Film Copyright

"Copyright" literally means the right to copy. The instant you commit your script or screenplay to paper, disc, video or film, you are a proud copyright holder... so how do you protect your copyrights?

What should I do to protect my script?

As a legal matter, your script is protected by copyright from the moment you express it in material form - or in other words - when you begin to type it up or write it down.

As a practical matter, it is always worth putting the "copyright notice" onto copies that you distribute, to remind people that it is protected, and to let them know that you're the copyright owner. The notice consists of the "copyright symbol" followed by your name or the name of your company (not a registered busienss name). You can also put the relevant year. For example: "© FirstName LastName 2010".