Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: Copyright Infringement

If you own the copyrights in the screenplays, you can do whatever you want with them. If you don't own the copyrights, or don't have a license to use them, you can't make any use whatsoever.

Copyright infringement has nothing to do with whether you make money. You can't give away someone else's property, either. (It may help to grasp the concept if you think of it in the same way as other possessions--would it be okay if someone else gave away your laptop computer or furniture or car?)

If you are including excerpts from screenplays in your e-book, you need to have rights to do that, too.

Re: Copyright Infringement

I'd add to the previous answer that the amount of profit a copyright infringer has made can be a factor in determining the severity of the offense and the amount of a judgment. Also, bundling two items in a package cannot be said to result in one being free and the entire price allocated to the other. If I run a hot dog stand and give away a ticket to a lottery I run, "free" with every hot dog just like the mustard, I am nevertheless selling lottery tickets.

Re: Copyright Infringement

If you wrote the sceenplays, they are in the public domain (for example they are more than about 90 years old) or you have bought the rights, go for it. Otherwise you'll get sued for copyright infringement and the authors or rights holders won't care if you sold them or gave them away.