How to Protect Your Script from Theft

Today's blog comes from entertainment attorney with the Adler Law Group, David Adler, based in Chicago, IL. --------------------------------------------------------------- Many writers worry about "idea theft," allowing it to be the reason they don't tell people about their projects, won't publically post their loglines, or won't apply for contests and fellowships for this reason. But the fact is, copyright law protects the expression of an idea but not the idea itself. Lots of films and television shows have similar concepts. The entertainment industry uses these comparable projects, or "comps," to sell new projects. But what do you do if you believe your actual script or deck, or other materials were stolen? I recently received a call from a prospective client with a concern that someone was creating a TV show based on a story idea she'd conceived. Since the “expression” of a TV is often embodied in the Script, Treatment, and/or Bible, my next question was, “You have a script, right?” "Yes," she said. She had a script. I sighed a slight sigh of relief. Ok, there’s hope, I thought. Too soon. “You registered the copyright in the script, right?” was my next question. Her response was, “of course.” What came next was disappointing but not entirely surprising. When I probed further to confirm she had registered with the Library of Congress U.S. Copyright Office (“Copyright Office”), I learned that she'd actually registered her script with the Writers Guild of America (WGA), not the Copyright Office. While registering your work with the WGA may be useful as evidence in support of a claim of authorship, it does not take the place of registering your script with the Copyright Office, which is the sole authority with respect to the existence and scope of copyright ownership or rights of written work. Although the law says you already own the Copyright, it is still necessary to register a work. Here's why... [Continue Reading >>]( [Stage 32 logo]( Copyright ©2022 Stage 32, All rights reserved. 2711 N. Sepulveda Blvd. #427 Manhattan Beach, CA, 90266 Want to change how you receive these emails? [Update your preferences](. [Facebook icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Instagram icon]( [YouTube icon]( [Pinterest icon](