For Independent Filmmakers
Welcome
Our Independent Filmmaker pages are loosely organized in the chronological order of legal and business matters you might face throughout your project -- from treatment to final cut. Please help us improve our site. If you notice an error or have a suggestion for a link or additional information, please contact us.
THIS WEB SITE HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE OR A LEGAL OPINION. ONLY YOUR ATTORNEY CAN ADVISE YOU ABOUT WHICH LAWS ARE APPLICABLE TO YOUR SPECIFIC SITUATION.
Although there have been some high-profile infringement cases (e.g., Twister, Amistad, Broken Flowers) chances are your screenplay is not going to get ripped off by another filmmaker or producer. But you should seriously consider including a notice on your title page and filing a registration with the Copyright Office and/or the Writers Guild. Similarly, you should protect your finished film.
As discussed elsewhere on this site, your script is copyrighted once you fix it into a tangible medium of expression, i.e., when it ceases being an idea in your head and you write it down or record it in some other way. Remember, copyright does not protect your ideas; it protects the expression of ideas. So themes and settings will not be protected. You cannot protect matters of historical or contemporary fact. Titles of works and short phrases are not protected by copyright (but they may be protected by trademark law).
Copyright Notice: Use of the copyright notice is optional, though highly recommended. Why? Use of the notice is recommended because it informs the public that work is protected by copyright, identifies the copyright owner, and states the year of first publication. In the event that a work is infringed, if it carries a proper notice, the court will not allow a defendant to claim “innocent infringement” – that he or she did not realize that the work is protected. The notice should contain the following three elements: Copyright symbol “©”; Name “Jefferson Smith,” and Year “2008.” The use of the copyright notice is the responsibility of the copyright owner and does not require advance permission or registration with the Copyright Office.
Copyright Registration: Although registration is not required to secure copyright, there are certain advantages to registration:
• Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim;
• Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary;
• If made before or within five years of publication, registration will establish prima facie (Latin for “on its face”) evidence in court of the validity of the copyright; and
• If registration is made within three months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney’s fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions.
To register, use Form PA or Short Form PA. All forms are available on the Copyright Office’s Web site in fill-in format. Follow the easy-to-understand instructions to determine which form is appropriate for your situation. Send the completed form (in most cases, you should be able to prepare the form without the assistance of an attorney), the $45 filing fee, and a copy of the script or film in the same envelope or package to the Register of Copyrights, Copyright Office, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20559.
Mailing Yourself a Copy or “Poor Man’s Copyright”:
You may have heard that a cheap way to prove a work is copyrighted on a certain date is to send yourself a copy of the work through the mail in a sealed envelope. The postmark date is supposed to prove that your script was copyrighted on or before that date. This is often referred to as the “Poor Man’s Copyright.” Please do not waste your time or money! If want to establish the public record, register your work with the Copyright Office.
Writers Guild Registration
You may have heard that you can also register a script or treatment with the Writers Guild of America, West. The WGAW registers more than 55,000 pieces of literary material each year and is available to members and non-members alike. Registration provides a dated record of the writer’s claim to authorship of a particular literary material. If necessary, a WGA employee may produce the material as evidence if legal or official Guild action is initiated.
You may want to consider registering treatments or drafts of your work-in-progress with the Registry prior to registering your final draft with the Copyright Office. Registration for non-members costs $20 for five years.
For more information, read “Copyright and Writers Guild Registration” and “Protecting Your Script.”
Next: Business Matters
