Writers' Warning - WGA Script Registration

WRITERS' WARNING

(Writers' Warning is a new section we're debuting here on ScreenwritersLeague.com where we post about suspicious and potentially risky services and companies. Not all practices mentioned are necessarily dangerous for writers - some might be completely legit and just sound fishy at first. We only report the facts and encourage comments from people who know better and can speak on behalf of the situations/companies.)

I recently had cause to call a number of entertainment lawyers, soliciting advice on something where I could. One of the things I spoke about with one of them was WGA script registration versus U.S. Copyright. (You'll remember we discussed this a bit before.) Well, the discussion, at least if you speak with this particular lawyer, is over.

When the lawyer asked if I had gotten my script copyrighted, I told him that I had done the WGA registration. He literally laughed. "That's absolutely worthless," he said. "I don't know why people even bother doing it."

I asked for clarification, and he explained that it offered zero legal protection on the material or, more importantly, the idea. Obtaining a copyright alone will potentially save a writer loads of headache (and heartache), according to him. for just $35 (compared to $22 for the WGA registration), a writer can apply for a U.S. Copyright. The whole thing can be done online, as it is with the WGA. It takes about 45 minutes - I did this yesterday - and is really pretty simple. There's a lot of filling in easy blanks (i.e. name, title of material, type of work, etc.). I've heard that it can take up to 6 months to receive the certificate of copyright, but the lawyer informed me that doesn't matter. "The date is retroactive form the day you register," he said, so though it might be June 2009 before I receive that certificate, to the best of my knowledge, it will have been effective beginning December 15th, 2008.

I'm no legal expert. (Don't take this post as solid legal advice - always get a lawyer of your own to look anything over or get advice.) Nonetheless, from now on, I'm at least urging each League member to get that copyright. I'm not going to say abandon the WGA registration (couldn't hurt, right?), but I'm certainly not going to rely on it as my only crutch from here on out.

Verbum Sap Sat, y'all.

Not My Baby!

There comes a time when all writers have a baby. Most will have upwards of a dozen, probably more. I’m not talking the kind you raise, send off to college, and get betrayed by with an impractical career choice in screenwriting. I’m talking about the kind of baby you polish, develop, and shop. It’s the flagship script of your writing fleet, the current piece that you feel best represents you as a writer, the script that can get you on the map if you haven’t been discovered. Like people are with their firstborn, writers are usually pretty protective of this script...or novel. (just for you King Suckerman) A few times in conversations with my peers I’ve been very surprised by just how protective we can be of these works and how firmly we may stand by what we believe to be the value of the script. We insist that we won’t give in to any high powered exec’s offer unless it’s the offer we believe in. I think about these conversations and wonder what we sound like to those established in the industry, or what we might sound like to anybody. Are we cocky or confident? Are we smart or just young?

When it comes to protecting a script, I remember a time within the last few years when some of my peers, myself included, were uber distrustful of contests, queries, any type of release form, and most outsider’s eyes. It became second nature to expect that the industry was just a field of predators waiting to feast on our darling projects. It was kind of suffocating now that I think back to it, feeling like I would never have another “baby” and that I wouldn’t find success until some yellow brick road within the industry presented itself and steered me away from the predators. I’m not really in a position to give many writers advice, but if you’re young or just starting out down this path, I hope I can save you some time with a few crunchy nuggets of insight. One of my favorite screenwriting sayings is that “a great script will get made.” There are variations, maybe it’s come to you as “if you have a great script, somebody will find it.” I always found this very comforting, but in reality it’s kind of bullshit, because your great script won’t go anywhere on its own unless it grows legs and a silver tongue. It’s up to you to put your baby out there, so if the script is ready and it’s protected, no sense in aging it on a shelf like it’s an Australian shiraz.

I’m sure there are still many dangers in the industry, but to my friends and I it’s no longer the sinister villain that only exists to steal young writers’ material. Scripts need to be pushed into the field of play. The League has a lot of fun sharing our work with each other in writing meetings, but it’s more fun to place in competitions and be contacted by management and production companies. Good luck Cake Man!

In terms of script protection I feel like The League has matured a great deal. We understand that scripts need to be protected, but that no script can be protected entirely. We also understand that we have to let those birds fly. But I personally feel the urge to question (or explore rather) our sense of what’s realistic when we say that we wouldn’t sell our baby for less than six figures or that we wouldn’t sell a script unless we could own the rights to the characters. I wonder if these sort of things can’t be perceived in a positive light until you manage to pull it off. Nobody is laughing now at what Sylvester Stallone did with Rocky when he refused to sell the script unless he got to play the lead, but is it possible that there was anybody out there praising Sly for his intelligence, his determination, or his confidence before he landed the role? I guess you can play it safe or play it bold. The League is fortunate enough to have a diverse group of writers who have different approaches. We’ll all have the benefit of observing first hand the successes and drawbacks in each others tactics when we eventually find ourselves negotiating the fate of our firstborn. I have a feeling that day will come sooner than later.

PS

Warner Bros wants to buy your baby for $25,000. Rumor has it that a big star is interested in the lead role, but nothing is confirmed. The only guarantee is that you’ll have 25 grand before tax, a screenplay sale under your belt, and some new Hollywood contacts. Would you sell your baby?

The Writing Week part 42 - To Copyright or Register?

This week was another link in the recent chain of re-write and marketing/networking weeks. I tested the waters of the NYC Screenwriters meeting on Saturday, and was able to hand out some of our brand new business cards there. It's a pretty great workshop for anyone looking to get into screenwriting and learn some of the basics, as well as get to meet other people who are looking to crack that first script or finish one of the seven they have open. Any writers out there, especially first time screenwriters could do well to pop in to the next meeting (November 1st, I believe.)

One of the things brought up at the meeting was the debate between WGA Script Registration and obtaining a U.S. Copyright on your material. In the past, I've been told that the WGA or WGAE registration is enough to safeguard a writer, at least as much as should be legally necessary. However, I've recently heard arguments indicating the opposite - that a WGA/E registration might not stand up in court, and could fail to protect against even some of the more blatant idea thefts. (We all know that ideas floating around the industry are a dime a dozen, and my "unique" idea might be far from that. Hmm... that sounds like a familiar thought.) But is that true? Should a writer do BOTH the U.S. Copyright and a WGA/E script registration?

I recently brushed up my comic book style spec, in preparation for NYU's Screenplay Bank - an annual listing of loglines that get sent out to about 200 industry contacts the university has compiled. I'm happy to report I already has a request for my script based off the logline, though, so as not to jinx myself (knock on wood), I won't go into any details beyond that. I know that having a script read by someone actively seeking new projects is a big step, and at this point, one step at a time is all I plan to take. But I digress - the comic book spec is full of characters I want to own. I created them. I've developed them for many years. Like Athena did to Zeus, they've leaped form my head, and I want to own them.

Clearly, a WGA registration is not enough to ensure full rights to a character. So what does a writer do? Is it possible in this day and age to actually own the full rights to characters you've created, especially if they're not originally presented in a comic book? As I understand it, a U.S. Copyright will provide more character protection than a script registration does, but is it enough? I love screenwriting and plan to pursue it as long as I can. Sometimes, though, these and other legal considerations are obvious reminders of how much of a business what we're embarking upon is. The love of writing is one thing (and hopefully the most important thing), but the business side is very much a presence, too.