Copyright in the UK arises automatically — there is no register, no certificate, and nothing to look up. The United States and Canada, however, maintain official copyright records, and what is recorded there can shape your project’s financing, its E&O insurance and its route into the American market. A Copyright Report searches those records so that when a financier, distributor or insurer asks what exists, who owns it and whether anything is in the way, you have a documented answer.

A Copyright Report is a dedicated search of the official copyright records: the U.S. Copyright Office’s registration and recordation records, including the historical card catalogue; the Library of Congress holdings that corroborate them; the Canadian Copyright Database; and the national library and archive catalogues that map how a work and its namesakes have been published and exploited. The report identifies registrations, recorded assignments and security interests touching your title and its underlying work, confirms whether your own screenplay and film are registered — and, crucially, explains what the findings mean for your production. It is available as a standalone report or within a Title Report, so the title question and the work question are answered in one exercise.

Official Records Search - Full searches of the U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress and Canadian Copyright Database, including historical catalogues that pre-date the online records.

Underlying Rights Focus - Where a Title Report asks whether your name can travel, a Copyright Report asks about the work itself — adaptations, source material and competing registrations.

Assignments & Security Interests - Recorded assignments, security interests and terminations are traced and explained — real market awareness of how rights around comparable works have moved.

Your Own Registration Position - Confirmation of whether your screenplay and completed film are registered, and the recommended sequence before U.S. exploitation, flagged for your legal counsel.

E&O Alignment -Formatted to meet the standards of leading E&O insurance providers, distributors and sales agents, with enclosures evidencing every search.

1. Commission & Scope - Contact us with your title, underlying work, territories and timetable — and whether you would like the Copyright Report standalone or within a Title Report.

2. Expert Research & Analysis - In-depth searches across the U.S., Canadian and library records, with every finding assessed rather than merely listed.

3. Final Report - A comprehensive report with a clear risk assessment, your registration position, and enclosures evidencing the searches.