How can I limit the chances of a writing partner ripping me off?
July 8, 2017 7:49 PM Subscribe
I'm talking with a couple of potential writing partners for screenplays/scripts. This has some good general information on best practices, but I've always been concerned with one possibility - what if the partner screws me over in some way? Specifically, is there anything (aside from finding someone who seems trustworthy) I can do to limit the possibility of the partner removing my name from a script we worked on together and submitting it as his own?
More on collaboration contracts and copyright, plus templates and more info.
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:48 PM on July 8, 2017
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:48 PM on July 8, 2017
If this was a software project, I'd suggest version control software. This would compile a record of who wrote what and when, who made a change and when. I'm sure there must be authoring software that tracks changes.
posted by SemiSalt at 6:08 AM on July 9, 2017
posted by SemiSalt at 6:08 AM on July 9, 2017
Don't go into business with a person if you have this worry. Trust your instincts a little, and develop them further by seeing what happens when you do.
As an independent, you likely do not have the financial wherewithal to pursue legal means if a business partner defrauds you of a small amount of money. The vanishingly rare likelihood of needing to decide who gets the millions and who gets the billions when you jointly write the next Harry Potter would be a nice problem to have, right?
Write with anyone you want as a hobby, but if you're going into business with someone, make it someone you trust. Then be very explicit about ownership and responsibilities among the parties.
posted by dbrunton at 6:09 AM on July 9, 2017
As an independent, you likely do not have the financial wherewithal to pursue legal means if a business partner defrauds you of a small amount of money. The vanishingly rare likelihood of needing to decide who gets the millions and who gets the billions when you jointly write the next Harry Potter would be a nice problem to have, right?
Write with anyone you want as a hobby, but if you're going into business with someone, make it someone you trust. Then be very explicit about ownership and responsibilities among the parties.
posted by dbrunton at 6:09 AM on July 9, 2017
> Don't go into business with a person if you have this worry. Trust your instincts a little, and develop them further by seeing what happens when you do.
This is, of course, good advice, but it is also fairly useless. Getting ripped off is common enough in business dealings in general, but it is nearly universal in the movie industry, which is founded on a major-league ripoff (there's no such thing as a profitable film using Hollywood's arcane definitions) and in which everybody is clawing over everybody else to get ahead. And no, you can't tell the people who will rip you off by looking deeply into their eyes, or even by spending time with them and doing business with them. I happen to have secondhand but close exposure to this, and I can tell you that even the nicest people can and will screw you over if they feel it's useful to their own career.
So yeah, nail it down contractually as best you can, but don't trust anyone farther than you can throw them or you will wind up disappointed.
posted by languagehat at 9:18 AM on July 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is, of course, good advice, but it is also fairly useless. Getting ripped off is common enough in business dealings in general, but it is nearly universal in the movie industry, which is founded on a major-league ripoff (there's no such thing as a profitable film using Hollywood's arcane definitions) and in which everybody is clawing over everybody else to get ahead. And no, you can't tell the people who will rip you off by looking deeply into their eyes, or even by spending time with them and doing business with them. I happen to have secondhand but close exposure to this, and I can tell you that even the nicest people can and will screw you over if they feel it's useful to their own career.
So yeah, nail it down contractually as best you can, but don't trust anyone farther than you can throw them or you will wind up disappointed.
posted by languagehat at 9:18 AM on July 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
If you're collaborating together electronically, there would be a very large trail of evidence to show that the two of you were working together. Especially if you work together via a few different services - even if they could wipe records from one, getting them all would be difficult.
posted by Candleman at 9:40 AM on July 9, 2017
posted by Candleman at 9:40 AM on July 9, 2017
I can do to limit the possibility of the partner removing my name from a script we worked on together and submitting it as his own?
Short of having someone surveilled and electronically shadowed, not much.
Keep dated copies that have both names on them. PDF versions and email them to yourselves periodically. That obviously doesn't stop him from literally attempting to submit a copy without your name on it, but it makes it trivial for you to produce proof.
At a certain point, though, you either have to decide not to collaborate or to accept there's a chance. People who are determined to screw you will find a way, and you can't necessarily tell by looking. It may not be their intention up front, but a decision made later, and you can't stop them from making that decision.
If this is spec material, there's very little chance it'll actually get produced, which is where there's a fair amount of legal interest in appropriate credit, so it's unlikely something you co-wrote would actually make it to photography without the problem coming to light. But yeah, anybody can put their name on anything and show it to someone in a meeting and claim it's theirs and maybe get away with it and get work from it. Whether that works out for them, if they get away with it, is anybody's guess.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:32 PM on July 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
Short of having someone surveilled and electronically shadowed, not much.
Keep dated copies that have both names on them. PDF versions and email them to yourselves periodically. That obviously doesn't stop him from literally attempting to submit a copy without your name on it, but it makes it trivial for you to produce proof.
At a certain point, though, you either have to decide not to collaborate or to accept there's a chance. People who are determined to screw you will find a way, and you can't necessarily tell by looking. It may not be their intention up front, but a decision made later, and you can't stop them from making that decision.
If this is spec material, there's very little chance it'll actually get produced, which is where there's a fair amount of legal interest in appropriate credit, so it's unlikely something you co-wrote would actually make it to photography without the problem coming to light. But yeah, anybody can put their name on anything and show it to someone in a meeting and claim it's theirs and maybe get away with it and get work from it. Whether that works out for them, if they get away with it, is anybody's guess.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:32 PM on July 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
Use Google Docs; it stores every keystroke from the document's creation—with attribution.
posted by kindall at 7:19 PM on July 9, 2017
posted by kindall at 7:19 PM on July 9, 2017
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