I am currently finishing up principal photography on a documentary project and had a quick question about copyright. I have registered my project with the WGA on their online site but am not sure if this is sufficient? The fees I was charged by the WGA were small ($15) compared everything else I've been hit with on this project...so I just want to make sure I am covered. Any advice would be most appreciated.
Hello fellow indy film folks!
- Thread starter McSand
- Start date
WGA is not the same as registering an official copyright date.
You can do it online at US Copyright Office for $35... or $45 is you do it the ol' fashioned way.
You can do it online at US Copyright Office for $35... or $45 is you do it the ol' fashioned way.
It could be just semantics.
The WGA doesn't register projects and they have
nothing to do with copyright You can register your
completed screenplay with the WGA - you cannot
register a completed documentary.
What, exactly, did you register?
The WGA doesn't register projects and they have
nothing to do with copyright You can register your
completed screenplay with the WGA - you cannot
register a completed documentary.
What, exactly, did you register?
Well I'm certainly glad I asked this question, as it seems I have been operating believing I was totally fine. Here is the conformation I received from WGA online. "Your material has been successfully registered with the WGA Intellectual Property Registry. Registrations are valid for a term of five years and can be renewed upon expiration."
Have I just wasted $15?
Thanks for the advice!
Have I just wasted $15?
Thanks for the advice!
The tough thing about COPYRIGHT and REGISTRATION is that it's protection is minimal. It's still a CIVIL lawsuit, not a CRIMINAL one. That means the burden of all proof remains with the plaintiff (person filing suit). The various registrations will do nothing but establish a non-partisan proof of date, but if someone "steals" an idea, you still have to prove they stole it intentionally in a court of law. The WGA Writer's Guild of America has one major flaw in that it's registration heavily favors it's union dues paying members. So if you try to sue a WGA writer using the WGA registration, they will be of very little help unless you are also a WGA member, then they can arbitrate otherwise, they tend to favor the WGA writer.
Similarly, the U.S. Copyright office and library of Congress tend to be useless in cases of copyright infringement because all they can do is provide a date you registered your work, which has nothing directly to do with the alleged "theft".
I personally find most forms of registration to be near-worthless, at least in my lawsuits regarding intellectual property theft - of which I have been involved in 2, both with studios and they never even saw a courtroom or filing, so I felt like registration is worthless to me.
Similarly, the U.S. Copyright office and library of Congress tend to be useless in cases of copyright infringement because all they can do is provide a date you registered your work, which has nothing directly to do with the alleged "theft".
I personally find most forms of registration to be near-worthless, at least in my lawsuits regarding intellectual property theft - of which I have been involved in 2, both with studios and they never even saw a courtroom or filing, so I felt like registration is worthless to me.