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Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

screenplays.io

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Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#91

Post by VanTheBrand »

slim wrote: post #82
VanTheBrand wrote: post #78

One of the things that sucks about this is that the publishing rights for all of the original, non-ip based scripts and TV scripts are actually controlled by the writers and show creators. So it’s individual writers, not big corporations that you are actually distributing the work of without compensation. You might say but this is fair use / you aren’t charging or profiting… it’s not fair use and I think actually you…

In the same vein I would argue that authors need to pay for the hard work of this gentleman distributing their work. they are profiting from the publicity for free

There are two ways screenwriters can make money directly from their writing.

Selling it to studios. (This website of already produced film scripts is not going to help with that)

And publishing and selling the script(This website and ones like it literally undercut that market and make it very difficult for any but the most successful writers to get any publishing money)

No thanks on the free “publicity”

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#92

Post by VanTheBrand »

jakzurr wrote: post #41
ekianjo wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not: > No portion of this script may be performed, or reproduced by any means, or quoted, or published in any medium without prior written consent of SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC. * 10202 West Washington Boulevard * Culver City, CA 90232 Cease & Desist Notice coming in 3...2...1

I suppose all those subtitle sites aren't exactly legal either, but I don't see them going anywhere.

Subtitle files are arguably transformative and have a more benign character and purpose. They would have a significantly better fair use argument vs this. The purpose tends to either be to help the disabled or to assist non-native speakers in understanding the spoken dialogue track of the film. They also don’t directly compete with the underlying piece of copyrighted material (the screenplay) in the same market (publishing). A subtitle site could still easily end up on the losing end of a copyright suit but my point is this is far from an apples to apples comparison just because they both deal with text and audio/visual media.

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#93

Post by techer »

lumenwrites wrote: post #68
plibither8 wrote: post #58

This is brilliant and I've been looking for something like this for a LONG time, thank you! Quick request: the experience would be even better if we could search for words/phrases within the screenplays of a particular episode/series/movie. Many times I randomly have a not-so-popular dialog in my head from a TV show or movie, and then find it incredibly difficult to find which particular scene it was from.

Thank you, I'm glad you like this! This is a great idea, I will add the full-text search feature. Although it probably wouldn't work for your particular use case - TV shows rarely release the screenplays for all of their episodes, only a few select ones. It's very interesting and useful for screenwriters looking to read screenplays to get better at their craft, but it's not enough to do a full-text search over a whol…

Not the same but subtitles are available of course…

not sure if you’ve seen getyarn.io which isn’t comprehensive but is quite fun :)

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#94

Post by VanTheBrand »

MichaelCollins wrote: post #64
ekianjo wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Subtitles can be auto-generated. Screenplays, not really.

> Subtitles can be auto-generated. Is that legally any different from OCRing a copyrighted book? Or maybe running an audiobook through speech-to-text..

Well OCRing books (for book search) was found to be fair use because “book search” and “books” are in different markets. So to the extent it is like book search that could be in its favor.

Your other example (text to speech and audio books) is significantly less transformative as audio books and books are basically the same or very related markets. (For example they are both sold in the same specialty stores)

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#95

Post by autoexec »

TekMol wrote: post #83
VanTheBrand wrote: post #78

One of the things that sucks about this is that the publishing rights for all of the original, non-ip based scripts and TV scripts are actually controlled by the writers and show creators. So it’s individual writers, not big corporations that you are actually distributing the work of without compensation. You might say but this is fair use / you aren’t charging or profiting… it’s not fair use and I think actually you…

Humans are mostly driven by feelings. Even their thoughts are driven by feelings. That's why there is such a broad support for copyright violations. "Oh wow, free stuff! This feels good! This is good!".

Access to our culture is good. Access to art is good. Accessing this material would not likely have any negative impact on the creation of new art and could very likely promote the creation of new art, so I'm not really seeing any problem with it from a purely practical standpoint. From an emotional standpoint, it really is cool to read an early draft of a show or movie I love. I'm glad somebody is willing to risk the copyright police to host this for everybody!

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#96

Post by Animats »

slim wrote: post #84
TekMol wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Humans are mostly driven by feelings. Even their thoughts are driven by feelings. That's why there is such a broad support for copyright violations. "Oh wow, free stuff! This feels good! This is good!".

These are screenplays. Normally they would stay in a drawer forever and nobody would see them. That's what the writers expect. Now they have a new life, and maybe the writers have new opportunities too.

Those are screenplays for successful projects. Not some studio's slush pile. Those have value.

(A web site for script slush piles would be fun, and would raise few objections. There are a huge number of rejected scripts around LA. It used to be a joke to ask random people on Melrose Avenue "How's your screenplay coming?" About one in five had a screenplay. There's a minor minimum-wage industry in Hollywood writing two-page summaries of screenplays. They're called "one-pagers", but are usually two pages. An actress/model/waitress friend used to do that to make extra money. She'd receive a stack of scripts written by unknowns, and boil them down to two pages each. Someone at a higher pay grade would read the one-pagers. At the slush pile level, that's how much attention a script gets. Many wannabe scriptwriters would be glad to upload their script.)

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#97

Post by autoexec »

VanTheBrand wrote: post #90
slim wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are screenplays. Normally they would stay in a drawer forever and nobody would see them. That's what the writers expect. Now they have a new life, and maybe the writers have new opportunities too.

The screenwriters union fought for and negotiated for the right to own the publishing for their screenplays. Many writers of notable films have been able to use these writes to publish their scripts in book form to supplement their personal income. Here’s before sunrise at Barnes and Noble for $18 https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/before-sunrise-and-before-s... It’s also available for “free” at https://screenplays.io/…

Are you sure those are the same? The book contains two screenplays, an amazon review says it's an early draft but the download doesn't suggest that.

Even if they were 100% identical I'd be willing to bet the kinds of fans that would treasure having the book would still want it on their shelf even if they had a digital copy available.

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#98

Post by VanTheBrand »

autoexec wrote: post #97
VanTheBrand wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The screenwriters union fought for and negotiated for the right to own the publishing for their screenplays. Many writers of notable films have been able to use these writes to publish their scripts in book form to supplement their personal income. Here’s before sunrise at Barnes and Noble for $18 https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/before-sunrise-and-before-s... It’s also available for “free” at https://screenplays.io/…

Are you sure those are the same? The book contains two screenplays, an amazon review says it's an early draft but the download doesn't suggest that. Even if they were 100% identical I'd be willing to bet the kinds of fans that would treasure having the book would still want it on their shelf even if they had a digital copy available.

I’m sure I can find an example of one that’s exactly the same copy. Regardless the writer gets the exclusive right to publish all drafts as part of their union won separated rights. Also your point about treasured copies would apply equally to any book, movie, or music but I don’t think if someone posted their free top 40 mp3 download site on hacker news in 2022 it would have the same reaction. I get that you want this to be a “victimless crime” but… it’s not. Sorry that’s inconvenient for you.
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