WGA or US Copyright Office ?

[Randall_Oelerich]

Just finished a 5 minute short screenplay I want to try to produce/direct myself in a month or so. Wondering whether to pay $15 to register it with WGA, or $35 to register it (online) with US Lib. of Congress Copyright Office; WGA is good for only five years, then you have to remember to pony up another $15 every five years or I don't know what happens to it. US Copyright Office is for my lifetime and then some. WGA is cheaper up front, but limited in time. It is just a short short, wondering if it is really worth paying $35 to US Copyright Office. (for a feature script of course I go with US Copyright Office) Thoughts?

 

[NinjaVsPenguin]

If you're going to produce it yourself, I would just go w/ US copyright. Otherwise, I would do both.

 

[pmark23]

You really need both. If you have to pick one, the US Copyright registration is the most valuable.

 

[Randall_Oelerich]

Why would a person need both registrations? The US Copyright Office registration is for one's life and then some, dated, legal, etc. The WGA registration is only for 5 years. It seems if one had the USCO registration that would make moot the need for WGA. Or am I missing something here?

You really need both. If you have to pick one, the US Copyright registration is the most valuable.

 

[brianluce]

Is it really customary to register short scripts? Short films usually have little or no monetary value. I wasn't aware people were registering them. I suppose if the short contained a great idea worthy of development into a feature, but barring that, is it really necessary?

 

[Randall_Oelerich]

Worst case scenario-- you do not register it, you pass the script around to friends or the net; someone (that 'friend', or a someone they know who gets hold of it) registers it under their name; you produce it. Then that someone else comes out of the woodwork and sues you for copyright infringement, says is it is their script. If they registered it at the US Copyright Office, they can get up to $150,000 statutory damages even if the short never made a dime in profits. Is it worth $15-35 to register it? Guess it depends on how well you want to sleep at night and not worry about such a worst case scenario.

Is it really customary to register short scripts? Short films usually have little or no monetary value. I wasn't aware people were registering them. I suppose if the short contained a great idea worthy of development into a feature, but barring that, is it really necessary?

 

[Randall_Oelerich]

I opted for US Copyright Office registration, for an extra $20 I get a lot more legal protection, and do not have to worry about paying another $15 every five years to WGA. I have to say the online registration at the USCO is about 10 times more complicated than WGA registration though, quite a hassel. But it is nice doing it all electronically now over the net.

 

[Ralph D]

Worst case scenario-- you do not register it, you pass the script around to friends or the net; someone (that 'friend', or a someone they know who gets hold of it) registers it under their name; you produce it. Then that someone else comes out of the woodwork and sues you for copyright infringement, says is it is their script. If they registered it at the US Copyright Office, they can get up to $150,000 statutory damages even if the short never made a dime in profits.

How so? Wouldn't the fact that something is automatically copyrighted as soon as it's written and the time/date/content of the original email (with the script attached) show that the person who ended up registering it is not the original author?

 

[Randall_Oelerich]

Email dates can be hacked, faked. Copyright as soon as it is written is practical only in so much as the date can be proven, and the owner proven. Registering with the US Lib of Congress Copyright Office provides iron clad evidence of ownership, date, and also provides additional legal protection including statutory damages for any copyright infringement.

How so? Wouldn't the fact that something is automatically copyrighted as soon as it's written and the time/date/content of the original email (with the script attached) show that the person who ended up registering it is not the original author?

 

[Ralph D]

Email dates can be hacked, faked.

That seems like a stretch. I just don't see someone going through so much trouble to try to prove they wrote a little 5 minute short that's not theirs.

I would think that the original emails/messages and their content, the original and dated computer files, or anything else or anyone that backs up when the original author wrote it would be enough to prove something.

If the thief registers the script and claims it as their own, that means there is absolutely no way it can be proven that they didn't actually write it?

I find that hard to believe.

 

[Randall_Oelerich]

You are thinking like an honest moral person, not a criminal. To a criminal, it would be worth the effort, so they could get the statutory damages ($$$$$$). Email dates can be hacked, including server logs; computer file dates can be super easily hacked. ('touch' command). One thing I do like though is Google Docs, I use that often for initial writing phases; that way the dated writing is stored on google servers, dates, revisions automagically saved and dated on google servers (fairly credible).

One of the early scams that was done, and which is why mailing yourself a postmarked copy of a script is worthless and not recognized by the courts: a criminal of low morality mails themselves a stack of self adressed stamped envelopes but does not lick the flaps shut. Presto chango, they have a stack of US Postal Service dated envelopes. Now the criminals wait, and wait, a few years if needed, until they find a screenplay they want to claim as their own. They copy it, put "by Mr. Joe Lowlife Criminal" on it, call it theirs, put it in the envelope and lick it shut, then claim you stole their screenplay and sue you. The courts got wise to that. This is why US Copyright Office Registration is the iron clad way to go. $35 to me seems like a small price to pay considering all the work that goes into even a short screenplay. Plus, for that $35 you can register dozens of screenplays as an opus if you want to, bringing the cost per screenplay down to just a few dollars, chump change, price of a cup of bean juice at Starbucks. For example I recently registered five short screenplays for the $35, meaning just $7 per screenplay.

But if you are content just relying on file dates, emails I am not trying to convince to do anything else; for me it is worth the $35 to sleep easy, and to know I have protection if anybody were to claim my work as theirs (which would bother me on a creative artistic level probably moreso than on a financial level if we are just talking about a short film).

That seems like a stretch. I just don't see someone going through so much trouble to try to prove they wrote a little 5 minute short that's not theirs.

I would think that the original emails/messages and their content, the original and dated computer files, or anything else or anyone that backs up when the original author wrote it would be enough to prove something.

If the thief registers the script and claims it as their own, that means there is absolutely no way it can be proven that they didn't actually write it?

I find that hard to believe.

 

[brianluce]

There must be a better reason to register a short screenplay other than protecting against criminal attempts to obtain rights to intellectual property with the intent of suing the actual creator of the property.

 

[Randall_Oelerich]

Let's say a 5-20 minute short ends up being really good; if you wanted to license it to a cable network for example as a filler on the indie film channel or to a mobile phone company content provider, etc., I imagine they would want to know it was registered with the Copyright Office prior to any publication of the short prior to working a deal.

There must be a better reason to register a short screenplay other than protecting against criminal attempts to obtain rights to intellectual property with the intent of suing the actual creator of the property.

 

[10s]

The question at hand is, do you want to own your own work or would you like the possibility of someone else claiming ownership of it with all the legal rights associated with ownership?

The Copyright Office is the only truly legal route available because it's part of the government and is lawfully binding, the WGA thing is a quasi-money maker for the WGA club; they have no legal standing,

If your short is junk, don't worry about, no one would waste any effort trying to claim it.

Also, a channel will not accept questionable (prone to legal dispute) material, they have other things to do other than sitting in law offices and courtrooms. You can either fall in line and accept the system everyone uses or try being a maverick and see how far you get.

 

[Randall_Oelerich]

Agreed. Much as I want to support the WGA and hope to join someday, I find it appalling that a work registered with WGA for $15 is only good for 5 years. Five years? C'mon WGA, how much storage space in terms of bits and bytes of an electronic document does a screenplay take up in these days of massive storage devices. Answer-- almost nothing. Shameful to have to pony up $15 every five years to WGA to renew a registration. With the Copyright Office that is never an issue.

...The Copyright Office is the only truly legal route available because it's part of the government and is lawfully binding, the WGA thing is a quasi-money maker for the WGA club; they have no legal standing, ...

 

[Russell Moore]

Not to mention, if you register anything with the WGA, you are not eligible to sue for financial compensation, even within the 5 years. So what kind of protection are you really getting?

There was a long discussion about this very topic during scriptfest 2 with people that know a heck of a lot more about it than I do, here...
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=139218

 

[Ralph D]

So if a thief steals a short script, copyrights it before the creator does, and sues that creator if he/she films it...wouldn't the thief still have to prove authorship? Wouldn't they have to prove when they supposedly wrote it?

Just because they registered it first, they automatically win? Something doesn't sound right there.

 

[NinjaVsPenguin]

I'm not a lawyer, but I believe that all works are protected by copyright once it's written. The reason why you want to register it w/ the USCO or WGA is in case someone tries to rip you off, it'll be that much easier to defend your authorship. They are, by no means, guarantees.

This is why a lot of people encourage you to not worry about people stealing your idea, but rather, to just write it. Because ideas can't be stolen, but the way the idea is implemented can.

 

[Screenplay Guru]

If you are going to produce and direct it yourself there is no reason to do either. If you are going to pass the script around on the otherhand feel free to register it with the WGA. In any event your script is only 5 minutes and you probably don't need to do either.

In addition, just to clarify, an idea is not subject to any type of copyright. Only the execution of that idea is. Someone would have to directly rip off your work, not just the idea. That is how movies like Deep Impact and Armegedon - Dantes Peak and Volcano can be worked on and produced at the same time. If someone reads your script and doesn't like your screenplay but likes the idea - they are legally allowed to take the basic premise/given circumstances and develope their own screenplay. It sucks... but that is the way it is.

 

[Dennis_FIQ]

[FONT=Arial, san-serif]The quote below is [/FONT][FONT=Arial, san-serif]by Larry Zerner ESQ (I could have paraphrased but I'm lazy):[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, san-serif]
"Other than establishing a date of creation, the WGA registration gives you almost no benefits.

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, san-serif]First, although copyright protection exists at the moment of creation, registration with the Copyright Office is required before a lawsuit can be brought. Because it can take up to six months from the time the application is mailed to the Copyright Office until the application is processed and returned, if the writer needs to immediately file a lawsuit (i.e., in order to enjoin the movie's distribution), he must apply for an expedited registration, for which the Copyright Office charges an additional $580.

Second, if the writer registers the script with the Copyright Office only after the infringement has taken place, he will be barred from recovering attorneys fees or statutory damages in the lawsuit.

Third, if the script is registered prior to or within five years of its publication, the registration acts as prima facie proof of ownership of the script in the event of a trial. There is no such benefit from the WGA registration.

The only real advantage of the WGA registration is that, in the event of a lawsuit or a credit arbitration, the WGA will have an employee appear and testify concerning the date of the registration. But this is rarely an issue during litigation.

Therefore, if you are a screenwriter wondering whether to register with the WGA or the Copyright Office, the answer should be clear - always register your script with the Copyright Office, and, if you have the extra $10 or $20, register with the WGA as well. And if you have scripts in your drawer that you registered in the past with the WGA, but never bothered to register with the Copyright Office, now is the time to do so. Before the work is infringed." [/FONT]