How to Register your Work- WGA vs. Copyright Office?

By: Tifanie Jodeh

Throughout my career, I have had the unfortunate experience in receiving calls from writers, producers and directors informing me that their work has been copied or used without their permission.  My very first question is to ask if the work had been registered.  Almost 80% respond in the negative! That's not only damaging to your rights in protecting against the unauthorized use, but it becomes very personal to the writer as the work is his/hers’ “baby”.  

Do not let this happen to you!  Let us help protect your “baby”. 

Hence, I make a call to action for all of you writers, producers and directors out there!  You need to protect your scripts, stageplays, novels, drawings, pitch presentations, poems, short stories, films, sizzle reels, webisodes, treatments and the like!  The expense in doing so is far outweighed when compared to the realities of the options available to you otherwise. 

Our office offers fast, reliable, inexpensive and competent registration services of your work.  Register your work today!

FAQ:

Registration- WGA vs. Copyright Office?

Registering with the Writers Guild of America is useful because it creates a public record of your claim to authorship.  The registration is simple and response time is faster than that of the Copyright office.  There are actually two separate guilds, the WGA west and WGA east.

Is it better to register at one guild over the other?  The WGA east has a fee for non-members that is $2 more, but it keeps registered work on file for 10 years as opposed to the 5 years you get with the WGA west.

Note, that the WGA registration is available for written specimens only.  In other words, you cannot register audio-visual works such as a film, webisode or sizzle reel.

Though WGA registration is less expensive, quick and convenient, do not believe that it is a substitute for registering your work with the U.S. Copyright Office.  Plus, for those of you with audio-visual works to protect (such as a sizzle reel, movie trailer or motion picture), copyright registration is your only protection! 

Copyright registration offers additional benefits:

1. Registration lasts for the life of the copyright; meaning the author's life plus 70 years.
2. You can seek federal statutory damages and reimbursement of legal fees rather than just "actual damages and infringer's profits" that you might otherwise receive.
3. Your work is protected to the fullest extent of the law, worldwide.
4. Proof of chain of title.  Studios, distributors, sales executives, producers and executive producers often require proof of copyright registration before your project can be "greenlit" for production.
5. The rights will be able to pass to heirs in a will, living trust or through intestacy.

Is there a downside to registering with the Copyright Office?  It costs more and it generally takes longer (approximately four to six months) to receive the official certificate. The processing time is somewhat negligible because the registration is time/date stamped at to when the work was filed and, therefore, you can claim copyright registration “pending” in the meantime.  Copyright protection is deemed effective as of that date.

Should you register with both a WGA branch and the Copyright Office?  There’s no need. I have had clients ask me to do both, which, given that the fees involved are nominal there’s really no harm in additional records of protection available to you.  However, as between the WGA and the Copyright office, I recommend 100% go the Copyright Office route. 

Fees?  We help you bypass the complex and expensive process of registering your work on your own. Our fees range between $69-120 depending on the type of application. Additionally, filing fees are $10 for WGA members at either guild, $20 for non-members at the WGA west, $22 for non-members at the WGA east.  As for the copyright office, a fee is between $35-$85 (depending the type of work it is) will give you the satisfaction of full governmental protection. I recommend having someone like me, an entertainment attorney, oversee the application, as it can be complicated depending on the work being registered. 

Notices?  If you register a script with the WGA, make sure to state "WGA Registered" notice on the title page.  Once the certificate is received, Copyright notices consist of three parts, placed in any order: the word "Copyright" or the copyright symbol, the name(s) of the copyright owner, and the date the material was copyrighted (created).

When you register your work, you can be assured that your it is properly protected to the fullest extent of the law.  By using our legal service, you’ll also benefit of our expertise in the entertainment industry. 

COPYRIGHT and DISCLAIMER:

Tifanie Jodeh is Partner at Entertainment Law Partners dedicated to corporate, business and entertainment affairs.  You may contact her at Asst@entlawpartners.com.

Tifanie Jodeh grants column recipients permission to copy and distribute this column and distribute it free of charge, provided that copies are distributed for educational and non-profit use, no changes or revisions are made, all copies clearly attribute the article to its author and include its copyright notice.

DISCLAIMER: Readers should consult with a lawyer before solely relying on any information contained herein.