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Nondisclosure Agreements By Mary J. Schirmer
A reader wrote to ask about the wisdom and virtue of getting a writing collaborator to sign a nondisclosure agreement. His concern was that the other writer could steal (his word) the idea, which is based on a true story, and fictionalize it.
Here was my response.
First, I should say I'm not a lawyer, but I'll do my best to guide you in the right direction. If you have a lawyer friend, it'd be good to run this by him or her. ALL lawyers know about contracts. They don't all know a lot about entertainment law, but they all know about contracts.
Yes, sometimes the person who initiates the writing project has the other writer sign an agreement not to discuss the project until you both agree that you're ready to reveal it to the world of producers, agents, etc.
A screenwriter is often asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement when a producer hires him. The producer doesn't want the writer to go around blabbing about their "secret" project, for fear that others will hurry up and write a similar project, get it funded, and beat them to the theaters.
As the one who has an idea for a screenplay, you may be feeling the same way.
Following is advice that Denise Ohio's article "Business Considerations for DV Moviemaking," gives producers about NDAs.
Nondisclosure agreement-- An agreement that goes to potential investors, subcontractors, and others, where they promise not to discuss the project with anyone except their advisers. Some writers will insist on a nondisclosure agreement before pitching to you. If so, walk the writer out to his or her car and wish him or her a pleasant drive home. Demanding this level of nondisclosure is a sign of the writer's inexperience and that may cause you problems later.
See, what you're saying is that you as a writer don't trust the people with whom you're about to do business.
I'd have to say that if you can't trust your writing collaborator, get a different person.
If you're writing about true events that happened to real people, unless these are people already in the public eye (like movie stars or politicians) or unless your script is a matter of public record (like a prominent court trial), then you have to get rights from these people to tell their story. I know you didn't ask about that, but I thought I should mention it.
Once you tell your idea to anybody, there's really no way to protect it. An idea is only an idea, and you can't copyright it. Any writer could take any story and fictionalize it. You may end up doing that yourself, if you can't get the real people to sign away their right to privacy.
Other people surely know about this true story, even if they aren't writers or filmmakers. Even if this happened to you personally as a member of a very small and isolated unit of people, the other people who were there know about it, too.
Very few stories are unique. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful, but you have to consider that eventually you'll have to tell other artists and money people about your story.
Again, I think your best protection right now is to work with another writer whom you trust completely. A person with a 50-50 financial interest in the success of your screenplay would be motivated to keep the project quiet until the script is locked.
Or else you really should write the screenplay alone.
In any event, you're smart to be thinking about written agreements. You need a collaboration agreement anyway, so you could add the nondisclosure clause, if you feel you need to.
Best wishes, and good luck. Mary S.
To read past Film Fuss columns, click
here.
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