Sadly, you have gotten yourself into one of the worst messes in the industry. Your cohorts are equally ignorant about how the business works. You absolutely need a contract that establishes your responsibilities, payment, due dates, etc. Most importantly, the contract or another document must license or sell your copyright in your work to the production company. If there isn't a rights transfer clause in writing, you still own the rights to your work and can demand that the company cease and desist in using the copyrighted material (not the concept) in its web series. Essentially, you will prevent the project from going forward and everyone is going to be mighty upset. I've rarely seen the parties negotiate a settlement to continue once this happens. Stop worrying about your "integrity," learn the basics of the business side of being a writer, and start looking for an attorney.
Answered on Jul 25th, 2013 at 10:45 AM