Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Story
    Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Story
    Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Story
    Ebook89 pages1 hour

    Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Story

    By Barry Pearson

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Literary property theft happens every day.

    Written by a writer, for writers, Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Story will help you protect yourself against plagiarists and anyone else who might infringe your right of sole ownership.

    What if you wrote a script and later saw an eerily similar plot in a famous movie? Find out why Eric Ryder went to court against James Cameron over Avatar, and how you can avoid a similar battle.

    What should you do if you’re writing with a partner? Find out what happened to one deal that went sour.

    Do you have to register your work? Use a copyright symbol? What about other countries? Find out the steps you need to take, and hear how the author avoided a messy lawsuit.

    Can you copyright an idea?

    Are you afraid even to talk to someone about your great idea or work-in-progress? Find out what could happen, and how to protect yourself.

    Can you use a character invented by another author?

    What about a title?

    A plot?

    Read about some famous examples of plagiarism that went to court. Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Story will show you how to avoid inadvertently plagiarizing someone else’s work.

    What if Hollywood comes calling? Learn how to safeguard your idea, script, or story when a buyer or agent wants to option or purchase your work in order to turn it into a movie or television production.

    You may think you have a strong knowledge of copyright, but if you’re a writer in any field, Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Story is a book you can’t afford NOT to have.

    Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Story is a stripped-down readable summary of copyright, full of entertaining anecdotes and real-life examples.

    Read about the true horror stories that clearly show you what you need to do to avoid the misfortune of having your literary material stolen.

    Find out:
    * How to take simple inexpensive steps to protect yourself, before, during, and after you write your literary work.

    * How copyright law applies to writers of literary works.

    * How literary works enter public domain, and how you can use it to your advantage.

    * What aspects of literary works are protected by copyright, and what aspects are not protected.

    * How to create documentation that will prove your copyright entitlement in the event of an infringement on your rights.

    * How you can protect yourself if you are contracted to write for television.

    And that’s not all! You’ll also get a FREE sample of an Option and Purchase Agreement, the typical standard contract used in the acquisition of rights in a literary property—a contract that you and your lawyer can customize for your property.

    Barry Pearson is a published author, and a writer/producer in the film and television business.

    His producer credits include the 2009 movie Iron Road, an international co-production with China, starring Peter O’Toole and Sam Neill.

    In addition to his writer credits on eight feature films, he has produced over 300 episodes of series television.

    Among his awards are Best Screenplay, Best Picture, at the International Film &Television Festival of New York, and Best Screenplay, Feature Film, at the 12th International Film Festival in Sitges, Spain, and a Special Jury Award, Feature Film, at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBarry Pearson
    Release dateOct 8, 2013
    ISBN9781301380275
    Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Story
    Author

    Barry Pearson

    Barry Pearson is a writer/producer. His script and producing credits include IRON ROAD, an international co-production with China, starring Peter O’Toole, Sam Neill, Sun Li, and Tony Leung Ka Fai. The series has aired on television around the world, and has been released theatrically. * Other feature films include ISAAC LITTLEFEATHERS, ALIEN WARRIOR, and PLAGUE. * His awards include: Best Screenplay, Best Picture, International Film &Television Festival of New York for THE LIFE AND TIMES OF EDWIN ALONZO BOYD; Best Screenplay, Feature Film, 12th International Film Festival in Sitges, Spain for PLAGUE; Special Jury Award, Feature Film, San Francisco International Film Festival for PLAGUE. * Watch for his upcoming short story thriller BURN THE SHOES, and novel, CITIZEN OF AMERICA, which centers on a wild young man who escapes the constabulary in Ireland and sails to the U.S. in the early 1800's seeking success and prosperity. * Read more at citizenofamerica.net

    Related to Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Story

    Titles in the series (1)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Performing Arts For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      What Makes Keanu Reeves So Great? 2 Chicago Writers Reflect In A New Essay Collection

      Oct 30, 2019

      Keanu Reeves. The name evokes visions of a rain-soaked Johnny Utah from "Point Break" or a very bronzed Prince Siddhartha in "Little Buddha" or the cancerous and weary John Constantine in the 2005 eponymously named film where hell and heaven is a day

      4 min read

    • Article

      © Opyright Basics

      Mar 4, 2021

      Celebrating its 21st anniversary on 26 April 2021, World Intellectual Property Day recognises the impact intellectual properties have on our day-to-day lives. As writers, many of us wouldn’t have a writing business if it wasn’t for copyright, because

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Nitty-Gritty

      Dec 16, 2020

      SAY you’ve just written a scene into your novel in which a character puts in her earbuds and joins Adele in belting out a few lines from her 2015 hit “Hello.” Or say you’ve written a collection of essays and want to use quotations from your favorite

      8 min read

    • Article

      Foreign Rights Sales

      Dec 21, 2020

      Foreign Rights Sales
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Fine Print

      Apr 12, 2023

      LET us imagine you’ve sold that book you’ve been working on for years. Say, too, that you and your publisher have hammered out the broad terms of a deal you can live with. When the contract shows up in your inbox, you may well let loose a private lit

      9 min read

    • Article

      Fight for Your Rights

      Oct 10, 2018

      By Laura Maylene Walter I HAVE long advocated for writers to understand the terms set forth by author agreements and publishing contracts—and to be careful about signing away the rights to their creative work. Still, I understand the temptation to fo

      10 min read

    • Article

      Writers’ Rights

      Dec 3, 2020

      You have a moral right to be identified as the author of your work whenever it is used, and to object to derogatory treatment of your work. This right sits at the heart of the copyright laws that underpin the publishing and creative industries, enabl

      3 min read

    • Article

      Your Book’s Next Chapter

      Dec 11, 2023

      Your Book’s Next Chapter
      7 min read

    • Article

      Get Published

      Apr 4, 2024

      By Gary Dalkin Sometimes massive corporations are either breathtaking in their audacity, or incredibly naive as to the likely response to their actions, writes Gary Dalkin. Case in point, Findaway Voices, a cross-platform audiobook distribution serv

      2 min read

    • Article

      Film and Audio Rights 101

      Jul 31, 2019

      Film and Audio Rights 101
      6 min read

    • Article

      Publishing from a To Z

      Jul 17, 2021

      Publishing from a To Z
      9 min read

    • Article

      Brewed For Thought

      Feb 11, 2018

      Brewed For Thought
      5 min read

    • Article

      10 Surprising (or Surprisingly Common) Estate Planning Mistakes

      Jun 1, 2018

      When it comes to wills, as a financial planner, I've seen a lot of sad, unfortunate or just plain weird things happen over the years. Poor estate documents can lead to people accidentally cutting loved ones out of inheritances, paying big tax bills u

      5 min read

    • Article

      Legal Deposit

      Jan 7, 2021

      Legal Deposit
      6 min read

    • Article

      About Us

      Feb 15, 2021

      About Us
      7 min read

    • Article

      Funny You Should Ask

      May 8, 2019

      Dear FYSA, When a contract is negotiated, what are the main points an author should be aware of? What is that process like? Love, Legal-Ease My Mind Dear Legal-Ease, After you make a verbal deal with an editor, the editor and I agree on the b

      3 min read

    • Article

      Literary Legacy

      Mar 5, 2020

      Literary Legacy
      3 min read

    • Article

      Convention Season Is Here

      Jul 9, 2021

      Convention Season Is Here
      6 min read

    • Article

      Poetry Book Contracts: What to Know Before You Sign

      Apr 29, 2021

      Here’s what you should read carefully, what you might be able to negotiate, and a few things that might be red flags. The post Poetry Book Contracts: What to Know Before You Sign appeared first on The Millions.

      12 min read

    • Article

      Negotiating Your Contract

      Apr 10, 2019

      FOR many writers, an agent agreement or publishing contract can be an elusive thing. As with four-leaf clovers, having one in your hand can feel like a matter of luck as much as hard work and perseverance. Because of the dismaying odds and long years

      6 min read

    • Article

      Funny You Should Ask

      Oct 18, 2021

      People ask you all kinds of questions here, but they all boil down to one big question, can you answer as simply as possible: How do you get a book published?Sincerely,Hunting for Blunt I laughed out loud at this question because in this column and i

      2 min read

    • Article

      Love Thy Neighbour!

      Aug 22, 2023

      Love Thy Neighbour!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Book In To Book Fair?

      Mar 7, 2024

      A The London Book Fair, our publishing trade show, takes place in West London this month and many potential authors wonder if it’s worth a visit. Publishers, agents and authors gather at this huge trade event in Olympia, with much of the emphasis on

      3 min read

    • Article

      Wd 101

      Apr 12, 2021

      Sharpen your pencils for a pop quiz: Which of these qualifies as a “fair use” of another’s work? A. When I use part of an old work that is in the public domain. (Nope. If something is in the public domain, it is no longer—or never was—protected by co

      5 min read

    • Article

      Who Has A Right In The Copy?

      Jan 29, 2023

      Who Has A Right In The Copy?
      6 min read

    • Article

      Listen Up!

      Apr 3, 2018

      MICHAEL BOURNE is a contributing editor of Poets & Writers Magazine. FOR nearly thirty years Chris Lynch, president and publisher of Simon & Schuster Audio, has had a front-row seat for the audiobook revolution. In 1989, when Lynch first joined Simon

      9 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Story

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Story - Barry Pearson

      Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Story

      By

      Barry Pearson

      Volume 1 in the series Story and Screenplay Savvy

      Copyright © 2013 by Barry Pearson

      My website: Create Your Screenplay

      E-Mail Barry

      All rights reserved.

      Smashwords Edition

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Conventions.

      No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by reviewers, who may quote passages in a review. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Cover art by Barry Pearson and Marjorie Lamb

      Published by Rosedale Film Ventures

      Table of Contents

      Some words of caution

      Infringement of copyright

      The 16th Century precedent

      Copyright in manuscript

      Registering your work

      The Value of the Public Domain

      What you can, and can't, protect

      The particular way authors have expressed themselves

      The Martin Amis/Jacob Epstein episode

      The alleged 'Cameron Conspiracy'

      Protect yourself, or 'seller beware'

      The Gold Copyright Blues

      Loose lips sink ships

      Making the rounds – and getting stung

      Leave a paper trail

      A-shopping we will go

      You've got an offer!

      The O and P

      Chain of title

      Writing with a partner

      Plagiarism pops up everywhere

      The TV business – how not to die like a dog

      Questions and answers

      Summary of how to protect your work

      Sample of an Option and Purchase Agreement

      Acknowledgments

      About the author

      Some words of caution

      The Author is not a lawyer; therefore, nothing in this book should be construed as legal advice. Readers are urged to consult a lawyer for legal advice. The Author assumes no responsibility for any actions taken by readers, whether or not said readers have consulted a lawyer in doing so.

      Infringement of copyright

      The act of ripping off intellectual property settles under a number of names. Infringement of copyright is one of those terms, and a good one, because in the real world people rarely steal whole works, the way they steal cell phones or iPads.

      In the real world people steal a writer's work, his or her literary property, by using all or part of that work without permission or compensation. And this happens in all types of intellectual and artistic endeavors: literature, movies, live theater, television, music, painting, engraving, and various industries across the globe.

      In addition, a writer’s story can be stolen before and after it is sold.

      How after? By a devious, or careless purchase agreement.

      Don’t Let Anyone Steal Your Story will help you learn to be knowledgeable and careful as you pick your way through the minefield of negotiation and contracting that faces you.

      If your hopes and dreams come true, and a Hollywood producer makes an offer to buy your screenplay, or your freshly minted novel or short story, what do you do then?

      You could be particularly vulnerable to theft of pieces of your potential benefits, like residuals, spinoffs, sequels, and merchandising, so...

      You will, of course, retain an entertainment lawyer, before signing anything.

      Even if you don’t belong to a guild, clauses from a guild’s Collective Bargaining Agreement can be used in your non-guild contract; therefore, you need to gain an understanding of the guild’s applicable clauses. (That’s called not reinventing the wheel.)

      Even if you have a lawyer, an agent, and membership in a writers’ guild, it will help immensely if you understand the process of a literary property sale. Your knowledge will empower you to give your professional advisors effective direction.

      The keystone of a sale of a literary property to movie or television buyers is the Option and Purchase agreement. At the end of the book, there is a boilerplate sample of an

      O and P Agreement used in one of the Author’s sales. Feel free to take it to your lawyer for discussion on how to structure your own O and P Agreement.

      The 16th Century precedent

      How's this for a story synopsis? When a Prince's father dies and his mother remarries almost immediately, he assumes a guise of madness in order to manipulate the affairs of his kingdom, but ends up killing himself and a spy.

      Recognize that one?

      It was written around the 12th Century. Its title is Vita Amlethi, and its author is Saxo Grammaticus.

      So four hundred years later, a scribbler in Elizabethan England flipped the letters of the title around a bit and came out with Hamlet. Shakespeare made a practice of building his masterpieces on existing stories like the works of Seneca and the chronicles of Holinshed and Fabyan. Fortunately for him and his contemporaries, everything was in the public domain.

      Or, on second thought, maybe not so fortunately because he and his fellow writers had no protection against theft of

      their works.

      Copyright in manuscript

      I have corresponded with many writers who believed that copyright is acquired when one registers one's work with the Copyright Office in the country in which you reside.

      Not true.

      A writer establishes copyright the minute he or she writes words down. A writer remains the owner of the copyright to his or her written works, even if the printed manuscripts have been sold and have never been registered anywhere.

      185 countries belong to the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO which co-ordinates copyright issues among its members. Most of the world’s English-speaking countries belong, and have signed treaties, which means that your creative work is protected almost everywhere in the world, whether or not you have registered the work.

      Of the larger English speaking countries, only Canada and the U.S. have registries; Australia, India, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand do not.

      Here are links to the Copyright offices for these six countries:

      Australia, Attorney-General's Department/Intellectual property and copyright (Australia does not have a formal registration system.)

      Canadian copyright office (Canada has an official registration system for copyright, available to non-Canadian citizens.)

      U.K. Intellectual Property Office (Information about intellectual property. The United Kingdom does not have an official registration system for copyright.)

      U.S. copyright office (The U.S. has an official registration system for copyright, available to non-U.S. citizens.)

      India has a Governmental copyright registry

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1