Understanding Legal Issues in Film Part 1: Drafting the Script

Disclaimer
I am a law student and therefore have no legal right to provide actual legal advice.  With that being said, I know that the process of making a film, especially for young, new filmmakers, can be daunting.  I mean other than focusing on what to actually film, the legal process for filmmakers is quite extensive.  Due to this, I wish to help you young filmmakers understand what legal issues you will be facing during your creative process.  This will be one of four articles that I will provide regarding these issues.  This first one will deal with legal issues while drafting the script, the second dealing with legal issues after the writing process but before filming, the third will deal with legal issues during the filming process, and finally the fourth one dealing with the legal issues after filming is completed.  I hope that you enjoy and find this helpful.  Once again before I begin, this should not be considered legal advice, but should be issues that you should discuss with a licensed lawyer.

First, when a producer gets an idea for a new movie, he receives these ideas through many different mediums.  These mediums can include: life stories, historical events, novels, short stories, magazine articles, original screenplays, plays, comic books, or an in-person pitch from a third-party.  Each one of these mediums may be protected.  This is called a copyright.

Copyright Law
Copyright Law is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) to an author of "original works of art".  This includes all literary works including scripts that are from original ideas.  As soon as an original script is written it is automatically protected under the law.
However, just like if you write something original and you own it, all the novels, plays, true stories, etc. that many movies are based on also have copyright protections on them as well, which are owned by someone else.  There is one exception to this rule though.  If you are hired by someone else to write something, then the original work that you created is owned by the employer that hired you.
There is one thing that you should know though, Titles and Ideas are not copyrighted.

So how do you go about obtaining the rights to other's works of art?
For works of art art that others have the rights to must generally be obtained from the original author and not the publishing company.  It is generally the producer's job to find out who owns the rights  In order to determine who the true owner of the "work of art" you can look at the registration records at the U.S. Copyright Office.  After determining the true owner, contact them to negotiate a deal to use their work.  Since most productions have limited funds, they usually try to obtain the motion picture rights for a specified time and for a specified price.
For real life events however, though the right to portray an actual event or person is protected by your First Amendment rights, you still have to be careful not to portray these events or people in a way that would violate their rights.  These violations include: defamation, right to privacy, and a violation a person's right to publicity.  If your film will damage a person's reputation in any way, fictionalizes a recognizable character, or releases information that is not yet public, please contact your lawyer before you begin writing.

How do you know what is ok to use in a film?
Generally, the best advice that I can give you is that if you are using a product, song, quote, or anything that has ever been written check the registration records at the U.S. Copyright Office.  It is better to be safe than sorry.

How to protect your own work?
Like I said before as soon as an original work is created it is automatically protected.  However, in order to fully establish and make known what you created, it would be wise to register your work at the U.S. Copyright Office.  You may also do this by registering with the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) for a fee of $20.00.  You can also contact them by phone at (323) 951-4000.  Once again though, this is not a requirement, but would probably be helpful in the long run.

Conclusion
I hope that I have answered a few of your questions regarding the legal issues you may face as you begin to write your script.  If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me by email at jakethefilmlawguy@gmail.com or comment below and I will get back to you as soon as possible.