How do you submit a movie script?

Is there any legal risk associated with paying users to submit good ideas?

• In any system like this, users would need to acknowledge that they are submitting their ideas to the company without any guarantee that their idea will receive a cash reward. But, despite this legal disclaimer, is there still any legal risk that users could sue the company if they see the company implementing an idea similar to one they had previously submitted to the company, and which they had not received a reward for? I have heard anecdotally that this is a reason that movie production companies do not accept unsolicited scripts being sent to them, for fear of people thinking that a later film produced by the company was based off of their mailed-in script. This is a follow-up question to .

• Answer:

  Short Answer: Yes. However, there might be ways to minimize risks to acceptable levels under the "work for hire" doctrine. Paying a user for submitting an idea will likely decrease legal risk. Long Answer: There will always be a legal risk when a business interacts with people. The more it interacts with people, the higher the risk. Thus an idea submissions process which invites people to interact with a company inherently adds additional legal risk. Because there is always a non-zero risk of a frivolous lawsuit, the fact that it can happen is not helpful in assessing legal risk. The analysis should focus on how to limit legal risk to acceptable levels. The legal risk of paying casual users for ideas turns on the issue of who owns the intellectual property in question. Most relevant to this issue is the doctrine of "work for hire." In a typical "work for hire" scenario an employee is hired to be create some sort of intellectual property for his employer. The employee is paid a wage and in return he/she transfers all rights associated with the intellectual property to the employer. A work for hire clause is usually inserted into an employment contract The scenario described in the question is more complex because it does not deal with an employee but rather a casual user of a service that submits an idea. All intellectual property rights lie with its creator unless he/she somehow transfers rights to a another party. There are three ways legal risk that can arise from a user submission process 1) the user sues the company for infringement, 2) competitors steal the resulting IP  and 3) the user sells the IP to a competitor. A submission process must at the very least secure a license for the company to use the resulting intellectual property (IP). This can be done by adding language to the submission process (i.e. terms of service on a website). For example, Facebook gains a license to use the pictures you upload anyway they want. You cannot sue Facebook for copyright infringement if they use the pictures you uploaded to their website. Much the same way the IP submitted to a website can be used by the company if they have language that allows for it. Because the submitter retains most rights associated with the IP most courts would accept the company obtaining use of the IP for free. This solves problem #1 of being sued for infringement but not #2 and #3. If the company offers payment for an idea, then an argument can be made that the submitter was "hired" for his idea and the resulting "work" becomes property of the company. Not only does this give the company a right to use the IP, but also prevent other competitors from using it and the creator from selling it to somebody else (the last two risk). In this case payment diminishes legal risk under the work for hire doctrine. Note: The application of work for hire differs  when applied to patents or to copyrights. There are also complex questions of what sufficient/fair notice of terms and payment might be depending on the situation. As always, this answer should not be construed as legal advice and an attorney should be consulted before setting up a submission system.