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How can I protect a website idea and a screenplay idea?

I have the opportunity to take a screenplay to someone in the film industry but how can I protect the idea? What if they say: not interested, but they turn around and do it anyway? Would an attorney take care of this? and is it expensive?


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

First of all, ideas in themselves cannot be registered for copyright. You need to have a completed screenplay for registration. Once your screenplay is finished, be sure that you register it with the Library of Congress for copyright. You can do this by going online to the Library of Congress Copyright Office Website at: http://www.copyright.gov/. On that site, you can download the appropriate registration form, fill it out, print it out and mail it into the Library of Congress along with the registration fee and a copy of the final script. This will protect your rights of ownership in the work.

Another alternative would be to register the screenplay with the Writers Guild of America, but registration with the WGA is only for a seven-year period and does not cover protection of your screenplay beyond that period of time unless you re-register the material. It is best to copyright all literary projects through the Library of Congress.

Because of the situations that you describe, it is always best to submit your screenplay through a literary agent. However, most agents, like the studios, do not accept unsolicited materials. You would have to search out a literary agent first, then send them a query letter to see if they would like to read and represent your literary works. You could have an entertainment attorney submit the work for you, but it would involve a fee. A literary agent, if you are able to secure one, would submit the property based entirely upon the standard agency commission.

It is rare that a production company would turn your script around without your consent and do it anyway, without credit or remuneration to you. However, it does happen, or at least companies have been accused of doing so, which is why the studios have tightened their submission requirements and insist on reading and considering only those scripts that have been submitted through a third party such as a literary agent, a business manager, or an entertainment attorney.

As for website ideas, it would most probably work the same way, in that ideas in themselves cannot be registered. The only way you could be guaranteed absolute protection would be to design the website yourself, and then find an appropriate host/webmaster who would work out a deal with you for its operation.