Warner Brothers to face the music of "Kong: Skull Island" idea theft claim

Pitching a script to a movie studio is something many script writers dream about.

But the need to PitchMark the written evidence of your pitch has been brought home yet again by the experience of Joe DeVito, who is claiming breach of implied contract after Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures produced the movie (due for release later this year), which he says he pitched to them in July 2014.

It seems a Los Angeles Court has now allowed the next step to be taken, nixing the studio's application to block it.

While the courts will ultimately have the final say on the matter, DeVito seems to have evidence, and even a contract, to back up his claim.

For script writers it's proof yet again that you can't just pitch an idea and implicitly and blindly trust the person sitting on the other side of the table.

If you don't get to a contractual stage, or even sign an NDA, what proof do you have that you came up with the idea for the movie, let alone pitched it?

This is why you must PitchMark your PowerPoint slides, Word or PDF documents. Apart from time stamping your documents, the in-built features of PitchMark puts anyone who wants to copy your idea on notice that you care about your IP rights, and you are prepared to defend them. For starters, you should embed the PitchMark logo in your pitch materials. That's both easy and free.

If a dispute arises, you can reach out to PitchMark's Global Legal Network to help you in your cause (PitchMark in and of itself is not a legal service).

One final thought, though: spare a thought for the television or movie executive whose job it is to review movie scripts and concepts like yours. They are bombarded with such pitches all the time. Make it worth their while to listen to you. You might not want to give everything away, but don't just scribble your idea by hand on half a piece of paper and call it a pitch. Make your pitch detailed enough so that your case is credible if a dispute arises.