Film Courage: What are your thoughts on Hollywood stealing an unknown writer’s idea?
Does this happen a lot?
Mark Sanderson, Screenwriter/Author: I think it happens a lot less than people believe
because my writing partner and I used to say we’d make more money off of the lawsuit
than we would on the screenplay, you know?
Go ahead and steal.
It would be such a pleasure for you to steal our idea that it means it’s something good.
But writers do…writers ask me “Okay, what is this process of copyright before I let
anybody read it?”
I was like “Okay, you can copyright the script.
It takes a process, it’s money or you can register at the guild.”
Or some say that by the mere existence of creating it, it’s a copyright so there are
all sorts of factors but what I’ve read is that the copyright would protect you more
in court.
But the thing of that is you never own a copyright of a screenplay because the minute you sell
it it becomes a work for hire.
So you always have to sign over your rights to the company so that was given away a long
time ago in guild negotiations that the writer never owns the copy of the script.
So it’s okay to do that but when you see on the cover ‘Registered WGAW #126555,’
that’s just a giveaway of like an amateur that is afraid of my stuff being stolen, you
know what I mean?
No professional writes that on the cover of a script.
I think professionals expect you to do your due diligence and I think the more chance
of something being stolen is a pitch because that is out in the ether you know?
I was saying, my writing partner and I would go on these pitch fests that their agent would
send us on to like 12 companies and we’d do the same pitch around town and at 2 o’clock
we’ve got something with this person.
And our agent/manager would ask us “How did it go?”
And we’d say “Well…it didn’t…they didn’t, their eyes didn’t light up.”
And they’d go “Maybe you should switch it and change this element.”
So from the afternoon on we changed a different version of the thing but my point is it’s
all a living, breathing thing.
Somebody could wake up the next morning and go…now they might not be the exact pitch
but let’s say an element of it and you know I have an idea?
And that works in, what do you do about that?
But you can’t be that way where you think everybody is going to steal your stuff.
It’s just not…you can be smart and when you send out your script you should keep track
in a log or journal or spreadsheet who is reading the script every time out.
If you don’t have an agent or manager who that’s their job obviously they will know
that.
It will be through an official channel.
But if somebody says “Oh give me the script, I work at the company.”
That goes down, who read it?
When?
Because these are important things to know who, you don’t want to send…you want to
know who is reading it.
That’s important too because if it starts getting bad feedback you never hear about
it and then suddenly you’re like “Why didn’t I get a meeting with that company?”
Because people are talking now.
In the old days it would go in a database and there would be coverage in the studio
and you couldn’t fool them because they’d go [imitates typing into a computer] “Oh…we
read that…two years ago.
They’re trying to pawn that off on us again?”
So I wouldn’t be too fearful and there was a few stories about outright theft but I think
it’s so…you can’t be afraid to send your stuff out.
And it’s sort of an arrogant idea “Well my idea is so genius that they’re going
to steal it!”
Like a studio doesn’t have enough amazing ideas already and your might be the one they
take but it would be a good lawsuit.
Film Courage: But that being said don’t be irresponsible sending it out.
Log the date, the place, the address even?
Mark: Oh yeah, keep it all because you want to keep track of who is reading your stuff.
You want to keep in control of that.
That is why when writers post their stuff like a script up on their web page I would
say don’t do that.
You don’t know who is reading it.
You don’t know who is stealing your ideas.
You have no way of tracking that.
If you’re afraid of that that’s even worse because somebody is just going to your website
and I know it’s a way to promote your stuff but that is not the way to have your full
script on your website for someone just to read.
Who is reading it?
You want to keep track of that.