For those of you who don’t believe that screenwriting is a valid art form, read these pages from the Wall E script and make your case. This is the most beautiful script I’ve ever read, and aspiring screenwriters should read it.
Fox Sues to Stop Film and TV Script Leaks
For those of you who don’t want to read the story, I’ll sum it up: Fox is suing a woman because she has been leaking scripts (new and old) over the internet and they want her to stop doing it.The woman is a struggling screenwriter and she leaks the scripts in order to aid other screenwriters write their stuff. Good intentions, bad execution.
I don’t see the problem with publishing scripts that have already been produced. On that side of the lawsuit, I’d disagree with Fox. However, I’m opposed to leaking scripts that have not been produced. Very opposed. As a writer, I’d be horrified if my unfinished work was publicized. Horrified. Sometimes writing for TV and Film is done up until the last second, sometimes things are rewritten right before they’re shot. As a writer and as someone who heavily supports writers, I oppose leaking unproduced scripts on a moral level. Also, leaking unproduced scripts is bad for Fox’s business. I don’t think they’ve lost a significant amount of money (or any) from this, but as a creative producer, you just don’t want your creative work to be produced by someone completely unrelated to the project.
If she wanted to publish these scripts, she could have just waited until they’re produced and aired. She also leaked a movie script for a movie that isn’t due to be released until 2012, and I just don’t think that’s very ethical at all.
People are calling Fox out for this and saying that Fox is wrong for this lawsuit, but really, they aren’t. Fox owns those scripts and they have control over how and when they are seen. Fox has legal and creative right to sue this woman for leaking this scripts. I liken this to script piracy. If one wants to read a script, wait until the show is complete, and usually its not difficult to get the script after that. All good movie scripts are released as books after the movie is released anyways. (I’m already looking to buy the Inception shooting script as well as a few Charlie Kaufman scripts.)
So anyways, I support Fox in this lawsuit.
Extremely Behind the Camera 