I have stumbled over a few sites that provide free copies of movie screenplays, and enjoy reading them at work. However, I find that when I go looking for the screenplay of a specific film (one not featured on any of the sites I already know), they are impossible to find.
I enter the name of the movie, plus “screenplay,” or “script,” or “transcript,” etc., but nothing seems to work.
What kind of search can I try? Can you point me to any more comprehensive free screenplay sites?
Lastly (I’m almost afraid to ask), is it legal?
Not legal. And studios have good lawyers, so they shut down any place that tries to post them.
Go to Simply Scipts for links to hundreds of screenplays, teleplays, and radioplays. They have just about everything.
And yes, it is illegal. The screenplays are copyrighted. However, Simply Scripts does not make money off the screenplays. They are there for educational purposes, showing the art and craft of how to write a movie. It’s actually an incredible tool if you’re in the screenplay writing buiness such as I.
Another excellent source is Script-O-Rama.
RealityChuck is correct that this sort of online screenplay exchange isn’t legal, but Script-O-Rama gets around this (barely) by hosting only links to other sites where the material is housed, rather than the material itself.
Wow, very usefull. And it’s not like we’re using any of these for profit.
Another good one isscreentalk .
Thanks. But no dice. I’ve been looking specifically for the screenplay to Snatch. But as this is technically illegal, I guess there is no reason to believe that every film script I desire is necessarily posted out there somewhere…
That has absolutely no relevance. Whether it’s for profit or not, a copyright violation is a copyright violation.