Legal Question in Entertainment Law in California

Re: does a 'for hire' get script credit

Without knowing specific details of your particular transaction, I can not advise you as to your situation. I can, however, provide some general information in the area of your concern:

First, a writer owns the rights to what he/she has written as soon as it is written, unless there is a written agreement clearly specifying that the writing is a "work for hire" or the writer is regularly employed as a writer by the person who has paid him/her to do the work (e.g. a staff writer on a television show).

Writing credits on motion pictures may not always reflect who did the actual writing, and this may also be affected by whether the writer was a union member. Generally, under union rules (which are typically followed even if no union members are involved), a person must do a substantial amount of work on a sceenplay (the exact percentages vary by the total number of writers involved) in order to get credit.

Generally, there is no reason why a producer would refuse to give writing credit to a third-party writer. What the producer would insist upon is "clear chain of title"-- i.e. that the writer had signed over the rights to the producer.

From what you describe, it sounds as if your friend hired you to "ghost write" while he takes all the credit. There is nothing illegal about that, provided you have agreed.

In the entertainment business, often times credit is worth more than money. Your friend seems to know that. In purely business terms, it sounds as if he's looking after his own interests and attempting to build a reputation for himself at your expense. Better that he should tell the producer he has a writing partner and that both of you should get credit.

Nothing in this response should be construed as legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is created by posting this response.

Re: does a 'for hire' get script credit

if you can give me more detailed information regarding the agreement you and your friend came to regarding writing credits and compensation, i may be able to further assist and/or represent your interests legally in this matter. thanks for your question.