I need help regarding a script I've written

Writers Guild

Hi,

Congrats on getting your script written.

Can I suggest that you join the writers guild and get both your books and film scripts registered so that you have proof that they are your intellectual property.

If you want to make the film yourself, I would suggest finding an established indie film maker who has a good reel of short films, but is looking to move up into features.

You only have to give away as many rights as you negoitate. Usually, the copyright would remian with the author. Any producer who is attempting to obtain complete copyright of the script and intellectual ownership of the characters is probably not to be trusted. You will need a good media lawyer to take care of any contracts you sign.

You say that the characters already exist in book form. If you have already published, you will need to check your existing contracts with your publisher to see whether you have the right to make deals independently of them.

Hope this helps, good luck.

File for copyright with the Library of Congress. You can get forms & info here: http://www.copyright.gov/. Many people register screenplays with the Writer's Guild, but that registration has no legal standing in court. If you have a copyright registration from the Library of Congress, you can enforce your claim in court, and you may be entitled to triple damages if you win. You should also print a clear copyright notice on the cover & title page of your screenplay.

Copyright is better than WGA (and it cost about the same), as arniepix said, and just as clive stated, the rights are all in the paperwork. Also, it’s a negotiation. From a producer’s point of view, you never know what you get by asking, so many will start by asking for the moon and work back down to earthly expectations - especially since you’re new. The producer is going to want to have copyright control (or at least the rights to do with it as s/he sees fit so that it can be marketed) over the motion picture. If you’re concerned over aspects - like characters - of the film, then you need to make sure that you’re lawyer understands this so s/he can write in a clause to that effect. Basically, the producer will have the rights to the film, but no rights to the underlying story or characters. Therefore s/he cannot make something new with the story. Now, all I just said is based on the assumption that a producer buys your screenplay outright. If you want to retain copyright control over the film, then you’ll need to hire someone to make the script. You will stop being just a writer and take on the role of producer, and you’re just hiring someone to film it (which falls under the work-for-hire clauses in the copyright law and contracted workers have no intrinsic right to the final product). However this means you will probably have to come up with most or all of the financing.

Okay, at least that I can get somewhere now.
I haven't published my book yet because I haven't finished it, so I'll probably have to find an agent who deals with both film scripts and literary, won't I?
I'll find out from my local Copyright Board what the ins and outs of this are.

Thanks for your help . I really do appreciate it.

pagemaster

If you're feeling suitably assertive and lost you can call the US Copyright office and talk to someone in the legal department. You have to get through a long menu, and sometimes it takes two or three tries to get through. But once you do, they'll transfer you to someone with expertise in your area who will help to explain the ins and outs to you.

Major ammendments to copyright law have been made over the last decade or so on the back of a lot of lobbying by major corporations. These modifications have made the code difficult to understand, and they have limited the IP rights of content originators while broadening the rights of corporate owners.

An expert on copyright law, for example, can write a contract that looks good but severely limits your ownership rights to the book version of your story. It's sad, but it's an important reality. You shouldn't plunge into this without counsel, and you shouldn't take any steps without at least talking to the Copyright Office. Also, if you get a contract that mentions copyright code, be sure to study the elements of the code referred to. If the contract mentions the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, demand a plain-English explanation instead. The DMCA is rife with open language; open language has to be interpreted by courts; courts tend to decide in favor of the best lawyers; you probably can't afford someone as good as the legal team at a studio.

One more thing, but here I'm spouting heresay:

I've been hearing a lot about book-movie projects being hot in the publishing world right now. The publishers' preference, as I understand it, is to get their mitts on a virgin project that consists of both a quality book and a quality film script. They have relationships with film companies to get the film made, and they seem ot prefer take control of it. (A disadvantage I've heard is a lessening of control.) Result: you get your book in stores and your movie on the screen for a tiny sliver of a very large pie.

A tiny sliver of a very large pie.

I don't know about you, but I'd take it.

-E