Agent and copyright question

M

Matt_asimspon

Member
I just signed with Benderspink as a writer/director,

and will be handing over my first treatment for my first feature film pretty soon.

i have been signed primarily as a Director, as I don't actually have much writing experience, with the possibility of being paired with an established writer, to help me out.

now i know these guys are a big legit company, but I don't know what is the norm.
should I copyright my treatment before handing it over?
is that too paranoid?


Also Im in Australia, so should i copyright my stuff in the US, seeing as my stuff will be circulating there, not here?
 
If you're with Benderspink, first of all, congrats. They're good company to keep.

Related to your question -- don't worry about copyrighting your stuff. Emails create enough of a papertrail to prove your ownership should anything ever come up, which it won't. They're out to make you money (which is how they make money) and won't steal from you.

If it were some unknown "manager" you may have some reason to be concerned, but you can sleep well with those guys.
 
Matt_asimspon said:
I just signed with Benderspink as a writer/director,

and will be handing over my first treatment for my first feature film pretty soon.

i have been signed primarily as a Director, as I don't actually have much writing experience, with the possibility of being paired with an established writer, to help me out.

now i know these guys are a big legit company, but I don't know what is the norm.
should I copyright my treatment before handing it over?
is that too paranoid?


Also Im in Australia, so should i copyright my stuff in the US, seeing as my stuff will be circulating there, not here?
Click to expand...

Just register your treatment with the WGA. It's cheap and can be done online--

http://www.wgawregistry.org/webrss/
 
You can register your treatment or whatever with the US Copyright Office, all online from Australia, for a $35 fee. Search this forum for the debate on this versus WGA registration, been discussed to death. And congrats, you are living the dream! I am envious!
 
Hey guys, thanks so much for getting back,

Im new to writing, I made a short that got noticed by the right people, so they came to me.
I was pretty shocked, as you can imagine. not the usual route.
They are trying to line something up for me to direct, but are also keen on seeing my script
This is my first feature spec though, so Im treading carefully.

Ill just copyright the script, when it come to putting it out.
 
Don't rely on emails to prove anything. After all, how would you present those emails in court? Would you print them out? Heck, anybody could create counterfeit emails and print them out. You pretty much have to subpoena the server records from the email host company's servers, I would think. Just register it with the WGA. Much simpler and cheaper.
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
Don't rely on emails to prove anything. After all, how would you present those emails in court? Would you print them out? Heck, anybody could create counterfeit emails and print them out. You pretty much have to subpoena the server records from the email host company's servers, I would think. Just register it with the WGA. Much simpler and cheaper.
Click to expand...
If it came down to a million dollar lawsuit, yes. You would get verified server data.

Point is that he can trust his managers with his material. Otherwise, why trust them to represent you? Binderspink is solid, I wouldn't waste the money to get it registered or copyrighted. Are you going to do this on every piece of material you give them? Pricey and unnecessary.
 
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