Almost every successful film or TV series gets sued by somebody who claims they had the idea first and it was stolen. Most of these cases are without merit, but one that's just been filed may be the real thing.
It concerns the film The Disaster Artist, which was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The credited writers, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, say they based their script only on the book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room.
Ryan Moody, a former acting student in a class taught by James Franco, says Franco asked him to write a script based on that book and promised him an associate producer credit.
Moody delivered a script and was paid $5000. Then Neustadter and Weber were brought in and no credit was given to Moody, who is now suing Franco's and Seth Rogan's companies.
Moody has emails showing that Franco asked him to write the script and to travel to Vancouver to pitch the project to Seth Rogan's company.
It's possible that Franco didn't like Moody's version, paid him off, and never showed that script to the new writers.
Because both scripts were based on a book, the fact that they may have very similar scenes won't be evidence that Moody's material was stolen. That would be the case only if something he invented in his script also showed up in the later script.
However, that still leaves the issue of what, if anything, Franco promised Moody. Certainly, $5000 was not in itself a great reward for writing a script, whether or not it was ever used.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
The best protection is to make sure you get everything in writing.
If something is promised to you in a meeting or in a phone call, follow up with an email saying something like, "I just wanted to confirm that our agreement is that in return for writing this screenplay I will be paid $5000 and get an Associate Producer credit if the film is made."
Even if they don't answer, their silence will imply consent--but it's better to press for an answer because they may say they never received the email.
Of course, also save all emails you send or receive in regard to the project.
It's also a good idea to have a deal memo that incorporates the most likely possible outcomes. I don't know whether Moody had any arrangement for what more he'd be paid if the project went forward with his script, but he should have.
He also should have had a clause indicating what would happen if the project went forward but not based on his work.
That would have protected both him and Franco, rather than throwing the whole thing into the arms of expensive lawyers.
