Registration Details

The WGAW Registry assists writers and other creators in establishing the completion dates of material written for the fields of radio, film, television, video, and interactive media.

Registration provides a dated record of the writer's claim to authorship of a particular literary material. If necessary a WGA employee may produce the material as evidence if legal or official Guild action is initiated.

The Registry does not make comparisons of registration deposits, bestow any statutory protections, or give legal advice. Submitted material is not read by the Registry or other WGAW staff.

When the material is registered, the date and time are recorded. A numbered certificate is returned which can serve as the official documentation of registration. Because the certificate is your proof of registration, it should be saved.

REGISTERABLE MATERIAL

Any file may be registered to assist you in documenting the creation of your work. Some examples of registerable material include scripts, treatments, synopses, outlines, and written ideas specifically intended for radio, television and film, video cassettes/discs, or interactive media. The WGAW Registry also accepts stageplays, novels, books, short stories, poems, commercials, lyrics, drawings, music and various media work such as Web series, code, and other digital content.

REGISTERABLE FILE FORMATS

Preferred file formats are ASCII, XML, PDF (Adobe Acrobat), Word, Final Draft , and Movie Magic Screenwriter 2000; however, all file formats will be accepted. You will be prompted to select the file on your hard drive that you wish to register. Please note that only one file for each online registration request will be accepted. Currently the file size limit is 10 MB. Zip files are prohibited.

In addition, other screenplay software and standard computer file formats are acceptable. For example, graphics files in .tiff, .jpg, or other popular formats may be used to register work.

Make certain you are uploading the correct file and version of your material. All registrations are final upon submission and cannot be changed, substituted, or voided.

TITLES

Titles are not registered with the WGAW Registry, as they are not protected by registration. The title or filename is mainly used to identify material within specific registrant records. The Registry does not make comparisons of titles or record title changes for registered material. Title changes do not require re-registration of material.

When submitting material to agencies or companies, you may use any title that you prefer.

CHANGES TO MATERIAL

You may change your work as much as you prefer; however, when the storyline has been affected or changed extensively, it becomes new material and should be registered or documented again in some manner.

It is solely at your discretion to submit multiple drafts or completed drafts of the same work for registration. The Registry does not make comparisons of drafts or material content.

All submissions, including subsequent drafts of existing registrations, are considered completely separate registrations and should be submitted accordingly with the required fees.

VIRUSES

The online registration system will not accept files containing viruses. Registrants attempting to register online with a file containing a virus will be notified to clean the file and try the online transaction again. Any credit card charges from virus-laden transactions are reversed within three business days.

REGISTRATION FEES

Registration fees are $20 (U.S.) for the general public, $10 (U.S.) for WGA members in good standing. The online system accepts Visa/MasterCard/Discover as a form of payment. You will be billed in your local currency if outside the U.S.

The Registry does not accept bank transfers of any kind, nor release bank account information under any circumstance.

DURATION AND EXPIRATION

Registration is valid for a term of five (5) years. Upon expiration, registration may be renewed for an additional five-year period at the current registration rate. Renewals will be accepted up to three (3) months prior to the expiration of the original registration. A grace period is extended allowing renewals as late as three (3) months following the expiration date.

At the time of registration, or renewal, you authorize the WGA to destroy the material without further notice to you on the expiration of the first term of registration or any renewal period.

IDENTIFYING REGISTERED WORK

Registrants may choose to identify registered material with the following language: "WGAW Registered" or "WGAW #_____" How and where you identify your material as being registered is completely at your discretion. You do not need permission to show your work as being registered.

PRIVACY

The WGAW Registry has thoroughly evaluated the needs and security issues surrounding electronic submissions. The protection of your personal information is of the highest priority to the WGAW Registry.

Your personal information is requested for specific purposes and will be kept confidential. Unless you designate otherwise, it is only used in connection to your transaction(s) with the Registry and for information about the Registry, and it will not be disclosed to outside organizations for any purpose.

ACCESS TO REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Registered material may not be withdrawn. Registration information may be requested by one or more of the listed authors, identified by photo ID. Upon presentation of the author’s ID, the Registry can provide information such as confirmation of a registration, a registration number, the date of registration and/or expiration, or other registration information that the Registry can reasonably provide. In the event an author is deceased, proof of death and consent of the representative of the heirs and/or estate must be presented in order to obtain registration information.

The Registry will honor such written requests from writers regarding the registration of their own work(s) only if accompanied by photo identification. Verification or confirmation requests from a writer may be submitted to Customer Service.

ADDING AUTHORS TO ONLINE SUBMISSIONS

If you add authors to your transaction, please do not type over the "Registrant/Author" or "Author 1" information. Instead, simply fill in the necessary information to the "Author 2" section. It is important to include all authors' information as part of the registration. Authors CANNOT be added to a registration record once it is completed.

SPECIAL CHARACTERS

Certain keyboard characters (such as colons, semicolons, hyphens, slashes, periods, etc) that appear in the filename may impede your ability to upload your file properly. Please be sure your filename has no special characters before registering online.

We are no longer able to facilitate in-person registration services. Paper submissions received after January 1, 2020 will be destroyed and your payment returned.

No exceptions will be made.

SAFEKEEPING

Registration is a service. Its purpose is to assist writers in establishing completion and possession of the literary property. The Guild assumes that you have retained, and you acknowledge that you have retained, a copy of this manuscript. It the event the deposited manuscript is lost, damaged or destroyed by reason of the Guild’s failure to exercise reasonable care or any other cause whatsoever, it is agreed that the declared value of the manuscript shall be $10.00. Damages for such loss or destruction of the manuscript shall be limited to its declared value.

ENTIRE AGREEMENT

The provisions listed here constitutes the entire registration agreement. No Guild employee is authorized to modify the agreement or to make other representations binding on the Guild.