How to copyright your script? Write it. Any original work is your copyright the moment it's done. Literally, as soon as your finger hits the key on your computer, your writing is copyrighted. Registration systems (including the government ones) are simply a verifiable date-stamp, nothing more.

If you have someone wanting to buy or option it, they're going to want the official registered copyright. If it's done before you shop it around, it saves you the wait time. I learned that from experience.

The timing of this article suggests members of the GITS community and their sworn leader are in my brain. I hope you find it a welcoming space, tea and biscuits in the frontal lobe. Thank you.

You're right, about the need for timestamps. What I've done is register the first draft I've submitted for competition with the WGA, and subsequent drafts with http://myfreecopyright.com/. But when I have something I feel is worth protecting, it'll certainly be registered with the USCO. Bear in mind that registering your script through the copyright office offers legal options that aren't available otherwise, most importantly the ability to sue for punitive damages. However, while it's wise to take steps to protect yourself in the case of a dispute, if you do decide to sue, you'd better have an *airtight* case. As far as I know, of the cases that went to court during the last 50 years or so, only Art Buchwald won his against the studios. Most of these cases get thrown out because the bar is set so high, and furthermore, if you do sue, you're not likely to ever work in the industry again. OTOH, while some do slip through the cracks, any producer or executive accused of stealing material will find themselves shunned. The best protection, imho, is to write more and better scripts.

Ha! You can thank Annika. I had a draft of the post from about a week ago, then found it on a search today. Felt like the right time to post. Synchronicity, eh? Thanks for biscuits. Delicious!

Pliny, you're right. If a writer is represented by a manager and/or agent in Hollywood,there is no worry about having one of your scripts ripped off. The film community there is actually quite small and if someone gets the reputation of ripping off other people, they don't work there for long. Believe it or not, much of the business deals in Hwood are based on people's good word. Agents and business affairs settle on numbers, swap an email, and that's good enough to get projects going even if deal memos or contracts take months to finalize. So write more and better scripts, while good advice in general, is also good in terms of being protected from IP theft because once you get representation, you are safe. If you are an aspiring screenwriter, you should copyright your finished original scripts. And if you are going to pitch a story, copyright a treatment. Better safe than sorry.

It's not the legit agents and managers I'm worried about. But out here, there are a lot of quasi managers and producers and really well meaning people who just haven't gotten off the ground yet the way a lot of us writers haven't and people swap scripts like folks on the Jersey Shore swap beds. It's THAT sort of thing that happens that's just part of the normal networking routine, people sizing you up by how well you write, and once you send something out in PDF, there's no telling where it will end up-- hence, better safe than sorry.

One of the points I've been trying to make on the screenwriting blogs I've visited is that Hollywood is actually far more ethical than places like Silicon Valley.

Do you have any tips on sending things out as PDFs? I know there are locking tools and no print options when you create a file. Are these helpful or hurtful?

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