Screenwriting : Rights and risks by Andrea Zurlo

Yeah, there's always risk, but what's the alternative? Run a movie projector from your head via your eyes? Gotta show your work sooner or later, be it to director, producer, editor, publisher...considering you're from Europe, best way is to register it domestically, Italy's EU so I guess it will be valid all around...

Btw, did u get inspired to write this invisible man story? If so, there you go, you already "borrowed" it from someone else's fantasy...it's a cycle loop you, me, all of us almost do it without noticing...

That really sucks if someone took your work and used it without your consent and I have thought about this stuff before.

There was a really cool video that Shane Stanley did on Film Courage about stealing screenplays.

You've got to protect your work, but the problem is always how, what I do is I always email myself the 1st draft or an outline or something that shows the story and that way I am able to prove a timeline with something. Then incrementally as I go along send myself emails as I work. That way a progression in the work can be seen and it also serves as a journal of what I did and when.

If it ever comes to a dispute I have a lot of information that is timestamped with the email trail.

On the other hand I've always looked at it this way and I've had it happen with other aspects of filmmaking, where nobody in my local area did this, but once I started something, magically it appeared everywhere.

Remember if someone uses your work it means that your work is good enough to impress some people who have worked in the business for a long time and have experience. This means you can play at their level and it should at least serve as inspiration. Still sucks but at least it means something.

I think Shane said it best when he said that he keeps a journal and writes stuff down, a dossier of what happens.

Here's Shane's video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-e5qjqT2Zo

And I found this one too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7W6TeGK1hk

Your story tears me. Seeing part of your “story” posted by someone else must feel awful. And even with the disappointment that I feel when reading you.

I remember something that happened to me. In one of my books, there is a secret code (my original was "that date" and "that way"). A year or more after writing it, I rewatched a series that I really liked, (a Thai series with subtitles because I don't understand Thai). In that series, I saw the same idea of the code. I never, ever thought that I had plagiarized it, I did not remember I had seen it before. I realized I had.

I want to say that our stories can mark people in an unusual and unconscious way. If this director used something of yours a long time later, there remains the doubt of bad intentions, but not the doubt about the quality of your work. I would contact him again for “another” collaboration. But first, you have to be open to releasing your ideas to the world. remember if your stories are good they might get attention from others.

Hope everything goes well for you!!!

Kiril Maksimoski I know there are no alternatives but to register and to believe in honesty. I've never have this problem with publishers, for instance.

In this case, it was not a fact of getting inspired but of copying/pasting a scene. It'd be nice if people, even famous ones, consider others' work. I know we all get inspired by all the many books we read in our lives or movies seen but do not copy and paste as he did.

Copyright the work. Protect it. Keep various drafts on your computer that are dated. That way, several drafts will record your progression of the work. My Copyright certificates are locked away in a safe, each with a year of completion noted.

Thank you Vital Butinar for your reply. Yes, I also emailed myself and register my work, but if they used a concept or only a part of the script I don't know if you can do anything. Thank you for the videos, I'll take a look. I wish I can publish the novel so that I can be more relaxed about my rights.

Hi @Mei Lin Tong, and thank you for sharing. No, it did not happen long afterwards, only the necessary time to make a movie. It'd have been nice of him to contact me. Anyway, you're right there must be something good in my work if an Oscar-winner director stole my scene and idea.

I am sorry that you are faced with the theft of an idea. I'm very sorry for you. unfortunately, nothing can be done about it. you can either write or not write a script. I chose not to write for Russian cinema.

Sorry that happened, Andrea Zurlo. There's some great advice in the comments.

You can offer to write their next project and hint that they owe you one. Did they do what you say because they thought that your skills weren't quite there yet? In that case you'd have to first prove that you've developed enough.

So sorry to hear about your experience - sadly it happens all the time in the Industry and it can mess with your mind big time if you allow it, but don't let it. As Dan pointed out so rightly, unfortunately ideas aren’t protected under copyright laws and the reality is there is nothing you can do about it other than move on. I suggest you review your idea, take a total new, fresh spin on the original premise and write something much bigger and much better than what these "thieves" lifted from you and voila! There is a desperate need for great content out there from all the many different streaming companies right now! Never give up! Good luck!

Thank you all for your comments. For sure, I do protect my writing, send copies to myself, keep records... but as Dan pointed, ideas are not protected. How can I show that the scene was exactly mine? They don't care to contact me after reading the script Was, I never know their opinion. I was less experienced then, anyway it left a bad taste and I only go on writing novels, instead of scripts. Now I'm writing again scripts (based on my novels). And thank you Catalina for encouraging me!

I'm so sorry that this happened to you Andrea Zurlo! I second what others have said, ideas are not protected, and also no one can write your voice. Someone stealing entire scenes that are yours seems illegal (I'm not a lawyer), you have the script and the timeline of contacting them. But for the new project, if you've registered your novel and someone steals your execution again, then you would be able to take them to court. You could also self-publish it just to get the ownership on it sooner, and to be sure you own the film/tv rights (since your publisher might if you go the traditional route)

https://www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-protect-your-script-from-theft-3210?...

Thank you Emily J . Yes, when things are published I feel more protected, and is less likely for someone to steal your idea or concept.

Andrea Zurlo, I'm sorry that happened and that it's made you nervous to put yourself out there again. There's a lot of great advice in these comments. To support the suggestion of looking into self-publishing, there was a great conversation about that in the Authorship lounge last week and I've included the link for you below. The post comments included a lot of great advice.

https://www.stage32.com/lounge/playwriting/Any-one-used-Kickstarter-to-h...

Ciao Andrea! Mi dispiace per l'accaduto, soprattutto perché penso di sapere di quale regista tu stia parlando (la persona invisibile è un indizio rivelatore). Confermo comunque quello che hanno detto altri prima di me, è sempre meglio pubblicare prima (con i diritti annessi), giusto per sicurezza. Purtroppo il rischio è grande nell'industria, specie se si tratta di "parti di idee", sulle quali è sempre difficile identificare cosa è copiato e cosa non lo è. Il mio consiglio è quello di condividere, sul mercato, le idee che senti "meno tue" (so che è una cosa orribile da dire, ma è così), e di condividere quelle che senti "più tue" con contatti stretti con cui sei in confidenza.

Writers must (should)* file a copyright registration with the US Library of Congress (for US Copyright protection) or their local country copyright entity. A novel can be copyrighted (I would suggest translating to English, yes.) This provides copyright protection for a work. You cannot copyright an idea, a scene, a concept, only a complete work. WGA registration is not copyright protection. It is a filing system that some feel is helpful as a record. It does not have US copyright law protection behind it. *An implied copyright is afforded to writers under US copyright law. Always include © Year. Author on your cover page which offers additional protection. Filing with the US Copyright Office of the US Library of Congress is mandatory for anyone who is serious about their creative work being professionally executed, distributed/released (and protected.)

Always consult with a qualified entertainment attorney. Hope this is helpful.

Ciao Luca. Sono convinta che sai benissimo di chi parlo. E ci sono rimasta male. Allora ero molto "innocente", la opera era registrata, e ho creduto nella serietà delle persone mandando il mio script e progetto a loro per farlo leggere. Sono rimasta molto male, ma cosa potevo fare? Chiamare e farle sapere che la prima scena (quella del ragazzo che si alza e va verso lo specchio) tutta completa fino ad un certo punto, era una copia della mia. Certo, ha usato anche dei comportamenti del personaggio, diciamo che la mia storia è servita di ispirazione, molto deludente da una persona così famosa. Ad ogni modo, come hanno suggeriti molto, prima ci sarà la pubblicazione del romanzo (ambientato fra Amsterdam e Italia) e soltanto dopo penso che avrò il coraggio di cercare di presentare la sceneggiatura (forse fatta in inglese, non sono certa che ci sia spazio nel mercato italiano o spagnolo). Grazie.

Thank you Jack, yes, of course, it was registered (as I always do), but of course. as everybody said, a scene or an idea is not protected. Anyway, lesson learned.

So sorry to hear this happened to you Andrea. This is why everyone should register a screenplay with the USCO (which seems you did) and never send a screenplay to any production company or producer without them signing something to protect you and your ip. If I was you, contact an attorney and see what your options are.

So sorry to hear this Andrea Zurlo As others have said, you should register for a copyright (not just keeping copies and emails) before you send your work out. In the US, it only takes a few minutes. You must upload a copy of the work. If you had copyrighted the work, you could compare that copy to what was published by the production company that used your work. With that information, you could talk to an IP lawyer about whether or not what they did could be considered a derivative work. Without the registration certificate, it's tough. I'd ask an IP lawyer for what to do now and for what you can do in the future.

Ciao Andrea - Mi dispiace tanto per tutto cio… :/ I am a student and new to all these complications, but intuitively I did what some mentioned here by keeping a “track” of the development of the story with dates and even time stamps! I haven’t registered my story, since it’s not yet finished… it’s an idea, which got me so excited to book a pitch session! My first thought when I got some positive feedbacks from Michael Schulman during the pitch session was “what if he steal my story?” There’s a risk, but I still like to think he seemed very professional and by intuition I believe he would contact me to use my story. I realised there will be always a risk, cause we can’t always expect everyone having moral and decency nowadays, but we can still believe there will be decent eyes who will read our story and contact us for either work with us or permission to use our story. I myself would never want to work with people who had stolen my project, cause they already showed me their values and if I don’t share them, I will pass. However, I would try to take them to court for stealing my story. Any negative exposure for those who works focused on “audience interaction” has, even if minimal, a negative repercussion. My opinion

Thank you, Carmen. Sometimes it may be enough to ask: May I use some parts of your story? It looks like not everybody think so.

Andrea, ideas can be legally stolen, but the actual words of a scene may not. So if someone takes a section of your script or book and copies it nearly verbatim then they are infringing on your copyright. You still have rights under copyright law even if you did not register a script or novel with the copyright office. It is just more difficult to enforce. (I am talking about US Copyright law here. Every country is different.) With regards to your script, while it may be difficult to prove you own the copyright if you did not register it before sending it off, there are other methods of proving when you wrote it. For instance, word documents will often show the last time a document was updated. Or if you emailed the script to someone, that email could have a time stamp on it to prove when you wrote it. If you have any evidence to support when you wrote it or sent the script to the production company that used your opening scene, you should discuss the matter with a reputable copyright attorney to discuss your options. Good luck!

Andrea, my mum used to say “decency was born for everyone, but not everyone was born for decency”. It would be really nice to have asked you, and since they haven’t, I would sue them. They showed they have no decency and that’s why we have law to support us.

Thanks, Dan!

I pitched only once for Michael Schulman two days ago! I was really excited to hear his opinion!

My story is really great, but I have no experience to transform it into a movie. However, believe me or not, I am doing it by researching and studying!

I need a new computer though to start the pilot.

Carmen, make certain your completed script is copyrighted with the LOC before pitching. And don't forget to have them sign an NDA. There are bad guys everywhere.

Thanks E Langley - I will.

I’m new into this world of screenwriting and I just wanted his opinion. Kinda like confirming I was good enough to have a good story.

If he steals it, I think would be even better confirmation for me that I am good hahaha

Believe me, I am writing a story without having any experience. Just by reading and researching around. This means within me I have already the essence which is (I believe so) a gift from God, and I’m grateful for.

Here I am at 50 years old and I’ve got that feeling that I’ve finally found what I always dreamed to do professionally, but never found out earlier… it’s a great feeling!

Thank you Daniel, it was registered but I did not know about a scene been stolen. Anyway, the worst thing is that you remain afraid of showing your work, but what else can we do apart from trying to protect ourselves?