# Finding free screenplays online **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2002, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-free-screenplays-online/134365 "2002-10-29T05:48:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-free-screenplays-online/134365/1 "2002-10-29T05:48:09Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-free-screenplays-online/134365/2 "2002-10-29T13:48:42Z")
Not legal. And studios have good lawyers, so they shut down any place that tries to post them. ---
**Author:** ![TridCloudwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TridCloudwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TridCloudwalker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-free-screenplays-online/134365/3 "2002-10-29T19:06:30Z")
Go to [Simply Scipts](http://simplyscripts.com/) 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. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-free-screenplays-online/134365/4 "2002-10-30T01:13:09Z")
Another excellent source is [Script-O-Rama](http://www.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. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-free-screenplays-online/134365/5 "2002-10-30T01:41:38Z")
Wow, very usefull. And it’s not like we’re using any of these for profit. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-free-screenplays-online/134365/6 "2002-10-30T02:55:19Z")
Another good one is[screentalk](http://www.screentalk.org/gallery.htm) . ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-free-screenplays-online/134365/7 "2002-10-30T05:37:27Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-free-screenplays-online/134365/8 "2002-10-30T14:52:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by clayton\_e \* > \*\*Wow, very usefull. And it’s not like we’re using any of these for profit. \*\* That has absolutely no relevance. Whether it’s for profit or not, a copyright violation is a copyright violation.