ADDITIONAL FAQs

12. I'm confused about what happens to the copyright in my screenplay. If I enter my screenplay in the Contest, am I surrendering ownership in my screenplay's copyright to Greenlight or anyone else? What happens if I win? What if I make it to the Top 250 or later rounds, but don't win the Grand Prize?

At all times during the Contest, you retain ownership of your own copyright interest in the screenplay -- that's why we required you to register it with the Copyright Office and the Writer's Guild! Even if you advance to the Top 250, the Top 30, the Top 10, or the Finalist round, you will still own the copyright in your Submission at that stage, subject to your license to us for purposes of the Contest (read below for more on this). If you are selected as the Grand Prize Winner, of course, you will be required to assign copyright ownership in your Submission to the Contest Entities, just as would any screenwriter looking to sell a script on the "spec" market, and Miramax will require that winning writers and directors grant Miramax an option in their next two (2) feature films and/or screenplays (again, a not uncommon feature of agreements with promising new screenwriters and filmmakers). Other than this copyright assignment for the eventual Grand Prize Winner, however, neither Greenlight nor any of the Contest Entities (Miramax and HBO included) obtain any assignment of your copyright solely by reason of your participation in the Contest. Instead, by participating in the Contest, you grant Greenlight and the Contest Entities an exclusive license in your Submission for the duration of the Contest and for ninety (90) days thereafter -- meaning you give us exclusive permission to use your screenplay during the Contest -- with the exception that we're happy for you to show or shop your screenplay to non-Greenlight folk provided that you give us a "Right of Last Refusal" as set forth in your Contestant Participation Agreement. See the Official Rules and the Contestant Participation Agreement for complete details. Additional details regarding options and copyright issues for the Grand Prize Winner will be set forth in the Top 250, Top 30, Top 10, Finalists, and Grand Prize Winner's agreements -- but the bottom line is that even though you license us to use your screenplay as described in the Official Rules and your Contestant Participation Agreement, you will own the copyright in your screenplay throughout the Contest, unless and until you are selected as (and agree to become) the Grand Prize Winner.