[NEohioPAL]note to screenwriters

[Brandi L.]

If you are in the business of stealing intellectual property, all you
> would have to do is send yourself an unsealed envelope with postage
> appropriate for a 120 page screenplay (or for really cheap people,
> postage for a CD ROM).  Then, when you decide to hawk someone else's
> hard work, all you have to do is put hard copy in the postmarked
> unsealed envelope and seal it, then cry foul.

ACTUALLY, WHEN YOU SIGN AND DATE THE WORK IN PROGRESS, AND ALL REVISIONS
THEREAFTER I'D SAY IT WOULD BE A MORE DIFFICULT BURDEN FOR THE THIEF TO
PROVE, since the POSTMARK from the US POSTAL SERVICE is near to impossible
to alter, even if the 'thief' might have one hard copy.  I know I sign and
date, and often notarize scripts I mail back to myself, prior to
copyrighting them 'officially."

 Better:  Take a copy of your work to a third party computer like kinko's
> and burn it to CD.  The creation date on the CD will stand a better
> chance of withholding scrutiny, since the creation date of your own
> computer can be easily manipulated.

Considering I save all my writing to discs, as well as my hard drive as a
protective measure, and all of my screenwriting students are instructed to
do the same, as well as MAIL EVERY SINGLE REVISION back to themselves, NOT
JUST THE FINISHED PRODUCT, I'm fairly confident anyone that stole any of my
work, or that of my screenwriting students, would have a very difficult time
proving their case since they would be void all the revisions that led up to
whatever document they hold and consider final in comparison to what the
real writer would have.

A POSTMARK in my opinion, exceeds or is at the very least equal to a third
party like KINKO's (where friends can work etc.) in legitimacy since
Postmarks are dated etc. and can not be altered.

I'm glad you raised the issues and are concerned with other screenwriters, I
assure you I am equally concerned since I do so much writing myself.  Thanks
for your copyrighting pointers; I will pass them on to my current and future
students as another option available to them to protect their work 'along
the way.'  You can never know too much about protecting yourself these days!

Take Care,

Brandi Lynn Borgia
Acid Entertainment & Third Eye Productions


----- Original Message -----
From: "Christopher" <kaimei at earthlink.net>
To: "Fred Sternfeld" <neohiopal at lists.fredsternfeld.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 3:49 PM
Subject: [NEohioPAL]note to screenwriters


> Greetings,
>
> It has been great to see brewing interest in screenwriting in the NE
> Ohio area.  A word of caution about protecting your work however:
> sending yourself a copy of your screenplay will NOT protect you in the
> event of an infringement.  It is very easy to cheat the system, and a
> person who wants to steal your ideas is hoping that is the only way
> you've protected yourself.  Here's why:
>
> If you are in the business of stealing intellectual property, all you
> would have to do is send yourself an unsealed envelope with postage
> appropriate for a 120 page screenplay (or for really cheap people,
> postage for a CD ROM).  Then, when you decide to hawk someone else's
> hard work, all you have to do is put hard copy in the postmarked
> unsealed envelope and seal it, then cry foul.  Even if you are the
> plaintiff in an infringement case, an experienced defendant will
> introduce the possibility that you performed the above detailed fraud to
> weigh the preponderance of evidence in their favor.  Remember, copyright
> infringement is a civil matter, not a criminal matter, the standard of
> evidence is not defined as beyond a reasonable doubt, but rather simply
> after weighing the preponderance of evidence.  The burden of proof is on
> you, the one infringed against to prove the other person stole your
> ideas from you.
>
> Sending yourself a copy of your work will not protect you.
>
> Better:  Take a copy of your work to a third party computer like kinko's
> and burn it to CD.  The creation date on the CD will stand a better
> chance of withholding scrutiny, since the creation date of your own
> computer can be easily manipulated.
>
> Better still:  Send your work to the copyright office.  Don't have a
> full screenplay, but want to protect your idea?  Send a treatment (a 4-5
> page summary of your entire screenplay) for copyright.  Granted, it
> takes a long time to get a certificate of copyright in your hands, but
> copyright is recognized the day the copyright office receives your work
> in the mail, provided you followed their instructions (filled out the
> form correctly and sent them the money.)  The short form is only one
> page, and it costs $30.  It's a small price to pay to avoid the
> disappointment of watching someone else make money off of your work...
> like I have.
>
> I will send a .pdf of the short form via email to anyone who requests
> one.  It can be found in the U.S. office of copyrights website after a
> tiny amount of digging, but I keep a copy to print out, because they get
> copious celebrity stalker amounts of mail submissions from me.
>
> got your back,
> Christopher K. Young
> www.shallowfocus.com
>
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