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.

Scripts

There are four ways to obtain a script: 1) you can write it yourself, 2) you can co-write it with one or more people, 3) you can hire someone else to write it or (4) you can buy it. Below, we focus on the first three options.

1. Writing Your Own Script

Writing your own original script tends to avoid some copyright law issues that arise when you co-author a script or when you hire someone else to write a script. By “original script” we mean physically writing – using paper, electronic media or other means or devices – an idea you came up with on your own.

Once you have written your script, see protecting screenplays to learn about how to register your work with the Copyright Office and the Writers Guild of America.

If your script is not “original,” but is inspired by or based on another person’s copyrighted work (e.g., a poem, novel, short story, movie, etc.), you will most likely need to obtain the copyright owner’s permission. Why? Because when you create something inspired by or based on another person’s copyrighted work, you are making what is called a “derivative work” – which is one of the exclusive rights granted to copyright owners.

2. Writing Your Script with Someone Else

Co-writing a script usually does not result in legal problems. However, collaboration agreements are useful because disputes are inevitable (and necessary) even when the co-writers are old friends. And the copyright law does not always coincide with how authors view their collaborative relationships. A well-crafted collaboration agreement anticipates problems and allows the co-writers to avoid ugly misunderstandings.

Exactly when and how do collaborators become joint authors for copyright purposes? A  “joint work” is a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention that each author’s contribution will combine to form a unified end product (the script). When this happens, the law gives each writer what is called “joint ownership” in the copyright of the script. Each writer has an equal share of the copyright, meaning he or she has the same rights as all the other co-writers with respect to the script.

Joint ownership of a copyright has the potential to cause problems. Each co-writer can independently and without consent from the other co-writers 1) exploit the copyright of the script, 2) license the script and 3) transfer his or her ownership rights in the script to another person. And unless there is a written agreement stating otherwise, each co-author is entitled to an equal share of the money generated by the work, just like a husband and wife each own 50 percent of their house.

Sample Collaboration Agreement

3. Hiring Someone Else

You may decide you want to hire someone else to write the script for your film. If you take this approach, who will own the copyright? A work of art usually is owned by the person(s) who wrote it. But there are important and common exceptions to this rule of thumb, which make the person/company who paid for the work, not the writer, the "author."

The exceptions come into play when works are created by employees within the scope of their employment OR when a work is created by an independent contractor (often called a freelancer) and qualifies as a "work-made-for-hire" (sometimes shortened to "work-for-hire").

For a work created by an independent contractor to be considered a work-made-for-hire, ALL of the following conditions are required: 1) the work must be specially ordered or commissioned; 2) the work must fall within one of nine categories listed in the copyright statute, which (thanks to the powerful Hollywood lobby) include "part of a motion picture or audiovisual work"; and 3) there must be a written agreement -- in advance --between the parties specifying that the work is a work-made-for-hire.

Sample Work-Made-For-Hire Agreement

Next: The Permission Process