If you were wondering whether at all in these early posts we intend to reveal the plot, main characters and any clever twist then you'll be disappointed. And therein lies one of our first dilemma - how much do we reveal about our ideas before we have a first draft of a script?
You see on the one hand we have our desire to blog about the making of the film, warts and all and on the other we are concerned about sharing what we believe to be a unique story and film, lest we become the innocent victims of unscrupulous screenwriters! First of all I'm not suggesting that the thousands of readers we get reading our blog are unscrupulous nor screenwriters for that matter. Nor am I suggesting screenwriters are an unscrupulous bunch. I am simply concerned about the possibility of our idea appearing on the side of a London bus as the next feature premiering in the capital. Could happen right?
We have spent many hours deliberating over this single issue and I have started to wonder whether we are slightly paranoid and a little delusional. But then I don't suppose we are the first to ponder this and we certainly won't be the last. So how do other independent film-makers approach this dilemma? There didn't seem to be many film-makers that we looking to blog about their films during the embryonic stages. (Probably too busy with more important stuff) So I thought about the issue in its broadest sense. How can a film-maker share their ideas with others for whatever reason and at the same time sleep at night safe in the knowledge that their IP is protected? It also got me thinking about all the feature films out there that perhaps were once allegedly the idea of someone else.
Copyrighting
When you copyright something you claim ownership of that intangible asset in much the same way the deeds to your house give claim of ownership to that tangible asset. Copyright arises automatically on the creation of the material and is conditional upon the material being original; being recorded in a permanent form; originates from the author; and involves a substantial amount of independent skill and labour by the creator. What is meant by substantial skill is open to interpretation. Copyright in the film industry is slightly more complex than other industries due to the many different aspects of a film meaning therefore there are numerous contributors to a film and no one single creator of a film. Copyright in film can exisit in the following;
>Artistic
>Dramatic
>Literary
>Musical
>Film
>Sound recordings
>Broadcasts
>Performance
>Published editions
For a film, the period for copyright extends to 70 years after the death of the last to die of the writer, director, producer or composer.
Protecting Your Work
Copyright occurs automatically when a script is created but proving it was written before another similar work can sometimes be difficult. You can email or post the script back to yourself to show the date it was created or alternatively there are a number of script registration services available. To show others, in the most simple way, that you have copyright in a work, you can add a © to the work along with your name and the date. You may also choose to register your copyright with a copyright registration service such as the UK Copyright Service or The Script Factory has a registration service. Another useful service that allows you to register your work is http://www.digiprove.co.uk/index.aspx
Films Allegedly Plagiarised
Surprisingly there was quite a lot of data available on the information superhighway that related to films that have allegedly been plagiarised, the first one that sprang to mind was the DA-Vinci code where it was claimed that Dan Brown, the author of the bestselling thriller The Da Vinci Code was accused of stealing the plot of his novel. Two authors claimed breach of copyright on the grounds that the "architecture" of their book 'The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail which was written over 20 years ago was plagiarised in Dan Brown's successful thriller.
Check this site out for more claims of plagiarism.http://www.weirdwildrealm.com/f-amistad-plagiarist.html
Diamond Diver's Dilemma
To conclude I think at this stage we'd be foolish to divulge our ideas, concepts, characters, plots until our script is complete and we are in discussions with our investors. Our aim is reach this stage by late autumn. So expect a lot more then.
Lesson No.5# Cover your ass and keep your cards close to your vest until you've got a polished script.
