Copyrighting treatments with copyright office?

Question

I wrote my first screenplay treatment, not the screenplay just a 14 page treatment (narrative synopsis, scene sequences, from start to finish for the film). Is that copyrightable with the US Library of Congress Copyright Office (I am a US citizen), and if so would I use Form PA? I see that screenplays are copyrightable with the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress but do not see anything mentioned on their site about screenplay treatments. And advice appreciated, thank you. ~Randall

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I wrote my first screenplay treatment, not the screenplay just a 14 page treatment (narrative synopsis, scene sequences, from start ... of Congress but do not see anything mentioned on their site about screenplay treatments. And advice appreciated, thank you. ~Randall[/nq]
Dunno about the LoC but you can reegister a treatment with the Writers Guild.

"Anybody can direct. There are only 11 good writers." ? Mel Brooks

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[nq:1]I wrote my first screenplay treatment, not the screenplay just a 14 page treatment (narrative synopsis, scene sequences, from start ... of Congress but do not see anything mentioned on their site about screenplay treatments. And advice appreciated, thank you. ~Randall[/nq]Hi, Randall. Yes, you can copyright a treatments, but...the first thing you need to determine is whether you're in a situation where doing that is appropriate.You say it's a treatment for a first screenplay you have yet to write. First off some information about copyright law and screenwriting: Your work is fully copyright protected (as if the copyright were registered) as a treatment for a script or as a screenplay from the moment you write it. Because screenplays are not "published for sale to the public," but are circulated among prospective buyers (studios, prodcos, producers, people who make movies), they are protected differently than, say, a novel that is being sold to the public.

So you don't need to copyright your treatment or screenplay until someone plagiarizes it, then you have to have REGISTERED your copyright before you go to court. As a matter of personal choice, I do copyright my screenplays when my first draft is done as insurance against forgetting to do that should I be fortunate enough to have some very "deep pockets" entity plagiarize my work. So it's entirely up to you whether you copyright the treatment and/or the script when you finish it.

Do NOT waste your money on WGA registration. If you feel a need, go for the copyright.

Yes, use the Performing Arts form. And when/if you mail in your material to the copyright office, send it either registered or certified, whichever is cheaper, so that you get one of those green postcards back stamped with the date it was delivered and with a signature on it from someone at the copyright office. Keep the card in a safe place. The copyright office always runs slow, sometimes creepingly slow, and once you get your registration form back, staple the green post card to it. It will show a date several weeks or months earlier than the registration certificate and will superced it as your date of copyright.
Good luck whatever you decide,
Caroline

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I wrote my first screenplay treatment, not the screenplay just ... site about screenplay treatments. And advice appreciated, thank you. ~Randall[/nq]
[nq:1]Hi, Randall. Yes, you can copyright a treatments, but...the first thing you need to determine is whether you're in a situation where doing that is appropriate.[/nq]
Thing about treatments to nonexistent (as of yet) screenplays is, there's a good chance the script will undergo significant changes while it's being written and details are being fleshed out. ****, it might end up being something else entirely. So you end up with a copyrighted for a script that will never exist.
For that same reason, there's no point in shopping around the aforementioned treatment. So, copyrighting is premature at this point, unless it's being circulated around for some other valid reason.
jaybee

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I wrote my first screenplay treatment, not the screenplay just a 14 page treatment (narrative synopsis, scene sequences, from start ... of Congress but do not see anything mentioned on their site about screenplay treatments. And advice appreciated, thank you. ~Randall[/nq]
For what it's worth, the FAQ for this group has some information and pointers to the LoC site. It also includes info garnered by a member of MWSM who called the LoC to clarify a few things.
http://www.panix.com/~mwsm/faq.html#loc
Alan Brooks

A with an Underwood
Good LoC
MWSM FAQ: http://www.panix.com/~mwsm/faq.html
Filtering Trolls: http://www.panix.com/~mwsm/trolls.html

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[nq:1]Thank you for the faq link, and to others who also responded. I did registered the treatment (two drafts) with ... course the more detailed the better; amazing since it was a Sunday, and such a fast reply from the LOC.[/nq]
Your government never sleeps.

The Peripatetic Samurai Robot

Copyrighting treatments with copyright office?

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