Copyright question

Hey everyone,

I recently finished an indie feature i wrote and directed. I have the screenplay copyrighted. Do I need to copyright the finished movie now? If so, where on copyright.gov do I get the proper form?

Thanks!
 
You automatically own the copyrights when you affix your creation into a tangible form (example: shoot a movie, save a script on a hard drive with document file properties that show "created" and "last modified"). A distributor might want to see a copyright form. To get unauthorized clips of your movie removed off of web site you would usually need the actual movie registered with the library of congress.
 
If you ever need to sue in court you need the paper that says you've registered the copyright. You always own the copyright unless you sell the film and hand all the rights over, but the copyright registration is an impartial government body that registers said copyright for you.
 
Or, you can also consider making the film Creative Commons, and allow other artists to certain rights without restricting your commercial viability. Check out

http://creativecommons.org/

Some people argue that the copyright system does more harm than good and that creative commons offers a better way to protect your content while allowing creativity and culture to flourish. Anyways, just my 2 canadian cents.

-JJ
 
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