Pitch protection...

Question

Group,I have a VERY HIGH CONCEPT pitch, that is simple, you can see the one sheet, and I have an actor that is perfect for the role.Now, I know ideas aren't copyrightable but at the same time, there has to be some type of pitch protection for when I approach someone.I hear pitches get bought all the time... How are those protected? Is it done as a courtesy, as in, "we better give them first shot at it or they might not do business wiht us again if we steal it and get to do it..."How does this work? Or is there no such thing?A.N.D.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]How does this work? Or is there no such thing?[/nq]
It works through personal integrity.
Ok, now that the regulars and anyone familiar with the inner workings of h'wood has cleaned the coffee splattered over their keyboard, let me translate.
When your Agent accompanies you to an meeting
at Universal to sit with several wealthy and powerful development folks, there is nothing you can do if
they decide to steal your idea. If that ever happens your only recourse is to make very certain that your Agent knows that if he does not support you (the
next time) that when you become the Next Big Thing, not only will Agent not get a cut, but every other NBT you have influence with will shun him.
Now it is totally vital that you communicate that small key bit of information using code words that any outside observer would hear as fawning sincere praise of said Agents business acumen and physical attributes. When you finally use the code word 'integrety' any Agent will know it means you are as cutthroat as he.
If there is no Agent involved or executives whose
names can be found in the Hollywood directory,
one should probably not be pitching a great idea.

Usenet · Answer

For whatever reasons, none of my posts have gotten through so far today (and most of yesterday). So here's one more try on this subject...
[nq:1]Group, I have a VERY HIGH CONCEPT pitch, that is simple, you can see the one sheet, and I have ... to do it..." How does this work? Or is there no such thing? A.N.D.[/nq]
Sheesh! Deal with people you trust. Oh. Wait. You don't have enough connections in the industry yet to do that. Soo... You CAN copyright "an idea." Write it out as a treatment, a short story, an outline, a draft, and pay your fee to the U.S. Copyright Office. Send it registered or certified, save the green postcard that proves delivery date and it will supercede the date your is copyright recorded. Then pictch to whomever you'd like.
But through all of these mental gymnastics on your part, remember: It is the EXECUTION that is worth money, NOT the idea!
Caroline

Usenet · Answer

Pitches (between pros) are protected by contract law.

Copyrighting a treatment/outline is a waste of time. Save it for the script.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Group, I have a VERY HIGH CONCEPT pitch, that is simple, you can see the one sheet, and I have ... to do it..." How does this work? Or is there no such thing? A.N.D.[/nq]
You have to understand that when a professional writer pitches, he's not "selling the pitch." He's selling himself, as a known quantity to the buyer, to write the finished screenplay of the story that he's pitching.
What it amounts to is this. Any writing that a professional writer does, as defined by the guild, including treatments, outlines whatever, can't be solicited by a producer on a speculative basis. So if they have a project and they're looking for writers, they can't say to ten or fifteen or twenty writers write up a treatment for this and let us look at it, and we'll pick the one that we like best.

That is, they may do it, but it's not really allowed. It is contrary to their agreement with the guild. If they say, "write us a treatment for X" that (writing a treatment) is work for hire, for which they should, in principle, pay you.
But they don't want to. They certainly don't want to pay a dozen prospective writers for treatments, or for anything else until they know that they want to buy his take on the project.

So "pitching" sort of takes the place of that. In effect, you're doing all of the work of writing a detailed treatment. In fact, many writers will actually write their pitch out - and it amounts to a treatment.

But it allows writers and producers to engage in a kind of legal fiction that the former are simply tossing out ideas about a potential approach to a potential screenplay. People are just talking. Nobody is actualy writing, nor has anyone been asked to write so nobody has to pay anybody.
Essentially, the pitch is the screenwriting equivalent to "putting in a bid" say, to build a building. That can involve a substantial amount of work, all speculative and the producers generally have many writers "bid" on a particular project, of which only one will get the gig.

But central to the premise of doing this is that the producer have confidence that whoever they hire will have the chops to execute the work at a professional level. They have to know your work.

That is true for assignments, and it is also true for original pitches. Unless they have good reason to believe that you can write the screenplay, nobody (apart from a handful of places who might simply pay you a small amount just for the pitch) is even going to listen to a pitch from you.
And while there is never (that I've ever heard of) an explicit contract between a pitching writer and a producer who has solicited the pitch, there are what are known as "standard business practices" which, even if not explicitly enunciated, can govern such interactions.

And the standard practice is that, if a producer brings a writer in to pitch a project, either for an assignment or for an original, the presumption the whole basis of the interaction is that if the producer likes the pitch, the writer writes it.
That, after all, is why the writer is there to pitch a project that he is looking to write.
If a producer hears the pitch, likes it, and then turns around and gets somebody else to write it, that probably won't be a copyright violation, but it would be a violation of contract law, since there is an implied, if not an explicit contract involved in the underlying reason for having a pitch meeting as it is generally understood in the business.
However, none of this has anything to do with you, because no producer is going to listen to a pitch from you. They simply won't.

Everybody, plus everybody's brother and everybody's kid and everybody's gardener has a "great idea" for a movie or a TV series or a song.

Really, truly nobody cares. Whenever somebody outside of the business comes up to me and tells me that they have a great idea, a little piece of me dies.
If it's a great idea, sit down and write a great screenplay from your great idea, and then submit it.
And then, if somebody buys it for a lot of money, you might be in a position where people will actually want to hear your next one.

NMS

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I have a VERY HIGH CONCEPT pitch, that is simple, you can see the one sheet, and I have an ... get to do it..." How does this work? Or is there no such thing?[/nq]
I think your best option is to write the script first that you can copyright. I've got a feeling that most stuff sold with a pitch are done so by folks who already have working relationships with the various studios.
Good luck.

RonB
"There's a story there...somewhere"

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I think your best option is to write the script first that you can copyright. I've got a feeling that most stuff sold with a pitch are done so by folks who already have working relationships with the various studios.[/nq]
Just to hammer this nail in - if your concept really is as rock solid as you think it is, then when you say to people, "I've got a script, it's about X" they'll want to read it.
-Ron

Usenet · Answer

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[nq:1]... connections in the industry yet to do that. Soo... You CAN copyright "an idea." Write it out as a ... that proves delivery date and it will supercede the date your is copyright recorded. Then pictch to whomever you'd like.[/nq]
All this does is copyright the text you have written down. The idea is still anyones for the taking.
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Paul William Tenny
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Usenet · Answer

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[nq:1]Pitches (between pros) are protected by contract law.[/nq]
Only if you have actually signed a contract, which I've never heard of happening for a pitch. (release forms do not cover ideas)
[nq:1]Copyrighting a treatment/outline is a waste of time. Save it for the script.[/nq]
I suppose it could be a waste of time if you were so ungodly slow that you took 8 solid hours to fill out a form, print the work, and mail it. This is something that really matters. While plagiarism may be rare, the fact is you can't sue over infringement until something has been registered with the copyright office. And if you do it post-contention, the potential damages go way down.

What you write is your life blood, and a few precautions to protect your career is never a waste of time.
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Paul William Tenny
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Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]... You CAN copyright "an idea." Write it out as ... draft, and pay your fee to the U.S. Copyright Office.[/nq]
[nq:1]All this does is copyright the text you have written down. The idea is still anyones for the taking.[/nq]
And then...
[nq:2]Copyrighting a treatment/outline is a waste of time. Save it for the script.[/nq]
[nq:1]I suppose it could be a waste of time if you were so ungodly slow that you took 8 solid ... you write is your life blood, and a few precautions to protect your career is never a waste of time.[/nq]
Well shoot, can we make up our minds about this?
jaybee

Usenet · Answer

Your posts aren't showing up on my news server, so some of this is cut and pasted from google.
[nq:2]Pitches (between pros) are protected by contract law.[/nq]
[nq:1]Only if you have actually signed a contract, which I've never heard of happening for a pitch. (release forms do not cover ideas)[/nq]
Think I cleared this up in a later reply about implied and oral contracts. The difficulty is having a record of the meeting.

Writers ideas can be borrowed from pitch meetings and the reality is there's little the writer can do about it if they want to have a career.
[nq:2]I suppose it could be a waste of time if ... work, and mail it. This is something that really matters.[/nq]
[nq:2]What you write is your life blood, and a few precautions to protect your career is never a waste of time.[/nq]
Suing does not protect writer's careers.
.
Copyright protects the exact expression of an idea. I don't see the point of registering copyright for an outline. For the script, of course (but for chain of title reasons, rather than to wage law).
Check out my Rights Detritus post, third one down:

http://tinyurl.com/kywof
[nq:1]Well shoot, can we make up our minds about this? jaybee[/nq]
If you don't have a solid agent/manager setting you up with pitch meetings (and keeping track of same), write the script first..

Otherwise, you are asking to get screwed. Hollywood may not steal scripts but the same can not be said for pitches/ideas, they are liable to be "picked out of the ether".

Pitch protection...

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