PURPOSE AND COVERAGE

The Writers Guild of America East’s Script Registration assists writers and other creators in establishing the completion dates of material written for the fields of radio, film, television, video and interactive media.

Registration provides a dated record of the writer's claim to authorship of a particular literary material. If necessary a WGA employee may produce the material as evidence if legal or official Guild action is initiated.

Script Registration does not make comparisons of registration deposits, bestow any statutory protections or give legal advice. Submitted material is not read by Script Registration or other WGA East staff.

When the material is registered, the date and time are recorded. A numbered certificate is returned which can serve as the official documentation of registration. Because the certificate is your proof of registration, it should be saved.

Registration does not confer any statutory protection. It merely provides evidence of the author's prior claim to authorship of the literary material involved and of the date of its completion.

An author has certain rights under the law the moment his/her work is completed. It is therefore important that the date of completion be legally established. Registration with the Guild does not protect titles.

If all the parties cannot be present for the registration, a letter signed by the absent person(s) designating the remaining registrant(s) to act on their behalf will suffice. This is done with the understanding that the person holding the receipt is the only person who can remove the registration: exception (see below, withdrawal procedure and rules governing examination of manuscript on file).

REGISTERABLE MATERIAL

Any file may be registered to assist you in documenting the creation of your work.

Examples of registrable material include scripts, treatments, synopses, outlines, and written ideas specifically intended for radio, television, film, podcast, gaming, books, poems, commercials, lyrics, drawings, music and other creative platforms.

REGISTERABLE FILE FORMATS

PDF is our preferred file format. We also accept files sent as Word, Final Draft, ASCII XML, jpeg and numerous additional file types. You will be prompted to select the file on your hard drive that you wish to register. Currently the file size limit is 20 MB.

In addition, other screenplay software and standard computer file formats are acceptable. For example, graphics files in.tiff, .jpg or other popular formats may be used to register work.

Certain keyboard characters (such as colons, semicolons, hyphens, slashes, periods, etc) that appear in the filename may impede your ability to upload your file properly. Please be sure your filename has no special characters before registering online. The most common error to a registration certificate is because they input registration material with special characters.

Make certain you are uploading the correct file and version of your material.

Only one file for each registration request will be accepted.

All registrations are final upon submission and cannot be changed, substituted or voided.

TITLES

Titles are not registered with the Script Registration, as they are not protected by registration. The title or filename is mainly used to identify material within specific registrant records. Script Registration does not make comparisons of titles or record title changes for registered material. Title changes do not require re-registration of material.

When submitting material to agencies or companies, you may use any title that you prefer.

CHANGES TO MATERIAL

It is solely at your discretion to submit multiple drafts or completed drafts of the same work for registration. Script Registration does not make comparisons of drafts or material content.

All submissions, including subsequent drafts of existing registrations, are considered completely separate registrations and should be submitted accordingly with the required fees.

REGISTRATION FEES

The cost of registration is:

• $10 for WGAE, WGAW and IAWG Members
• $17 for Students and Associates
• $25 for General Public (Non-Members)

Script Registration payments can be made with Visa, Mastercard and Amex. Cash, checks and bank transfers are not accepted.

You MUST register under your legal name. A production company name can not be used to register a work. You can register if you are not a U.S. citizen. You will be assigned a writer number for registration purposes only.

REGISTRATION PASSWORD

Registration passwords are solely for the purpose of withdrawing your file in the future. You do not need a password to log into the registration portal. Please remember or write down your password for future reference.

PROOF OF REGISTRATION

Registrants will receive notice that their work has been registered within 3 business days.

A Registration Certificate which includes the Registration Number will be sent to registrants by email. You should keep your registration confirmation receipt in a safe place because you may need it for future reference.

DURATION AND EXPIRATION

Registration is valid for a term of ten (10) years. Upon expiration, registration may be renewed for an additional ten-year period at the current registration rate.

Renewals will be accepted up to three (3) months prior to the expiration of the original registration. A grace period is extended allowing renewals as late as three (3) months following the expiration date.

At the time of registration, or renewal, you authorize the WGA to destroy the material without further notice to you on the expiration of the first term of registration or any renewal period.

IDENTIFYING REGISTERED WORK

Registrants may choose to identify registered material with the following language: "WGAE Registered, " “WGA East Registered” or "WGAE #_____" How and where you identify your material as being registered is completely at your discretion.

You do not need permission to show your work as being registered.

ACCESS TO REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Only the writers listed on the registration receipt may request confirmation of registration, the registration number, date of deposit or any other information.

Script Registration will honor such written requests from writers regarding the registration of their own work(s) only if accompanied by photo identification.

All verification or confirmation requests from a writer should contain as much specific information as possible, such as registration number, title of material, effective date, password and social security number of the writer, and may be submitted online or by contacting Script Registration Administrator Pamela Smith at psmith@wgaeast.org or 212-767-7801.

Registration passwords are solely for the purpose of withdrawing your file in the future. You do not need a password to log into the registration portal. Please remember or write down your password for future reference.

In the event an author is deceased, proof of death and consent of the representative of the heirs and/or estate must be presented in order to obtain specific information regarding the material. The representative must provide court documents authenticating his or her claim as legal heir.

PRIVACY

The WGAE Script Registration has thoroughly evaluated the needs and security issues surrounding electronic submissions. The protection of your personal information is of the highest priority to the WGAE.

Your personal information is requested for specific purposes and will be kept confidential. Unless you designate otherwise, it is only used in connection to your transaction(s) with Script Registration and for information about Script Registration, and it will not be disclosed to outside organizations for any purpose.

Only the writers listed on the registration record may request confirmation of registration, the registration number, date of deposit, or any other information. If necessary, a Script Registration employee may produce registration information or material in response to legal process or official Guild action.

Script Registration will honor email requests from writers regarding the registration of their own work(s) only if accompanied by photo identification.

All verification or confirmation requests from a writer should contain as much specific information as possible, such as registration number, title of material, effective date, and social security number of the writer, password and.

ADDING AUTHORS TO ONLINE SUBMISSIONS

If you add authors to your transaction, please do not type over the "Registrant/Author" or "Author 1" information. Instead, simply fill in the necessary information to the "Author 2" section. It is important to include all authors' information as part of the registration.

Authors CANNOT be added to a registration record once it is completed.

COPYRIGHT

Registering your work with the WGAE Script Registration documents the claim of authorship of a written work and does NOT take the place of registering with the Library of Congress, U.S. Copyright Office which primarily documents the ownership or rights of written work. While both create legal evidence that can be used in court, we recommend contacting the Library of Congress directly with any questions regarding COPYRIGHT procedures or practices.

The phone number for the U.S. Copyright Office, located in Washington, D.C., is (202) 707-5959.

WITHDRAWAL PROCEDURE

Deposited material cannot be returned to the writer without defeating the purpose of registration. Once registered material is withdrawn, it is no longer protected under registration. It is therefore important to always retain a separate copy of the material being registered.

The registered copy of material left on deposit cannot be returned to the writer without defeating the purpose of registration, the point being that evidence should be available, if necessary, that material has been in the Guild's charge since the date of deposit and that the seal is unbroken.

However, if the writer finds it necessary to have the copy returned, they may have it back at any time upon notice of two weeks, and the payment of the then current withdrawal fee.

The registered file will be surrendered only to the writer upon presentation of original registration receipt, registration password and proper identification, or to another bearing a written authorization signed by the author.

Where there are co-writers, written consent of all parties must be provided. When the writer is deceased, proof of death and consent of heirs must be obtained.

ACCESSING REGISTERED MATERIALS

Any person designated as a writer by virtue of any registration of a property with the Guild hereunder may have access to the registration envelope and the material itself upon proof that they are the person designated as writer in the original registration.

If they shall require the material, for either withdrawal or examination, that terminates the registration.

In no event, except under the provisions of the paragraph on the procedure for withdrawal, shall any of the material be allowed to be taken unless a court order has been acquired. If any person other than the writer named in the registration shall request to see either the manuscript, the registration receipt, the registration certificate or any other material, such request shall be denied unless a court order is presented in connection therewith.

VIRUSES

The online registration system will not accept files containing viruses. Registrants attempting to register online with a file containing a virus will be notified to clean the file and try the online transaction again. If the file cannot be cleaned, credit card charges from virus-laden transactions are reversed within three business days.