How to Copyright a Screenplay: Filing, Timing, and Recovery

To copyright a screenplay, register it with the U.S. Copyright Office by filing Form PA through the online eCO portal at copyright.gov, uploading a complete copy of your script as the deposit, and paying $45 if you’re the sole author or $65 if there are co-authors or the work was made for hire. The registration confirms rights you already hold automatically, but more importantly it lets you sue for infringement in federal court and, if you register early enough, recover statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work plus attorney’s fees.

You Already Own the Copyright

Federal law protects “original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression,” and screenplays qualify as dramatic works within that definition.¹ The moment you save the file or print the pages, the copyright is yours. No form, no fee, no notice required.

Registration is a separate step, and it’s the one that gives the copyright teeth. You cannot file an infringement lawsuit for a work originating in the United States until you’ve registered it.² Registering also opens the door to statutory damages and attorney’s fees, remedies that make enforcement actually viable for an unproduced screenplay whose actual market losses would be hard to prove.

What to Gather Before You File

Have the following ready before you open the application:

The full title of the screenplay. Copyright does not protect titles as such, so a different work could carry the same title; title protection for produced works lives in trademark law, which is a separate process.³
Full legal name, date of birth, and nationality for every author, including each co-author on a collaboration.
Publication status. “Published” under copyright law means distributing copies to the public by sale, rental, lending, or offering to distribute for further distribution or public performance. Sending your script to agents or producers for consideration is not publication. If the script has been published, you’ll need the exact date and country of first publication.⁴
A complete copy of the screenplay to submit as the deposit. Electronic filers upload a PDF or other accepted digital format; paper filers mail a physical printout.⁵

The deposit copy becomes government property and is not returned. It joins the collections at the Library of Congress.

Filing Online Through eCO

The fastest and cheapest route is the Electronic Copyright Office (eCO) system at copyright.gov.⁶ Create an account, work through the application screens to enter authorship, title, and publication details, upload your screenplay as the digital deposit, and pay by credit card, debit card, or a Copyright Office deposit account.

The application is Form PA, which covers works of the performing arts including screenplays, stage plays, and musical compositions. eCO selects the form based on the work type you choose, so you don’t need to hunt for it.

Your fee depends on the situation:

Single Application, $45. Available only when one person wrote the screenplay, that same person is the sole copyright claimant, and the work is not made for hire.⁷
Standard Application, $65. Required for co-authored screenplays, works made for hire, or any case where the author and the claimant are different people.⁷

A solo writer registering a spec script will usually qualify for the $45 tier. Co-writers, or a production company claiming ownership, use the standard application.

Filing by Mail

You can also mail a printed and signed Form PA (downloadable from the Copyright Office website), a physical copy of the screenplay, and a check or money order for $125 to:

Library of Congress
Copyright Office–PA
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20559-6000⁸

Paper filing costs more than twice the online rate and takes significantly longer to process.⁷ Unless something specific keeps you off eCO, file online.

Effective Date vs. Processing Time

Your effective date of registration is the date the Copyright Office receives a complete submission: application, payment, and deposit copy. That date is what matters for whether you registered “before” an infringement began.

Processing time is different. That’s how long an examiner takes to review the application and either issue a certificate or ask for corrections. Electronic filings move faster than paper ones, and current ranges fluctuate with volume; the Copyright Office publishes them on the registration portal. Once approved, the Office mails a certificate of registration, which serves as prima facie evidence of the facts stated in it when registration is made within five years of first publication.

Expedited Registration When You Need It Fast

The Copyright Office offers “special handling” for an additional $800 per claim on top of the regular fee.⁹ When approved, the Office tries to examine the claim within five business days.

It’s not available on request; you must show a qualifying reason:

Pending or prospective litigation.
Customs matters, to block infringing imports.
Contract or publishing deadlines that require proof of registration by a specific date.¹⁰

For screenwriters, the litigation scenario is usually the one that applies: someone is infringing, you haven’t registered, and you need a registration in hand to file suit.

Why Timing Changes What You Can Recover

This is where money is made or lost. The statute draws a hard line between early and late registration.

If the screenplay is unpublished, you must register before the infringement begins to qualify for statutory damages and attorney’s fees. If the screenplay is published, you get a three-month grace period: register within three months of first publication and you preserve statutory-damages eligibility for infringement that starts during that window.¹¹ Miss both, and you’re stuck with actual damages for any infringement that began before your effective date.

The gap is large. Statutory damages run from $750 to $30,000 per work at the court’s discretion, and willful infringement raises the ceiling to $150,000.¹² Add attorney’s fees on top for a prevailing plaintiff. Without those remedies, many infringement cases aren’t worth filing. Register early.

One related timing point: submitting an application doesn’t let you sue right away. The Supreme Court held in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC that registration happens when the Copyright Office grants or refuses the application, not when you send it in.¹³ A refusal still opens the courthouse door, but you need that decision first. Another reason not to wait until trouble shows up.

Work Made for Hire: You May Not Be the Owner

Not every screenwriter owns the script they wrote. Under federal law, a “work made for hire” belongs to the employer or hiring party from the start, as if the writer were never the author. Two situations create this result:

An employee writing within the scope of employment. Staff writers at a production company or studio do not own the screenplays they produce as part of the job; the company does, automatically.
A specially commissioned work backed by a written agreement. If you’re hired as an independent contractor to write a screenplay for use as part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, and both parties sign a written work-for-hire agreement, the hiring party owns it.⁴

The second scenario is standard in studio deals. That’s why the $45 single application requires that the work not be for hire; in a work-for-hire scenario, the studio, not you, is the party filing. If you’re writing a spec script on your own time with no contract, you’re the author and owner. Read any writing agreement carefully before signing, and pay attention to who it names as author.

Registering Rewrites

Scripts go through drafts, and each registration covers only the version you deposited. Substantial revisions (new scenes, restructured acts, added characters) count as a derivative work and can be registered separately.¹⁴ That new registration reaches only the new material; everything carried over remains protected under the original registration.

On the derivative-work application, you identify the previously registered material and describe what’s new. Minor edits like fixing typos or reformatting don’t usually add enough original authorship to justify a fresh registration. The test is whether the changes, taken together, amount to an original work of authorship in their own right.

WGA Registration Is Not a Substitute

The Writers Guild of America runs its own script registration service, and screenwriters often use it. The two systems do different things.

WGA registration creates a time-stamped record showing you had a particular version of a script on a particular date.¹⁵ That can help in authorship disputes or WGA credit arbitrations. The fee is roughly $20, and the registration lasts five years before renewal.

What it does not do: create standing to sue for infringement, qualify you for statutory damages or attorney’s fees, or establish a presumption of copyright validity in federal court. Only U.S. Copyright Office registration does those things.² Some writers do both, treating the WGA record as supplemental proof of their timeline. If you’re only doing one, do the copyright registration. A WGA receipt without a copyright registration is a receipt without a remedy.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 102 – Subject Matter of Copyright: In General
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 411 – Registration and Civil Infringement Actions
3
U.S. Copyright Office. What Does Copyright Protect?
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 101 – Definitions
5
U.S. Copyright Office. Registering a Work (FAQ)
6
U.S. Copyright Office. Register Your Work: Registration Portal
7
U.S. Copyright Office. Fees
8
U.S. Copyright Office. Addresses
9
U.S. Copyright Office. Help: Special Handling
10
U.S. Copyright Office. Special Handling (FAQ)
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 412 – Registration as Prerequisite to Certain Remedies for Infringement
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 504 – Remedies for Infringement: Damages and Profits
13
Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC
14
U.S. Copyright Office. Help: Limitation of Claim
15
Writers Guild of America West. Homepage