Free Ideas in Cyberspace: What’s a Network to Do?

Is the Internet opening Pandora’s box for television?

The last two years have seen an explosion of electronic mail, television network and production company sites on the World Wide Web as well as countless executives and producers surfing Net chat rooms for viewer response to their shows.

But that access has a dangerous downside--namely, eliminating the layer of agents, lawyers and corporate mail rooms that buffer script buyers from unsolicited pitches from aspiring producers and writers.

Could increasing access increase the number of lawsuits charging stolen ideas?

“So far, it hasn’t been an issue,” NBC Entertainment President Warren Littlefield says. “But are you pointing to a potential or a likelihood? You probably are.”

To that end, networks post disclaimers on their Web sites absolving the networks from paying for ideas gleaned there. Some are inquiring whether technologies exist to electronically shunt unsolicited submissions from executive e-mail boxes. But they’ve yet to collectively address how to legally protect themselves in cyberspace’s virgin legal terrain.

“We’ve talked about it internally, but as far as I know, the networks have not discussed a collective approach to countering these claims and never will,” says Charles Stanford, ABC’s vice president of legal and business affairs, production and multimedia.

*

“But it’s not just a network issue,” he adds. “It affects anyone who has a site and puts creative works on the Internet. The entire entertainment law community is looking at this, and computer, intellectual property and copyright laws in this arena are literally developing on a daily basis. Legislation has been introduced in Congress to amend copyright law to fit into the realities of new technologies. No one is really an expert on it. We’re learning as we go.”

Although few plaintiffs win, an increased number of dismissed cases still takes a fiscal toll on a company’s legal department.

“Every time something comes out, there’s always someone who thinks he created it--and nothing’s too weird,” says Valerie Cavanaugh, UPN’s senior vice president, business affairs and legal.

“Years ago, my husband was representing the film ‘Excalibur,’ about the legend of King Arthur, and a telephone repairman in Carpinteria claimed to have created the story on which it was based. Since that had been created 1,000 years earlier, people were a little dubious.”

Scripts and music are automatically copyrighted when made tangible, which includes drafting on a computer and posting on the Internet. So lifting a publicly posted script, for example, is illegal under federal copyright law and its author can sue.

The plaintiff needs to prove similarity between the allegedly stolen and plagiarized scripts, and the defendant’s access to the former. But here’s where things can get murky. Some attorneys say that simply owning a computer and modem can serve as that proof, while others argue that you need to prove a direct link to that document. So far, there’s no case law on this.

*

Protection of ideas and premises--such as “a cop show starring Actor X”--fall under the law of ideas, which varies from state to state but in general deems ideas free unless the parties establish an agreement of payment if the idea is used.

“If a writer blabs an idea, then it has no protection,” says David Nimmer, a copyright attorney with Irell & Manella in Century City and author of “Nimmer on Copyright,” a semiannual treatise on copyright law. “Blabbing something in a chat room is no different than blabbing in a bathroom.”

While the Net’s promotional opportunities continue to lure executives and producers, it serves as a double-edged sword, as David Lee, a creator of NBC’s “Frasier” and “Wings,” was reminded.

“I found that on the ‘Wings’ and ‘Frasier’ newsgroups, people know who I am, because they recognize my sign-on,” says Lee, who Net-surfs about five hours a week. “I answer questions for them and tell them anecdotes, and the people really like that. The only thing I ask is that nobody pitch story ideas.”

While most people have honored that request, one woman challenged him on 1st Amendment rights. “I said, ‘You can go ahead and pitch story ideas here to your heart’s content. All I’m saying is that, if you do, I will leave, and a lot of people like having me participate in this.’ Even that didn’t calm her down.

“I think it’s something that will have to be addressed sooner or later,” Lee adds. “I don’t think it’s been tested yet and I don’t particularly want to be the person it’s tested on. But I also don’t want to not be able to go look in my newsgroups about what they’re saying about ‘Wings’ and ‘Frasier.’ So I go in there anyway.”