![]() ![]() When screenwriters deal with independent producers and production companies that aren't WGA signatories, these detailed rights within the MBA do not apply. ![]() Writers Guild members must abide by what is known as Working Rule 8, which states that members are to work for and sell or option literary material only to companies that have signed a collective bargaining agreement with the Guild, which means that guild members have to work with signatory companies and those signatory companies have to abide by the MBA statutes. The WGA negotiates rights that are part of the collective bargaining agreement - the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) - which covers most work done by Guild members and must be followed by WGA Signatory Companies. Covered Rights Only Apply to Guild Members and WGA Signatory Companies ![]() To explore these topics further, go to the WGA site HERE and seek the counsel of an entertainment lawyer. This is merely an easy breakdown to utilize as a guide for educational purposes. Note: ScreenCraft is not offering legal advice or representation within this post. Our focus will be more on feature script rights, while briefly touching on the expanded television writer rights. We'll use the provisions and overscale suggestions offered by the WGA and break them down to the finer points and broad explanations so that you, the screenwriter, will know your creative rights in any given situation in Hollywood. A simple IMDBPro lookup will do you wonders in that respect.īut beyond that, what are your protected rights as a screenwriter? It's just not a logical thing to worry about as long as you keep a tight record of who you submit the project to and always be sure that you're submitting your work to legitimate companies. The biggest mistake screenwriters can make is to back off on marketing their concepts for fear of them being stolen. ![]() And the powers that be that conjured their own version of it beat me to the punch. But the truth is that it was just a concept that was ripe to be conjured by many. I hear and read that fear on a daily basis from people. Most novice screenwriters would declare that somehow the network and producers got a hold of their pitch and stole it. I was selling it on pitch only during other meetings, so there was no script - just the overall concept. Needless to say, I went through the production company names, producer names, and such, and found no connection to who I had taken it to. When the trailer for NBC's renewed show Timeless came out, my jaw dropped - it was as if I had jumped forward in time and was watching the trailer of my own series that I had been developing and pitching for years. Each episode would cover an iconic moment of history, offering a unique history lesson as the group tried to find the man that had run amok with the technology. One of their peers decided to go rogue with the technology, and a specialized team was sent to race after him in time. They tried to keep the technology a secret from the public, military, and government to avoid misuse of it. It was a time travel show embedded in reality about a team of historians that had time travel technology that they used to investigate historical moments. I pitched a television series to some key individuals in the studio system a few years back. Thus it's only natural that a large collective of creative minds will often come up with similar content. Everyone is influenced by the movies, television shows, and literary fiction that came before. The truth is, original ideas are hard to come by these days. Screenwriters need to understand both their protected rights - which we'll cover below - but also the reality that just because a studio or production company has released a film with similar concept, stories, settings, and characters doesn't mean that they've somehow stolen those elements from them. The reason most companies won't accept unsolicited material is the sole reaction of frivolous and unwarranted lawsuits of the past. Studios and companies don't like to be sued, whether the lawsuits in question have weight or are frivolous money-grabs. We live in a litigation-happy world where millions of dollars can be at stake. The tales of studios or producers simply taking a script and changing out the names and settings to "make it their own" just doesn't happen anymore - at least when dealing with legitimate individuals and companies. Hollywood is more risk-averse than it ever has been. While this has and will happen on occasion, the truth of the matter is that these instances are usually single anomalies spread out over the course of decades. We've all heard and read the cautionary tales of Hollywood stealing the ideas of screenwriters. Hollywood is a pretty big and intimidating place for many. What protected rights should screenwriters be aware of as they market their scripts and negotiate contracts? ![]()
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