WriteSafe users and visitors voice their concerns!

The WriteSafe FAQ Frequently Asked Questions 1 "If one of the requirements for proving plagiarism is to demonstrate the other party had access to your material, is the fact that it's posted on the www sufficient?" 2 "My "working policy" is to register a script with the WGAw once I have a completed draft. Is it sufficient to have just the original version registered?" 3 "What is the current thinking regarding electronic files as evidence?" 4 "Since the prizes for the Present-A-Thon include consideration for production/publication/etc by the Industry Panel, could you tells us more about what types of properties each member is seeking?" 5 "I have written a novel with over 400 pages. What is the best file format to send you so it can be registered and posted for public view?" 6 "While looking at work on WriteSafe it seemed as though I was able to change the text! Is the work registered and publicly posted on WriteSafe really safe, or can it be altered by the public?" 7 "I registered my work with WriteSafe and initially requested that it not be posted publicly. Now I have changed my mind. Is it possible to change my post to a public one?" 8 "What kind of information can I include with my registration that will help prospective buyers know what to expect when they look for my public post?" 9 "I changed my originally public post to private, and while it is no longer in the New Gallery I can still access it by a Google Search. How can I change that situation?" 10 "How do I change the information I included when I first uploaded my file?"   Answers 1 There is a difference between evidence and proof. According to the experts with whom we have consulted, an open posting on the World Wide Web can constitute evidence of potential access in much the same way publishing does. That evidence would then have to be further refined by evidence about such things as the World Wide Web browsing habits of a defendant and the defendant's employees, whether the site in question (in this case WriteSafe) had ever been spoken of by the defendant, or recommended to the defendant (as in a possible WriteSafe mass mailing, or on an e-mail list to which the defendant belongs, etc), whether a third party had actually seen the defendant at the site, and other such considerations. The use by a defendant of language or images identical to, or unusually similar to, and of concepts unique to, that of material posted on the site would also be further evidence of access, as recent cases have shown in the area of printed material. We at WriteSafe have been internally debating ways of collecting evidence of a possible defendant's browsing at the site, and have arrived at the solution of using internet "cookies" to identify visitors to the "view" sections. We have not implemented a public I.D. process (such as having visitors register or fill in a form giving their names) because research has shown that such action would greatly diminish traffic to that area and interfere with the "billboard" aspect of the site that many registrants value highly. Back to Top 2 We at WriteSafe strongly believe that this is the perfect place to register every version of your work (including the first one), and that the final version should be the one that is posted publicly. That way you have a record of the material's existence in any form in which someone else might "misappropriate" it. Since copyright only protects material that has been made public, and only the exact form in which it has been made public, WriteSafe registration would be a big addition to what we could call your "protection package." for Writers Guild arbitration and/or equity relief. Back to Top 3 We have been advised that electronic files are admissable as evidence in a court of law, and that files archived to a remote site with no access by a plaintiff or complainant will be highly regarded. The key is "no access" by anyone other than WriteSafe. To protect against hacking, each file registered with WriteSafe is kept in several different places, including the website's online storage, and hard drives on several non-networked and non-internet connected computers. This increases the credibility of WriteSafe registration as evidence. Back to Top 4 Your question is not as simple to answer as it might seem. Our Panel of Experts is constantly growing, with more producers, editors, publishers, agents, and other executives coming on board, and the buying needs of each member literally change from day to day, as creative and business circumstances dictate. Because of that, our concern at WriteSafe is with the whole of the Panel, rather than its individuals. We are making every effort to bring in men and women from all aspects of the entertainment business so that we can "cover all the bases" in terms of genres and specific interests. WriteSafe's main purpose is to protect your work by registering it. Public posting and the "Present-A-Thon" are added value enhancements. For more detailed information about the needs of various buyers are looking for, you might want to try a site that specializes in "online agenting," or the Message Board of a site like TV Writer.Com. Back to Top 5 We suggest that you save any large word processor file as .txt, PDF, or .html to make sure that it is seen as quickly as possible and to best advantage. Recently, we have had difficulty with 200k+ .rtf files and .rtf files with long filenames showing properly in certain configurations of IE5. If you have such a file we recommend that in those instances you change your file format to .txt or .html before sending it to WriteSafe. Back to Top 6 The key word in your question is "seemed." You can indeed edit material that appears in your browser on WriteSafe, but not the copy that's stored on WriteSafe itself. Your browser creates a temp file on your hard drive, and that file is the only one you can change. This is similar to right clicking on a web page and then clicking on "view source." The html comes up on Notepad, and you can edit it...but only the temp copy on your hard drive. The real file on the Web isn't altered at all. One of the great strengths of the Web is that almost anything you can acess can be cut and pasted, or saved onto a computer that's viewing it. When your material is registered with WriteSafe, though, if someone else misappropriates it the date of your registration and of the stored file are proof that your version existed first. Further, WriteSafe keeps a record of all computers accessing the "View" pages, for further evidenciary purposes. Back to Top 7 You can change your post from private to public, or public to private, at any time, but WriteSafe must, regretably, charge a $5 service fee for the time involved in making each change. Simply go to the Registration ManagementPage and log into your account. Find the file you want to change and click on "Edit" beside it. An editing window will open so you can toggle from private to public or public to private. Back to Top 8 WriteSafe's new REGISTRATION MANAGEMENT PAGE allows you to say literally anything you want about your work. You can give the title and genre, a logline, even a short description or synopsis of your work. (No more than 255 characters please.) Back to Top 9 The good news is that we have discovered a way to overcome the search engine problem. It involves altering the URL to which the search engine refers so the file cannot be found. Under Google's current policies that also means that the cached version will be removed from their listings in about 6 weeks. This adjustment, however, cannot be done automatically. In order to proceed WriteSafe needs to be notified by e-mail that a public to private change has been made. An e-mail informing us of the situation and including the filenames (not the titles of the works themselves) of the registrations will speed up the process. Back to Top 10 Although you cannot change your file itself, you can change the description of your work. Simply go to the REGISTRATION MANAGEMENT PAGE and log into your account. Find the file the appearance of which you want to change and click on "Edit." An editing window will open so you can revise your comments. Back to Top Thank you for your interest in WriteSafe, and for giving us the opportunity to answer your questions. More questions and answers will be added to this FAQ as they come up. We at WriteSafe hope you will take advantage of our services, which we believe to be the most helpful on the web in the area of protecting and presenting creative material. 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Have More Questions? WriteSafe's mission is to help all creative artists worldwide by protecting and presenting your work. We welcome all your questions and urgently solicit your comments and suggestions. Please feel free to write us at any time and tell us how WriteSafe can be of further benefit. E-Mail WriteSafe A SERVICE OF