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Rewrote my registered screenplay...

margo macabee

margo macabee

I say...'Whew!' :clap:
It's ready to be critiqued by some experienced folks who have been helping me from the beginning. (not that I won't take all the experienced help I can get) I did register my screenplay with WGAw AND my novel I adapted from is well copyrighted, LOC and self-publisher, even an early poor man's copyright. The folks said my registered screenplay needed much work.
So I did that work. The storyline, characters, plot, etc, really are unchanged. Some scenes switched, a character added, a character meld or two...But the 'story' is the same.
I do want to change my title, though.:huh:

My question is:
With such few technical changes should I re-register my new work before showing it for critique again?

Thanks so much,
:D
Margo
 
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From Mark Litwak's (entertainment attorney) site:

Question: As a general rule of thumb, how much would a revision of an earlier registered (WGA) and copyright registered (LOC) version need to change until it would be a good idea to re-register the new version. If I changed a character name as an example, but nothing in the scene or anywhere else in the screenplay, would I need to re-register it with WGA and LOC? What's the general guideline?

Answer: Depends on how paranoid you are. I would not re-register a script simply because one character's name was changed. However, if you make significant changes to a script, you may want to re-register it because the new material would not be protected under the previous registration. Registration with the Writers Guild simply creates evidence in the case of a plagiarism dispute, evidence that you created the work first. Registration with the Library of Congress creates a public record of your claim of authorship and also may entitle you to certain other benefits such as reimbursement of attorney fees and statutory damages (if the registration was made in a timely manner).

--If it were ME, I would go ahead and re-register if, for no other reason, to establish a timeline and legal paper trail so IF your work is somehow compromised in the future, you will have a much easier time proving your case...

*NOTE: I highly recommend anyone aspiring to write and sell screenplays to read the entire page at the above url. Bookmark Mark's site for future reference -- lots of great information for free.

Good luck with it!

filmy
 
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perfect info

Thanks filmy,

Looks like the info I needed. Bookmarked, too, thank you. I didn't have anything like that in my faves yet.

I'm thinking I made enough changes to re-register. I do truly trust my 'people', but if I wasn't paranoid, :P I wouldn't be Margo.

Nice to actually HAVE to ask such a question...*self-elated giggle*

MAN! I'm so close! I have 9 scenes to tighten, just a bit of dialogue each. It's hard not to get excited, but I'm not done yet and 9 bits of dialogue could easily take me days to get juuuuust right.

You guys run a good site here. It's definitely over my head here and there and all the way over to there, but all the more to learn!

Thanks!
:D
Margo
 
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zepplin said:
HEY CAN YOU POST YOUR SCRIPT? i WOULD LOVE TO READ IT AND SEE HOW IT IS SINCE i TO AM A "AMATEUR/ NEW" SCRIPTWRITER.
Click to expand...

Hi, Zepplin!

I will post it in a little while. My critique crew said it is much better but still needed some work. I was SUPPOSED to do that this week while dog/house sitting, BUT left my laptop's power cord behind. Argh. I am getting a new battery for Christmas...
:D
Margo
 
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