Do I need register my film for copyright thing?
- Thread starter chlsy8
- Start date
You already have the copyright to your film. Adding "copyright 201X by chlsy8 productions" is an additional thing you can do at no cost.
Paying for additional service is money wasted and offers ZERO additional protection.
Good luck.
Paying for additional service is money wasted and offers ZERO additional protection.
Good luck.
In theory, your film is copyrighted as soon as it's done.
You can register the date officially with the Copyright Office www.CopyRight.gov , though, in case you ever need to be able to legally prove that date in the future. It's like $25 and a copy of the film, or thereabouts. That peace of mind is worth it to many people. Not so much to others.
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You can register the date officially with the Copyright Office www.CopyRight.gov , though, in case you ever need to be able to legally prove that date in the future. It's like $25 and a copy of the film, or thereabouts. That peace of mind is worth it to many people. Not so much to others.
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I have to call BS on this. Online Copyright is only 35$ but what you DO get from that is monetary damages. Without a filed copyright you may be able to prove it is yours and therefore you are the copyright owner, however without it being filed at the copyright office you are NOT entitled to monetary damages. So in fact, there is additional protection by filing.
If you go through the process of creating and financing a film it only makes sense to protect with a filed copyright.
I filed a copyright of my screenplay right before we started shooting, and of the completed movie once it was done. It took about 6 months to get the copyright certificate in the mail. Given the amount of money, time, and work that went into completing the movie, I didn't hesitate to go the extra step to be sure that I'm protected as much as possible.
Guerrilla's advice is excellent if you never have a copyright issue
in the future. Save the $35.
However, if you do register the copyright of the final film your
copyright will be protected in the unlikely situation that someone
else tried to copy your work. Some, like Guerrilla, feel the automatic
copyright is enough. In most cases it is. I'm one who spends the
$35 to register the copyright officially.
in the future. Save the $35.
However, if you do register the copyright of the final film your
copyright will be protected in the unlikely situation that someone
else tried to copy your work. Some, like Guerrilla, feel the automatic
copyright is enough. In most cases it is. I'm one who spends the
$35 to register the copyright officially.
Not true. This is the real BS.
Most people are unaware that the hardest thing to "prove" in a copyright lawsuit is not ownership, but rather, the ability to show the owner suffered financial harm as a result of someone stealing your work. No financial harm, no case.
Given that the precedence for low budget indie films making a profit is next to zero (for both yours and the person who stole your film), so even if you "win" the chances you'll get money is zero.
Bigger budget productions will have the services of entertainment attorneys and they'll take care of copyright registration as a part of a package deal.
If you're asking in a forum if you need to register your film for "protection" then you're likely not a filmmaker that needs to do so.
The copyright law is crystal clear -- you own the work as soon as the work is done (or each stage of it as you go along).
I rather spend the $35 dollars on pizza for the cast/crew.
Some sites like YouTube may ask to see a copy of your Library of Congress copyright registration in order to remove content. That's why I always register my works.
They've never asked me for that and I've reported numerous cases of people re uploading my films.
Agreed, I suspect that person's claim isn't true. Full copyright ownership by law doesn't cost anything and for YouTube to require that you pay for copyright "registeration" it in order to keep your own work up doesn't ring right at all.