Script registration, or screenplay registration, is simply the process of filing your script with a third party, as a way of filing away potential evidence in case you should ever need to prove authorship of your screenplay in the future, say if you’re involved in a lawsuit with some producer or other third party who may have taken your screenplay without your permission, and profited from it somehow.
The process involves sending a copy of your screenplay to the third party, so that they may simply keep it on file, associated with your personal information, in case it needs to be accessed in the future.
Typically, script registration is commonly done by The Writers Guild, or WGA (WGAe for Writers Guild East, WGAw for Writers Guild West). The Writers Guild charges a fee ($20 for non-Guild Members, $10 for Guild Members), then files your script for up to 5 years, and will generally provide proof of that script registration in a dispute. This not only serves as evidence in a dispute, but also files an official record as to when which writer submitted which work, in order to assist in determining compensation.
Script registration does not typically include filing a Copyright with the US Library of Congress. That is a separate process, but one which many screenwriters have found to be mandatory in securing the authorship rights of their script. A registered Copyright is the only way you can take your case to Federal court, where most copyright lawsuits take place.
Third party script registration and/or document registration companies exist outside of the WGA and the US Library of Congress. Companies such as Protect Rite offer a paid script registration service similar to the WGA’s paid service.
Where Screenplay Vault fits in is that we provide free registration and script vaulting which augments your script’s chain of title and/or proof of authorship and/or date of authorship for up to ten years. However, we do not charge for this service, as we feel every screenwriter has the right to register a script or scripts, and prove that he or she has full legal title to it, should the need arise. In addition, it costs us very little to accept, log, and maintain electronic, time-stamped documents in our secure vaulting server.
