ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

11 years, 6 months ago - Martin Belderson

A lot of people get confused over copyright and film in the UK. That's usually because most mentions of film copyright on the web tend to be about how US law applies to the problem and the (usually good but US-specific) advice is phrased in such general terms that it sounds the rest of the world should follow the same route. As everyone else has said, it is not necessary to register copyright in the UK. If a case comes to court, the judge will weigh up the evidence and apply common sense. If you're the writer, you will have ample proof that the story originated with you. Just make sure you read with great care any contract you sign with a production company/screenwriting comp. You need to be aware of any reassignation of copyright hidden in it. Ignorance is not a defence. The full break-down of how written and film copyright is assigned can be checked out at the UK Intellectual Property Office website (https://ipo.gov.uk).

As far as the WGA and the US Copyright Office goes, I get the impression (and I'd appreciate Dan's take on this) that the US courts have copped out by insisting that registration is the only acceptable proof rather than looking at other evidence which can be contradictory. However, it costs money to register at the USCO. Imagine what it's like for photographers.

If you want to find out about competitions then your regional screen agency, the BFI, and Creative England would all be good places to start looking.

11 years, 6 months ago - Guy Ducker

Yes, I would recommend saving your money as far as WGA registration is concerned, unless your short has to have the backing of a Hollywood studio (unlikely). Basically if you have old drafts, notes and correspondence relating to the short film idea, this is all evidence that could be used, were you to want to take a case to law.
That said, going to law over a short film would be pretty pointless. If, of course, it happens to be plagarised by a young A-list actor turned director, that would Transform the situation.

11 years, 6 months ago - Dan Selakovich

Well, Martin, if something is created here, it is considered to be protected. That's why the WGA can get away with charging 35 bucks to stick your script in an envelope and call it "protected." That's also why I wouldn't worry about a short film. It's still protected, and has a long, paper chain of creative history.

But registering the work officially, whether here or in the U.K. is a stronger legal argument. And there are copyright contract agreements between countries. If I wrote a novel here in the U.S., and copyrighted it here, then I don't have to worry about selling it in the U.K. without a U.K. copyright, and vice versa.

It's when stolen, that things can get murky. Offering work up to the marketplace results in all kinds of legal issues. Let's say you wrote a novel, then published it yourself as an ebook and gave away the first 100 "copies". A studio decides to make a movie based on it and not bother to get permission. If you didn't bother to copyright it and offered it to the public for free, there's an argument there on the side of the studio that you offered your work to the public domain. While other things like outlines, notes, and such--the creative history of a work--are definitely in your favor, that is ONE specific argument to creative theft. That is one small piece of the puzzle--a very obvious piece--to copyright law. In real life, things are much more gray than that. A friend of mine is a portrait photographer--mostly celebrities. She owns the copyright on the photo, but can she sell it to a magazine? Does George Clooney have a right to his image on a private sitting he paid for? Can George Clooney give this photograph to a magazine doing a story on him without infringing on the photographer's copyright?

As a small example, before 1978, and I'm doing this from memory so the time may be off, if you published a book, for example, and you got a copyright on it, that copyright would last for 24 years. You could renew the copyright for another 24 the last year of the 1st copyright. But if you didn't renew the copyright, that work would be in the public domain. That book that you wrote in 1970 would still have to be renewed in 1994 for the NEW copyright laws to apply (which I think is 75 years after the death of the author).

But now things are in a real mess. The DMCA is pretty screwy. Youtube won a copyright infringement case because the judge in the case deemed it impossible for Youtube to police its own site. It is now up to the copyright holder to find infringements. Speaking from my experience of having my book stolen, it is impossible to fight a site that is selling your stuff. You have to send them a DMCA notice to remove your work. Problem is, for every victory, you'll have 5 other sites putting your work up. And easily within the same day, the site that took your work down will have it up again. In that respect, copyrights are completely worthless.

In the end, would I get a copyright on a short film? No. But on a novel or feature screenplay? Fuck yes.

11 years, 6 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Copyright is automatic, however you need to be able to prove you did it first - this means registering the script with WGA or similar. All it means is you have a copy sealed and dated in their archive so you can use it in court as evidence if you need to sue.

11 years, 6 months ago - Alexandra Queen

Paddy Robinson-Griffin thank you for your answer :)

Shooters, what about script competitions for short films?

Alexandra!!!

11 years, 6 months ago - Alexandra Queen

Thanks for your reply Daniel, much appreciated! :)

Kind regards,

Alexandra!!!

11 years, 6 months ago - Dan Selakovich

I agree with Guy, here.

I'd like to add, and this is for everyone, that the WGA registration has no legal teeth. It's a waste of money as my entertainment attorney told me years ago. Register with the U.S. Copyright office if you're going to register it at all. But a short? I really wouldn't worry about it. If a studio wants to make a movie based on it, it's much easier just to pay you. They aren't the thieves everyone makes them out to be.

11 years, 6 months ago - Alexandra Queen

Many thanks to all of you! :)

Kind regards,

Alexandra!!!

11 years, 6 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

I agree that for a short it's not really a big deal, but as for 'it's different here in the UK', when you try selling a film you suddenly find all sorts of arcane deliverables requirements (all the chain of title stuff, various assignations, notarised opinions, etc) all centred around the US legal system, despite being a totally British production. The rights and wrongs of that are debatable, fact is you have to jump through those hoops anyway.

11 years, 6 months ago - Daniel Cormack

There aren't many short film script competitions and those that do arise tend to be quite ad hoc. I think Talent Circle had one recently, but it may be that the deadline had closed.

The one enduring competition run year-on-year was the British Short Screenplay Competition run by Kaos Films, but from their website it seems as though this hasn't run since 2012.

As for copyright, Paddy is right: it's yours by default (unless you are infringeing someone else's). Registering is only giving you proof for a potential court case, which, for a short film, is pretty unlikely.

If someone rips you off you can embarass them via social media, threaten to report them to the Met Police's Anti-Piracy Unit and the Federation Against Copyright Theft, but would you really spend money suing someone when short films don't really make any money?

There was the case of Shia LaBouef recently ripping off his short film from a comic, but it's unlikely anyone would give a rat-ass if he wasn't already a Hollywood star.