You can also seal the script/movie in an envelope, and mail it to yourself certified...but never open it unless there is a copyright issue--this is the poor man's copyright method. Don't worry, it's completely binding in court.
Called "the poorman's copyright" it can easily be faked and won't
hold up in court.
According to the official copyright website (copyright.gov):
“The practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is
sometimes called a poor man’s copyright. There is no provision in
the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is
not a substitute for registration.”
Of course you can save that pesky fee and use this myth. If
nothing ever happens and you never need to prove the date your
writing was registered, then you're in good shape and you have
saved $30.
If some time in the future you need to show proof of ownership
with a specific date, your sealed envelope won't offer that proof
in a court of law.
For a documentary on this subject I interviewed sixteen lawyers
who specialize in copyright infringement in New York, Los Angeles,
Austin and Chicago. I spoke to five judges and fourteen established
writers.
In five years of research I have never found a single case, nor
heard officially of a single case where this method has held up in
court. I managed to tracked down six people (writers,
photographers and composers) who had tried and failed in court.
Type "poorman's copyright" into Google and you'll find several
hundred articles written about this. Use it if you must, but use
it knowing the facts.
http://www.snopes.com/legal/postmark.asp
Poor-man’s copyright.
http://www.legalzoom.com/articles/article_content/article13787.html
Try this yourself:
Take a blank envelope and write your own address on it. DO NOT
SEAL THE ENVELOPE. Mail the envelope to yourself. In DEC 2011,
when a new big hit movie comes out, pick up a copy of the script,
scan it into your screenwriting software, change some stuff
around, print it and put it into the envelope with the March 2010
date and THEN seal it.
You now have an envelope posted in Mar 2010 with your work version
of the script that is AMAZINGLY similar to the version in the
theaters. Any well paid copyright lawyer can poke holes in the
“poorman’s copyright”. It is not completely binding in court.
