Protecting and Over-Protecting Your TV Script: Copyright, Ownership and Idea Theft (PT23)

Summary: Alex and Nick discuss the contentious subject of copyrighting and idea theft in television. From the WGA to the Copyright Office, we take a look at the basics of protecting your work.<br> <br> What does a copyright do? Should you register your TV spec script or pilot? Have there been cases of TV copyright infringements? Why is it important for TV writers to share their work?<br> <br> The Paper Team consults their legal team...<br> <br> SHOWNOTES<br> <br> Content<br> 1 - What is copyright or WGA West Registry vs. Copyright Office (1:01)<br> 2 - Common questions about copyright (04:06)<br> 3 - International copyright (9:55)<br> 4 - When you should copyright and if copyright is enforced in TV (12:00)<br> 5 - Why you should share your work instead of over-protecting it (19:02)<br> Takeaways (28:14)<br> <br> Links<br> <a href="https://www.wgawregistry.org/">WGA West Registry</a><br> <a href="https://www.copyright.gov/">U.S. Copyright Office</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Act_of_1976">Copyright Act of 1976</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authors'_rights">Authors' Rights (AKA "droit d'auteur")</a><br> <a href="http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/new-girl-copyright-infringement-fox-1201671747/">"Judge Rejects New Girl Idea Theft Case" - Variety</a><br> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20160410042019/http://www.seattlecopyrightwatch.com/copyright/forest-parks-breach-of-contract-suit-over-usa-networks-royal-pains-not-preempted-by-copyright-act/">"Forest Park's Breach of Contract Suit Over USA Network's 'Royal Pains' Not Preempted by Copyright Act" - Seattle Copyright Watch</a><br> <a href="http://johnaugust.com/2006/workshops-an-invitiation-to-idea-theft">John August's thoughts on idea theft</a><br> <a href="https://www.tv-calling.com/breaking-rules-speccing-and-sharing-star-trek-terran/">"Speccing and Sharing Star Trek: Terran" - TV Calling</a><br> <a href="http://okbjgm.weebly.com/downloads.html">Javier Grillo-Marxuach's "Experimental Design Bureau"</a><br> <a href="http://johnaugust.com/library">John August's draft library</a><br> <a href="http://www.avclub.com/article/read-darkly-comedic-seinfeld-spec-script-set-days--240577">"A darkly comedic Seinfeld spec script set days after 9/11" - AV Club</a><br> <br> Special thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/jasonjcohn">Jason J. Cohn</a> for helping us edit this episode.<br> <br> If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at <a href="http://paperteam.co/itunes">paperteam.co/itunes</a>! :)<br> <br> You can find Paper Team on Twitter:<br> Alex - <a href="https://twitter.com/TVCalling">@TVCalling</a><br> Nick - <a href="https://twitter.com/_njwatson">@_njwatson</a><br> If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: ask@paperteam.co<br> <br>