I'm learning copyright law, but I'm not up on it, so don't quote me, because I'm just not familiar with this area to give advice.
But, as I understand copyright law, you can't copyright an idea or storyline. So Shaekespeare, if he was alive, cannot sue the producers of "West Side Story" for stealing "Romeo and Juliet", nor can he sue the producers of "Forbidden Planet" for stealing "The Tempest".
But, if the producers took a writer's script, modified it, and used it to make a movie, then they would be liable. This apparently happened with Art Buchwald, who sued Paramount Pictures, and the court ruled that "Coming to America" was indeed based on Buchwald's earlier script, because they had access to it and had done substantial work on it.
So, again as I understand the law, for a writer to succeed in suing BBC for stealing "Orphan Black", he would have to show the company had access to his script and used it as a basis for their series.
That, by the way, is why so many people - including me - are putting disclaimers on their correspondence - this has, in fact, become standard practice.
But, as I understand copyright law, you can't copyright an idea or storyline. So Shaekespeare, if he was alive, cannot sue the producers of "West Side Story" for stealing "Romeo and Juliet", nor can he sue the producers of "Forbidden Planet" for stealing "The Tempest".
But, if the producers took a writer's script, modified it, and used it to make a movie, then they would be liable. This apparently happened with Art Buchwald, who sued Paramount Pictures, and the court ruled that "Coming to America" was indeed based on Buchwald's earlier script, because they had access to it and had done substantial work on it.
So, again as I understand the law, for a writer to succeed in suing BBC for stealing "Orphan Black", he would have to show the company had access to his script and used it as a basis for their series.
That, by the way, is why so many people - including me - are putting disclaimers on their correspondence - this has, in fact, become standard practice.