Why Creators Don't Want to Hear Your Idea

            In the wake of San Diego Comic-Con, I’ve been seeing creators on social media reminding their fans to not pitch them their ideas for stories. Why is this? Because they, and their employers, don’t want to be sued.

            While copyright infringement is probably the first thing you’d think of, those types of lawsuits have proven difficult for plaintiffs to win. In order to win a copyright infringement lawsuit, you must have a valid copyright in a work fixed in a tangible medium, and the complained-of work must be substantially similar to the plaintiff's. Those two elements usually trip up a would-be copyright lawsuit, particularly because the plaintiff’s “work” is not eligible for copyright protection because it’s merely an idea.

            Since copyright infringement is hard to win, plaintiffs have turned to suing under an implied-in-fact contract, or more generally, an idea theft lawsuit. Basically, the plaintiff claims they described and/or showed their work to the defendant with the expectation that if the work was used, they’d be compensated for it. Instead of basing the claim in copyright law, it is now based in contract law, and by using the plaintiff’s idea without compensation, the defendant breached the implied contract. These lawsuits have been easier for plaintiffs to get deeper into court proceedings than copyright infringement lawsuits, but they have not met with great success. More often than not, especially in Hollywood ones, the plaintiff eventually loses.

            Even so, studios and companies would prefer to not fight these lawsuits, and it’s just easiest to not accept unsolicited pitches. It’s the main reason most comic book publishers with established properties do not hear unsolicited pitches for their comics, and it’s a policy they encourage their creators to follow as well.

            While your story idea might be a good, or even a great one, the risk for a creator is too high for them to hear it.