US Copyright Office / Photo Credit: US Copyright Office
REGISTERING YOUR SCRIPT WITH THE US COPYRIGHT OFFICE (In the Entertainment industry.)
Bruce Bisbey…please follow me at: https://dumbdogproductionsllc.blogspot.com or https://www.facebook.com/DumbDogProductionsLLC/ thank you.
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. An original work of authorship is a work that is independently created by a human author and possesses at least some minimal degree of creativity. A work is “fixed” when it is captured (either by or under the authority of an author) in a sufficiently permanent medium such that the work can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated for more than a short time. Copyright protection in the United States exists automatically from the moment the original work of authorship is fixed.
The Copyright Office is housed on the fourth floor of the James Madison Memorial Building of the Library of Congress, at 101 Independence Avenue, SE, in Washington, DC.
Advantages of Registering Your Copyright
The advantages of registering a copyright include the following:
1. Establishes a public record of the copyright holder's ownership.
2. Enables copyright holders to sue infringers in federal court.
3. If made before or within 5 years of publication, establishes sufficient evidence in court concerning the validity of the copyright and the facts stated in the copyright certificate.
4. If registration is made within 3 months of publication of the work or at any time prior to an infringement of the work, the copyright owner is entitled to seek statutory damages and attorney's fees in federal court. Without registration, only an award of actual damages and profits will be available, and these can be quite difficult to prove.
5. Allows the copyright owner to record the registration with U.S. Customs to protect against the importation of infringing copies into the US.
What Works Are Protected?
Examples of copyrightable works include
• Literary works…
• Musical works, including any accompanying words…
• Dramatic works, including any accompanying music...
• Pantomimes and choreographic works...
• Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works…
• Motion pictures and other audiovisual works…
• Sound recordings, which are works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds…
• Architectural works…
These categories should be viewed broadly for the purpose of registering your work. For example, computer programs and certain “compilations” can be registered as “literary works”; maps and technical drawings can be registered as “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.”
The United States Copyright Office (sometimes abbreviated USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is the official U.S. government body that maintains records of copyright registration in the United States including a Copyright Catalog. It is used by copyright title searchers who are attempting to clear a chain of title for copyrighted works.
The head of the Copyright Office is called the Register of Copyrights.
History
The United States Constitution gives Congress the power to enact laws establishing a system of copyright in the United States. The first federal copyright law, called the Copyright Act of 1790, was enacted in May 1790 (with the first work being registered within two weeks). Originally, claims were recorded by Clerks of U.S. district courts. In 1870, copyright functions were centralized in the Library of Congress under the direction of the then Librarian of Congress Ainsworth Rand Spofford. The Copyright Office became a separate department of the Library of Congress in 1897, and Thorvald Solberg was appointed the first Register of Copyrights.
As well as the US Copyright Office it is highly recommended that you register your project/material with the WGA-West, Writers Guild of America.
WGA-WEST, WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA
No matter where you are located on the globe be smart and register your property before shopping or showing your idea (s) and any material. Once registered, please have a NDA - NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT signed by anyone you show or present your material too, period. They don’t sign, you don’t show. Studios usually will not sign a NDA, for many legal and real reasons. So presenting to them can be a gamble. Let’s face it all they need is an idea and they can create from there and/or take a different direction or concept of an idea.
Always register your property with the WGAW Registry, which accepts stage plays, novels, books, short stories, poems, commercials, lyrics, drawings, music, working title, idea or concept and various media work such as Web series, code, and other digital content. A WGA registration documents the creation date.
The purpose of a WGA registration is to establish and document the completion date of the literary property and protect the writer from plagiarism or theft. With a constant flow of projects being pitched to executives on a daily basis, it is not uncommon for some concepts to become muddled over time until finally, their origins are completely lost. A writer must protect himself or herself against this by establishing a date of creation through the WGA registry.
Not only is WGA registration used as an evidentiary tool, but in the event of litigation, the WGA will provide one of their employees to appear and testify concerning the date of the registration. Registration is a small step that you can take to protect yourself and the good news is that the process is simple, quick and affordable. WGA registration is available to anyone, anywhere, whether or not you are a member of the WGA.
WGAW Registry
7000 West Third St.,
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 782-4500
E-mail: WGAW Registry
Registering Your Script with the WGA West
Sources, References & Credits: Bruce Bisbey, Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, WikiBooks, Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New York Film Academy, The Balance, Careers Hub, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide Magazine, Blurb, Media Match, Future Learn, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Chron, Investopedia, Variety, No Film School, How Stuff Works, WGA, BBC, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Bright Hub, Career Trend, Producer's Code of Credits, Truity, Production Hub, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Variety, Wolf Crow, Get In Media, Production Beast, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, UCAS, Frankenbite, Realty 101, Liberty Me, Careers Hub, Sokanu, Raindance, Film Connection, Cast & Crew, Entertainment Partners, My Job Search, Prospects, David Mullich, Gear Shift, Video University, Oxford Dictionaries’, Boredom Therapy, The Bold Italic, Meets the Eye Studio, The Guardian, Elliot Grove, Jones on art, Creative Plant, Studio Binder, Film Tool Kit, Still Motion, Film Under Ground, Steves Digicams, Improve Photography, Guy Nockels, Namib Films, Film Support, Screen Craft, Movie Outline, Stack Exchange, Ken Davenport – The Producers Perspective,
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US Copyright Office / Photo Credit: US Copyright Office
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