Matthew Burdorff wrote:
 
>>Submission will not be read,
>>considered or otherwise without standard industry waiver!!!
>
>What exactly is the standard industry waiver on a screenplay and should I
>sign one or would that eventually work against me? Can anyone help?
>
 
"Standard" is a misnomer because there is no true "standard", but they do
tend to be similar.  HOWEVER, it is really the responsibility of the
producer to provide a disclaimer by fax, email, or mail NOT the writer's
responsibility to think one up.  I noticed this person's error when they
posted this originally, but didn't mention anything.
 
The usual industry waiver says something to the effect of "the writer
recognizes that ideas and subject matter for feature films are often
similar and that it is possible that the producer is already considering
similar material.... blah blah blah... and that the writer will not sue the
producer no matter what the producer releases in the future... blah blah
blah..."
 
Should you sign one?  Better answer is this:  Don't ever send your script
to someone who is not reputable and when you send it to them, yes do sign
it and don't make a big deal about it because that's unprofessional.  But
make sure they are reputable or you have a personal reference.
 
Fact of the matter is that ideas just plain get stolen and whatever is
signed doesn't protect you.  Case in point:  The writer of virtuosity had
just finished helping to younger writers on a VR script and was "inspired"
to write one of his own eventhough he'd never knew much of anything about
VR before he met them.  Did he steal the idea?  No, it was a different
idea.
 
On the flip side is this:  If you have a great great script, it is great
because of the sequence of events and that's not going to be copied and any
reputable company is just going to buy it.  It's quicker that way.
 
Good Luck!
 
Sincerely,
 
Mark Allen
Xantherboy
 
****XANTHER
****http://www.directnet.com/~xanther/
 
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