vacuums. Today's tosser is tomorrow's big deal.

So okay, enough from Uncle Verbal.

If it's a work-for-hire (which it is) then the copyright is not yours. However, since you're writing the pilot - you should get "created by" credit - a highly coveting credit. But since this doesn't sound like a WGA signatory, I'm not sure what they have in store for you. And since it seems like you never had the presence of mind to ask, you don't know either.

I can say with a high degree of certainty that without a contract and a legal mind navigating your course, you will get screwed.

But in my experience, 99.9% of these things never amount to anything anyway, so you need not worry.

I know you say they have all sorts of ducks lined up in a row, but if there's no money being exchanged, no contracts or lawyers or deal memos, it's probably just a bunch of talk. Are they paying you? If not, where are they going to get the money to produce the show? And if they are paying you, why can't you afford an attorney?

You might gain some worthwhile experience writing the script, but I predict that might be as far as this goes.

Good luck.

Limex said:

Well, I'm not really looking for exact professional advice here. Just basic information.

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Well, the basic information really comes down to this.

People who are not lawyers shouldn't offer legal advice and anyone who isn't a lawyer and does offer legal advice lacks even that basic piece of information -- that they shouldn't be doing it.

Now, if you feel that you can't afford an attorney, you have the option of accepting advice from people who aren't lawyers and aren't in a position to offer you informed legal advice -- but to just toss out their opinions.

I could toss out mine. I'm sure others could toss out theirs. But that's what they would be. Just opinions. Not legal advice.

If you had back pain, I could also give you my opinion about what might be causing that -- but that wouldn't be a medical diagnosis, just my opinion.

I've been in your situation and the best advice you've been given is to investigate the possibility of a Volunteer Counsel for the Arts. Most states have them. You can get inexpensive or sometimes even free legal advice (the real kind).

I did it myself many years ago when I was similarly strapped for cash.

The fact is, the people you will be dealing with will almost certainly have lawyers. You need a lawyer with whom you can discuss the *specifics* of your particular situation, because that, ultimately, is what matters, not general issues -- but the real particular situation.

A real entertainment attorney is going to be able to look at a contract and know what needs to be in it to protect your rights, what terms and conditions are standard and what are not, what sorts of things they will try to get away with, knowing that you don't know soot from semolina.

General advice from non-lawyers won't help you with any of that.

If you are simply prepared to accept that you will sign a contract that puts you essentially at the mercy of the other side, then sign away.

Because short of having an entertainment lawyer review the contract, that's the situation you will be in.

You simply aren't qualified to negotiate it on your own. Right now, you don't know what's reasonable, what constitutes standard business practice. When they're being unreasonable -- or even when you're being unreasonable.

Like getting a diagnosis from a doctor at the hospital. You can just blindly accept whatever the doctor says. Or you can toss out other treatment options yourself based on stuff you read about on line.

Or you can bite the bullet and consult your own specialist.

NMS

Limex said:

So I'm wondering what legal precautions I should take. I've agreed to write it on spec (its gonna be about 23 pages, 1/2 hour show), and I've already started working on it. So once I'm done with it, should I register it to me? Pay? What else do I need to do?

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Whatever you agreed to, you should NOT pay. You're doing the work and you should be the one getting paid.

A contract is a nice idea and I would include a kill fee. It will mean you get paid for your writing even if they decide to cancel the show. You could also try to get an advance on your payment so you're sure they're not going to back out.