Somebody Stole Their Work - True Stories

Last week, I wrote about creatives whose work had been unfairly claimed by others.  This ranged from those who were simply in the meeting when the promo was discussed to outright thievery of entire shows.  (See previous post here.)

The response has been overwhelming.

On every level, and in every corner of our industry, people's stories sound like something out of Kafka. However, some solace can be gained by knowing that they're probably in the majority.  (Small solace, perhaps, but somewhat cathartic.)

Right about now, you're probably nodding in agreement, painfully recalling injustice(s) that you may have experienced, or are even battling today. 

Well, prepare to nod even more vigorously; here is a sampling of (cue dramatic sting)  

Tales From the Underbelly of the Beast:

 - A producer in Hungary invents a morning show on government-owned radio.  The government then sells it to a British radio company, complete with same name and jingles.  The producer spends years in the courts seeking compensation.

- A writer pens a documentary about the Spanish-American War - it is stolen by a network.  On another film, a producer gives the writer's credits to a friend who was not involved.  He eventually receives a letter of credit (!) from the producer.

- A producer brings his WGA-registered reality TV show concept to the networks.  They love it.  A few months later, one of those networks announces the premiere of an almost-identical show... and he is not involved.  There are few differences and all-too-many similarities. 

- A composer finds his music in lottery spots, note-for-note.

- A writer's script is stolen by a well-known agent.  He tracks down the agent's secretary, who admits she was instructed "to change the byline to my name of the principal character to this new name."  He then signs an NDA, and his work, already in production, is shut down.

- A screenwriter pitches a dozen ideas to the head of a Hollywood studio. A month later, the studio is sold and nothing materializes.  Cut to: five years later... The producer is watching TV and sees that his idea is now a made-for-TV movie.  Two weeks later, same thing - another movie, his story, same studio.  Turns out the head of the studio got divorced and his ex-wife had become an executive at the studio that produced the stories he had pitched.
  
Disclaimer:  The Promo Code assumes that all of these are true, but is playing it safe by not including names, networks or studios.  You know, just in case.

The list goes on and on, but the more these issues are exposed and experiences are shared, the easier it is to deal with them.  After all, creativity is part of our very essence.  When we hold back, nobody wins.

-Ed Roth
edrothshow@gmail.com

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