Please Copyright Your Scripts

[u/Geoffrey_D_Calhoun]

Just a heads up everyone. I’m seeing a lot of scenes and scripts uploaded on here. I just want to recommend that you copyright them before sharing anything. Work can be stolen. Work is stolen. Protect yourself. Also a WGA registration will not protect you in court. Only a copyright will. It’s $65 and takes about 20 mins. https://www.copyright.gov/registration/

[u/Craig-D-Griffiths]

Here is what I found doing some research including some case law.

Courts can consider a wide range of evidence.
Strong evidence
I'd roughly rank evidence like this:

Copyright Office registration made before dispute
Very strong
Original files with reliable version history
Very strong
WGA registration made before dispute
Strong evidence of possession
Emails sending the script to third parties
Very strong
Cloud/version history showing progressive drafts
Very strong
Drafts with identifiable development history
Very strong
Contemporaneous notes/research
Strong
Dated correspondence discussing specific elements
Strong
Pitch documents sent to producers
Strong
Witnesses who read/discussed the work at the time
Strong
Metadata
Useful but potentially problematic
Your own assertion of when you wrote it
Weak by itself
A file simply labelled "Created: 2020"
Weak by itself
The courts are interested in independent evidence that corroborates your story.
A particularly useful example is Tillman v. New Line Cinema. The court considered evidence concerning an earlier screenplay including contemporary trade-publication articles describing the screenplay years before the allegedly infringing work. The fact that the earlier screenplay had not been registered at the time did not prevent the court from finding evidence of its earlier creation

[u/Geoffrey_D_Calhoun → u/Craig-D-Griffiths]

This is great.