Any working screenwriters out there? When do you copyright your screenplay? Assuming you do.
Seems like registering a script with the WGA offers pretty much the same protection, but I did not delve into the details, including (but not limited to) costs.
You copyright it as soon as you put it into tangible form. It’s automatic.
It’s recommended that you also register it, since that will expand your legal options for dealing with violations. You would do that as soon as it’s finished.
Thanks, Dropo. I’m aware of how to copyright a script, and your link explains that a WGA copyright is not the same as a Library of Congress copyright, which is better IMHO.
My question was when is the right time? From your article, it sounds like you should copyright it before starting to talk to people about it, which makes a lot of sense. I was just hoping that a screenwriter could confirm that’s when they copyright their script.
I thought registering was the same thing as applying for a copyright. What’s the difference?
I think registering means with the WGA.
There is a registered copyright, but that’s different. You do need to register your copyright in order to get damages. You can get damages if it’s not registered, but you have to provide numbers to prove damages, which is difficult. With a registered copyright, you can get damages just by proving a violation.
If you’re registered with the WGA, you can prove the date when the work was finished and can use that as a basis to prove your copyright. So it’s useful, but is only one piece of evidence in a copyright lawsuit.
(Assuming that you are in the US)
The Copyright Office gets tetchy if you register copyright on things before they are in their final form. So, for a novel or a poem, you’d want to register the version that will be published.
Screenplays are a little different. The screenwriter is almost certainly only writing what will be considered the first draft, regardless of how many drafts of it you’ve written. Other writers will be brought in to polish it, which could be anything from changing a few scenes to completely rewriting the whole thing.
So what the original screenwriter ought to do is to register the copyright (with the Copyright Office) on the version that they’re shopping around. Your goal is to establish that your script is the seed, the genesis, the first link in the chain for the film that will eventually be made.
But let’s say that you register your copyright on what you think is the final version. That night, you have a dream, and you wake up with an ending that is 1000x better. Are you SOL? No, there are ways to amend your copyright registration, but it usually involves paying another fee. For minor changes made after registration, don’t sweat it. It’ll be fine.
It’s usually a good idea to register it with the WGA, too.
Neither of those things exist.
You don’t apply for a copyright. You have the copyright automatically as soon as you create a fixation. Nobody gives you a copyright. You have one as soon as you create something.
This is not true, not in any respect. You can register your claim on whatever you want. The Copyright Office doesn’t care one way or another what version you choose to register your claim in. That is entirely up to you to decide.
You cannot amend a registration. You can, however, register a claim in the unregistered portion of your new draft.
Yeah, but they make you fill out forms and send them money if you want to register the next version of the piece. But they absolutely do want the final version.
You’re splitting hairs unnecessarily.
This is correct.
I am absolutely not. These are extremely important and legally significant distinctions. If you don’t understand them precisely, you can really fuck yourself over.
The Copyright Office has zero opinion regarding what you choose to register a claim in.