Patenting your work...

[scitek]

I'd like to patent a couple of scripts I have written if I am ever to post them for review on the net. I want them protected from thieves. How would I go about doing this? They are both original works by myself, and I would hate to see my ideas turn up somewhere else.

[LastResortMan]

You can copyright your scripts with the Writer's Guild

[NzoMatrix]

Found this site with options to copyright or register your work.

www.screenplay.com/resources/legal/copyrights/index.html

[IndieFilm]

You can copyright your manuscripts at the Library of Congress or with the Writer's Guild of America.

If you can't afford to spring for the thirty or so bucks that would cost, you could try what's called "the poor man's copyright", which is this:

Mail your screenplay to yourself via Registered Mail (the kind where you have to sign for it upon receipt). DO NOT OPEN IT. This way, you have your screenplay in a sealed envelope, with a date stamped on it. If you fear someone has ripped off your screenplay, simply take the envelope to court, show it's still sealed, open it, and voila - your script inside, with the date stamped on the envelope showing you wrote it first. Some pro's are hesitant that this method might not stand up in court, while other pro's swear by it.

[nomicon]

I've used Writesafe and Protectrite to register/protect
some of my screenplays. You can go to either website
and upload your work -- I think both are less expensive than than copyright route.

[goriddle]

I recently looked into copyrighting a script. There are a lot more fees involved than just the actual registering with the library of congress. I counted 3 total before trashing the idea. I know one of them was researching to see if your idea is truly original and that one was $30. I took the registered mail route and I also had the script itself notorized for good measure. It is also good to put the date and copyright symbol so people know that it is not public domain.