Copyright
- Thread starter kal el
- Start date
Right now it has a copyright. To register it: www.copyright.gov
I guess you could place the script file in an encrypted zip folder and email it to yourself. That would give you a third party timestamp. You don't trust the US copyright office or don't want to pay the fee? (I think $30-$35 now?)
It won't make your copyright any more valid than doing nothing. Paying to register your script doesn't make it any more protected either. You already have copyright. Now. Yes, now.
Very True, anyone can steal any work and change it slightly. Odds are you wouldn't win any legal action against them unless it was practically copied word for word. A few people might have had successful cases though.
It won't make your copyright any more valid than doing nothing. Paying to register your script doesn't make it any more protected either. You already have copyright. Now. Yes, now.
Yep. Here: http://www.wgawregistry.org/webrss/ Cost is $20 for 5 years.
That does not "copyright" the material, of course. As others have stated, it's automatically copyrighted the moment you create it. Registering with the WGA just establishes a time/date in case of legal action in the future.
That said, almost any industry pro will tell you that spec script theft is largely a myth. It's far cheaper for a producer to buy a spec script from an unknown writer then do with it as he pleases, than it is to hire another writer to rip something off.
If worried about idea theft, fuggetaboutit. Ideas cannot be copyrighted anyway.