Scriptnotes, Episode 726: So you’ve been nominated for an Oscar, Transcript

The original post for this episode can be found here. John August: Hello, and welcome. My name is John August, and this is Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Today on the show, so you’ve been nominated for an Oscar, what do you do next, how do you translate […]

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Scriptnotes, Episode 725: Torn from the pages of Squash Magazine, Transcript

The original post for this episode can be found here. John August: Hello, and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: My name is Craig Mazin. John: This is episode 725 of Scriptnotes. It’s a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Today on the show, let’s play connections. What do […]

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Free Work

John and Craig tackle the scourge of free work and offer strategies to avoid it. They look at established norms, potential remedies, the things that should work but often don’t, and how writers should think about the time and effort they’re putting in before getting paid. We also follow up on useful comps, AI coverage, […]

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Markets Markets Markets (Value!)

Fair use’s fourth factor recognition of markets is not meant to erect castle walls around the markets for all existing works. Instead, it forms part of a flexible standard that was built to withstand (and facilitate) rapid change, which it has done quite effectively for the past 50 years. Copyright’s constitutional purpose is to promote progress and creative expression, not to shield authors from unfavorable comment, market backlash, or changing audience preferences.

Confidently Incorrect: Misunderstanding “How Much Is Too Much” for Fair Use

Of the four statutory fair use factors, the “the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole,” may be the one that generates the most confident wrong answers. In my experience, when I ask people whether a use is fair, many will reach for a number: no more than 10%, no more than 1,000 words, or no more than one chapter. These thresholds feel authoritative, and they are stated with conviction. Yet they are legally meaningless, as Kenny Crews documents in his 2001 article The Law of Fair Use and the Illusion of Fair-Use Guidelines—a case study in confident incorrectness.

Respecting the Second Factor

The nature of a work has been reduced to two binary, rather forumulaic questions. In FY2024, the Copyright Office registered around 425,000 works, representing an important and representative slice of the year’s creativity. What is the “nature” of those works? As far as the courts seem concerned, each is easily sortable on a 2 by 2 grid.

So you’ve been nominated for an Oscar

John welcomes writer-directors Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh (Two People Exchanging Saliva) to ask, what happens when your short film is nominated for an Oscar? They look at each step from their initial idea to awards season to see how they positioned their short to be considered for an Academy Award. We also reflect on […]

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A Comprehensive Review of Post-Warhol Appellate Decisions on the First Factor

Warhol v. Goldsmith (2023) marked the very first time the Supreme Court opined exclusively on a SINGLE fair use factor. Considering the importance of fair use under US copyright law, it is also surprising for many casual observers that Warhol represents one of only three instances in which the Supreme Court took up fair use in the last 35 years (the other two being Campbell v. Acuff-Rose (1994) and Google v. Oracle (2021)).

Fair Use Week (Sec. 107)

Fair uses are not simply excused infringements; they are never infringements in the first place. They are implied in the grant of copyright. Fair use is integral to the fabric of the law—you can no more separate fair use from copyright than you can separate exclusive rights.

Copyright’s Angsty Teenager Stage (Section 104)

Much as it did in other aspects of its interactions with the world, U.S. copyright learned that if it wanted to win the game, it needed to play the game.

Notes from a Recent Authors Alliance Workshop: DMCA §1202 and Attribution Standards for AI

On Feb 5, 2026, we hosted a workshop on DMCA §1202 and Attribution Standards for AI. In brief, we wanted to have a conversation about how attribution standards should be developed and implemented in a category of technology that trends toward abstracting (forgetting? obscuring? diluting?) its inputs.

Scriptnotes, Episode 724: Introductions with Joachim Trier, Transcript

The original post for this episode can be found here. John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. You’re listening to Episode 724 of Scriptnotes. It’s a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Today on the show, how do you best introduce your characters and their world to the […]

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Scriptnotes, Episode 723: Blank Meets Blank, Transcript

The original post for this episode can be found here. John August: Hey, this is John. Standard warning for people who are in the car with their kids, there’s some swearing in this episode. Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: No, I don’t think so. I think my name is Craig […]

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Scriptnotes, Episode 722: Orality, or Writing to be Spoken, Transcript

The original post for this episode can be found here. John August: Hola y bienvenidos. Me llamo John August, o Juan Augusto, si prefiere. Craig Mazin: My name is Craig Mazin. John: Tú, ahora mismo, estás escuchando a Scriptnotes, un podcast sobre guionismo y las cosas que interesan los guionistas. Craig, it’s nice to see […]

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Scriptnotes, Episode 721: Preparing to Direct (with Eva Victor), Transcript

The original post for this episode can be found here. John August: Hey, this is John. Standard warning for people who are in the car with their kids, there’s some swearing in this episode. Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: My name is Craig Mazin. John: You’re listening to Scriptnotes, Episode […]

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Torn from the pages of Squash Magazine

John and Craig gather our listeners’ favorite news articles and ask, How Would This Be a Movie? Stories include an underground network delivering menstrual supplies in Minneapolis, a millennial travel group, how the US hacked ISIS, and a fake college squash team. But first we follow up on modern comps, email issues, teaching screenwriting, and […]

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The 2025 IFDB Awards have concluded!

Results are available here. Congratulations to all participants!