Protecting Work in Progress

Powka, .

I don't know anything about screenplays or how to protect them. However, I do know that I would never post anything of mine for critique unless it was in a password protected forum, such as the Share Your Work forums here, where there is a section for sharing screenplays. It's password protected (vista is the password), but you have to have 50 posts to share your work there.

As for your work getting stolen, I would not worry about it. It's rare that unpublished work gets stolen. Besides, you establish copyright from the moment you create something, and I'm sure you have your work backed up on your hard drive or other such system.

Maryn said:

You can register the work as it now stands with the Writers' Guild of America-East (WGA-e), which holds it for five years, IIRC. That amounts to sending them a copy, which they hold on file, nobody ever reading it. This is incontestable proof that the derivative work has been stolen, if that happens.

I won't say it never happens, but theft of work is not as common as many writers fear.

Maryn, whose fiction has been stolen and sold

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Just a note - if you want to register with the Guild, you can do so at whichever office is local to you. There's an East and a West, on the relevant coasts. So you'd just pick whichever is closest geographically. Each has a website with links to be able to register - you do not need to be a guild member to do so.

Maryn said:

Thanks, cornflake. I'm parroting what the screenwriters I know online say, and it didn't occur to me to clarify that geography matters.

Maryn, wondering what else she overlooked

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I honestly don't know that, or how, it does (I'd suspect not, as people move and such), in that if you're in Oregon and register at WGA-E, it won't hurt you or mean your stuff isn't registered or anything, I'd think. I've just always been told you should contact/go through your 'local' office for stuff. I have no idea what happens if one is equidistant either, heh.

Powka said:

I know about registering with WGA. However, I assume people register final drafts - not work in progress?

The script you give out online for review is usually one of the drafts. You get opinions, and then you go to rewrite it. I'm not going to be registering my work whenever a new page appears and paying $20 every time, that's insane, right? So that one is out of the question when it's not your final draft then.

I believe I'll stay away from giving away the script. In this time, one's originality is all that's left, so if the idea is stolen and someone sells in first, then the writer is pretty much fucked.

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I didn't think you were talking about drafts, but stuff you considered 'ready.' I don't know that people put stuff up that they consider drafts - I think most people believe their scripts are good to go when they post them. However, making minor changes or adding a few pages or whatever doesn't change the essential nature of a work so much that someone could steal it were it clear that the previous version were provably yours.

You can post excerpts up to 10 pages at a time here, in the SYW forum, which is password protected, if you just want some feedback on your work.

Powka said:

I believe I'll stay away from giving away the script. In this time, one's originality is all that's left, so if the idea is stolen and someone sells in first, then the writer is pretty much fucked.

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That's not true because ideas cannot be stolen. If you look at many novels, screenplays, movies, short stories, they are all based on ideas that have been recycled over and over. An idea is just an idea, but what makes it yours is the execution, and your originality, as you say.

Protecting your work...

Definitely check out this recent thread here on AW. Pay particular attention to posts by Creativexec.

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=272786

Powka said:

However, how do I (or anybody else for that matter who's sending those scripts in) know that they won't be stolen?

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You don't.

For example, there are plenty of scripts being reviewed on the website mentioned with links available to an actual screenplay. What is stopping me from taking that script, changing names, places, etc. maybe rewriting a few scenes -- basically, one days job -- and then going and selling it as my own? How do people know this won't happen?

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They don't, although if they have it Copyrighted, specifically, they can sue you and obtain damages provided it has compelling similarities to their work, which, based upon what you're describing, it would. If you do copyright, don't put it all over your title page like some sort of badge of honor.

To make all that worthwhile/bulletproof, you'd almost need to rewrite the structure and key concepts, plot points, etc. which means you could almost write your own product. Wouldn't you rather have your own idea for nearly the same amount of work, and not worry about being sued? That's how most other people feel. Those who feel otherwise are usually amateurs who lack the experience and writing skills to sell your product after stealing it and rewriting, so either way, it's a moot point.

- As the script is almost finished, but still not a final draft, it's very unlikely that it has been registered with WGA or anything similar
- If the places, names, characters, etc. are changed + some scenes are different, it probably can't even be considered as "stolen".

Any opinions on this?

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If you're still worried about theft, post snippets or the opening 10 pages for criticism. If someone steals that (and they won't), they'll have to write the entirety of the rest of the story, then it won't even look like your work, and you'll still have ~110 pages to make yours different.

Edit: I'd recommend copyrighting finished work over WGA registration if you're going to pay the money. If anyone else feels differently, please speak up, I'd love to hear other opinions on the matter.

Answers...

"Creativexec"--someone who definitely knows what he's talking about--wrote the following on a previous thread:

Remember to COPYRIGHT your work if you plan on sending it around town. WGA registration is NOT a copyright. WGA registration is not a necessity. WGA registration is not a prerequisite to have your material read at an agency.

Generally speaking, a copyright is a necessity. It protects your material. The WGA registration officially date stamps your script. But that's all. It's no different than if you stuck it in an envelope, took it to the post office and asked them to postmark the seal.

The copyright, however, proves that you are the copyright holder - the only thing that matters in a copyright infringement lawsuit.

I've been in the Writers Guild for 25 years. I know of no Guild member who copyrights their screenplay. That doesn't mean there aren't any -- I've just never met one. And that doesn't mean it isn't a great way to protect a script -- it is.

Just know that putting it on a screenplay screams out "Amateur."

Count on your right hand the number of screenplays you've heard of that have been stolen. It can happen -- it would be foolish to think otherwise. But even those stories you may have heard of where ownership was in question ("Coming to America"), copyright had zero bearing in the accusations.

Registering a script is not ultimate legal protection. But the longer a chain of ownership you can establish, the more problematic it is for someone to "steal" it.

All that aside, I would go a step beyond what Susan Littlefield said: me, I would never post my screenplay on a website for analysis by others, whether it is password protected or not. (Unless, perhaps, it was something private with a friend.) If you want comments, hand it to a friend. If you want professional opinion, try to establish a professional relationship with someone, personally. But putting a screenplay online??? Eeesh. No.

Robert Elisberg said:

I've been in the Writers Guild for 25 years. I know of no Guild member who copyrights their screenplay. That doesn't mean there aren't any -- I've just never met one. And that doesn't mean it isn't a great way to protect a script -- it is.

Just know that putting it on a screenplay screams out "Amateur."

Count on your right hand the number of screenplays you've heard of that have been stolen. It can happen -- it would be foolish to think otherwise. But even those stories you may have heard of where ownership was in question ("Coming to America"), copyright had zero bearing in the accusations.

Registering a script is not ultimate legal protection. But the longer a chain of ownership you can establish, the more problematic it is for someone to "steal" it.

All that aside, I would go a step beyond what Susan Littlefield said: me, I would never post my screenplay on a website for analysis by others, whether it is password protected or not. (Unless, perhaps, it was something private with a friend.) If you want comments, hand it to a friend. If you want professional opinion, try to establish a professional relationship with someone, personally. But putting a screenplay online??? Eeesh. No.

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Um, yeah.
Although I write novels now, back in the day I was a story analyst for companies like CAA and William Morris. The legalities are these:

1. Your work is copyrighted from the instant you create it. The only question is proving that you wrote it first.

2. Registering your work at the WGA is one way to establish that at Moment X, you were the only person in the world with that document - which is a useful, BUT NOT THE ONLY, way to prove copyright. You could also register it electronically with the US Copyright Office - a little pricier (very little) and slightly more complicated, but also permanent. (The WGA registration expires after 5 years.)

3. DON'T submit your script to a website. Feedback is only as good as the person providing it. If you don't know anything about the people commenting on your work, their comments won't help you much. Way that against the fact that your unfinished work is now online forever, and the payoffs definitely do not outweigh the drawbacks.

4. Don't bother sticking a copyright symbol on a document you show people. Your big struggle will be to get anyone to read your work, not to prevent idea-snatchers from stealing it.

5. Your best, best bet for feedback is finding like-minded individuals (especially people with some experience) in a writing class or similar. It's harder and takes longer than sticking something up on a website, but it's infinitely more useful.

I wouldn’t recommend it either if you are concerned about anyone stealing your material, which is easy to do online. How about registering your script with the Writers Guild of America? It makes a public record of your claim to authorship.

1. Write only in longhand. In a cryptic code. Put nothing on any computer.

2. Bury the manuscript in a secluded place. Make sure to cover the disturbed ground with leaves and sticks. Be certain it looks natural.

3. Mention this to no one.

4. Forget where it is located. Use various chemical means to accomplish this, if necessary.


That oughtta work.

caw

Having their manuscript stolen seems to be something newbies worry about hugely and oldbies don't give a thought to.

Most writing can't even be given away and so it is often almost funny when people worry that someone will steal it. Thieves want something with clear value that they can unload quickly and anonymously. Writing is none of that. It is a stupid thing to steal and they will most likely be caught if they get anywhere with it. The few cases I've heard of have been quite pitiful no or low dollar amounts and quickly resolved. Barely enough to get the inept thieflet a new aluminum cap. If it ever did make it big, it's easier to spot and something worth suing for.

I always make sure it's posted behind a password, but most crit sites are these days. Keep an internet record so if ever needed, you can show you are the original writer of it. If someone steals it, tell the publisher and they'll most likely retract it. And post about it here and we will probably swarm over there en masse to gleefully disgrace them. It is not likely to be much more than a temporary annoyance.

And then, they can still steal it *after* it's published or someone could steal it from the slushpile. What are you going to do to prevent that? Nah, onward and upward and don't worry about it until the (unlikely) event that it happens.