The Alliance for the Protection of Copyright (APC) has produced the code of practice mentioned in the first link below. The APC consists of The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, BBC, ITV, C4, S4C, C5, Musicians’ Union, NUJ, The Society of Authors, Women in Film and Television and several other notable organisations. One of the suggestions they make is: ‘Retain an exact copy of the proposal together with the date submitted and the name and any other relevant details of the person to whom the proposal was submitted. An additional protection would be provided by registration of the proposal at the time of submission with a legal or other independent representative.’

The links below provide advice and information regarding UK copyright law in relation to intellectual property:

APC Code of Practice for the Submission of Programme Proposals:

Authors Licensing & Collecting Society – ALCS is a non-profit organisation who collect payments for writers for ‘secondary uses’ of their work e.g. repeat fees/retransmissions. They are recommended by the Writer’s Guild. www.alcs.co.uk/resources/copyright-basics-for-writers/

Gov.uk – Intellectual Property – Copyright:
www.gov.uk/intellectual-property/copyright

Gov.uk – Intellectual Property – An Overview:
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/intellectual-property-office

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (including recent changes):
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/contents

Information found on these pages does not amount to legal advice or opinion. The Script Vault Ltd does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracies on the above webpages which are outside of our control. Always consult a solicitor specialising in copyright law for accurate legal advice.