Once you've had it proofread the first thing is to establish the 'Chain of Title'. Unfortunately, we live in a world were mofo's will steal the stank off a corpse if they think they can get paid for it. That and like it or not, the Human Race has a 'Hive Mind'. Guaranteed, if you've written a script or story about a particular topic many others have done so as well at the same time! The difference between your script being seen as an 'original work' or just another 'knock off' depends on how quickly you legally establish your claim of creation and when you get it made into a film. Getting your script made is a much larger topic and will be brought up in another discussion.
What we will see in this discussion is how to establish the Chain of Title. There are a number of ways to get your 'mark' established on your completed work prior to publishing. Most are pretty flimsy, one is a solid start but not enough and the last is virtually 'Iron-clad'.
First up is the old 'Mailing your work to yourself via Certified Mail'. Don't do that. It's retarded. People used to think that by putting a copy of their work within a sealed certified mail envelope would be protection proving they had completed the work at a certain time. In many disputes over claims of content creation and ownership courts have ruled against persons having used that method regularly. Think of it being 'like a virgin'. The letter is only good long as it is 'sealed'. Problem is; to find out what's in the letter you have to open it and that can only be done once!
Another more commonly used but little known method is the very thing you're reading, blog and discussion posts. Now, this method is weak in that it does not provide any protection concerning your ownership of the work. What it does do, is show that the work was for the most part written by you and has been 'published'. That will come in handy when we get to the final method.
A really good method to establish the chain of title I highly recommend is to register your work with the Writers Guild of America (WGA). Now you don't have to be a member to register your script, treatment or novel. There is a small fee for the registration and you get a form with your registration number and the date of registration. Now, registering with the WGA does not provide 'proof of ownership'. What it does do is establish when the work was registered, by whom and who claims to be the author (hopefully that's you!) I suggest immediately after you complete your work you register it with the WGA. It will come in handy when combined with the next method.
Lastly the 'Iron-clad' way to establish both Authorship and Ownership of all rights to your work is to submit your work to the US Copyright Office. With your work copyrighted, it's a done deal. When you have the copyright forms in hand you have a hard to beat claim on your work. Notice I said 'hard to beat' not 'unbeatable'. This is where the chain of title comes in. The Chain of Title establishes the who, where and most important when the work was created by and hopefully published. When it comes to a copyright dispute in court the proof of ownership almost always comes down to 'who did it first'. So the faster you establish a chain - Written on a blog or website, published in novel or e-book format, registered with the WGA and received a Copyright from the USCO - the more you will have established a timeline that will be your evidence in court. Of course there will be other factors that may work for or against you in a potential dispute, but don't let your being too lazy to establish a chain of title be one of them!
For more info on registering with the WGA and the US Copyright Office go to:
http://www.wga.org/registration/index.html
http://www.copyright.gov/
*Note: When you get the form for registering your script with the Copyright Office, get the Form 'VA' (Visual Arts) not the 'TX' (Text). The TX form is what you would use for your novel. A Script is considered a Visual Arts work since it is 'published' by becoming a film.
In the next discussion, we'll talk about the other 'Now what?' when it comes to your script... getting it made!
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