Assuming a copyright registration was filed in the Copyright Office, "inappropriately" including the Producer as an author or owner of the work, the simplest solution is to simply refile the Copyright registration with the proper authors of the work. Once this is done, you may be in a position to sue for copyright infringement. The judge and ensuing litigation will sort out the validity of the two copyrights and whether or not the Producer is infringing by "using YOUR idea but switching it up slightly." However, to properly answer your question will require more material facts such as answers to the following non-exhaustive list of questions that must be answered: What creative contribution if any did the Producer "on your team" have on your original script? (The answer to this question may determine whether the Producer was in fact an author or not.) Were you obligated to include the Producer as a copyright author/owner by contract? (The answer to this question will determine whether the Producer has copyright ownership irrespective of authorship.) What precisely is "switching it up slightly"? (The answer to this question will determine whether the Producer's use of your work actually infringes your original copyright.) Of course, your first step should be to consult an intellectual property attorney to disclose all of the material facts for your case so that the attorney can properly research your facts in view of the copyright statutes and the case law that has interpreted and applied those statutes to similar facts, and propose the best strategy for rectifying your dispute with the Producer.
Answered on Nov 08th, 2012 at 3:06 AM