Screenwriting : Should a script be registered with the WGA or the US Copyright Office? by Marvin Serwanga

Marvin-- a friend in the industry advised me that registering a work for copyright purposes is a "dated" process, as long as you have proof (timestamped, emailed to yourself, etc.) that the work is yours, it's yours! I wasn't sure I agreed with him on this but the advice he gave me along with it has always resonated: "who cares if someone steals your idea, your story, your quote, your anything; write it like you know it's yours, yours alone, and yours is the best!" may not have been the right answer to the question you and I both share but it has helped my confidence tremendously. all the best!

From what I understand, you should preferably use the US Copyright Office. It holds more weight in court. The WGA can be used as a secondary source. Technically you own the copyright from the moment you complete a piece of work, proving it legally is the reason for registering it in the first place.

Mailing your work to yourself is old school advice that was always meaningless.

Copyright is automatic the moment you create a piece of work. You have to create the work, ideas can not be copyrighted. Titles cannot be copyrighted. You can get a trademark for a title, but that's another subject...

Copyright protections and registrations vary from country to country. So, you have to refer to the local authorities depending on where you live and where you plan to create your work. As an example, the UK doesn't have copyright registration, but the protection is still automatic.

In the US. You don't "need" to register because protection is automatic and everyone in the industry knows that. However, if you wish to bring a lawsuit against someone for infringement, you have to register it first with the copyright office. So, most people do. There is a fee to register and also to register updates, so most people wait until they are several drafts in before registering.

WGA registration doesn't do anything. The only thing they will do is show up in court and say the date and time you registered it, but they never see the actual file contents, so they have no way of saying making comments about the actual work.

WGA is great to register a synopsis. US Copyright registration is great to register a completed draft of your script. US Copyright registration will have better standing in court and allows you to sue for triple damages. The US Copyright & Patent Office offers some great workshops on the legal ins and outs of the process and dispels many myths like mailing yourself a copy of your work.