Stories we sell: Intellectual property, ownership and the impact on Canadian screenwriters

This article explores the shifting role of screenwriters, highlighting the increasing complexity and volume of work in modern scripted television production and interrogating why screenwriters do not participate in the creative and financial ownership of their projects. Rather than protecting artists, this article argues that copyright law, along with the ‘industry standard’ ownership structure, favours the profit-motive and disadvantages screenwriters. Specifically, this analysis is framed in an English–Canadian context amidst historic media policy reform that attempts to regulate foreign-owned streaming services and challenges how Canadian content is defined. By focusing on screenwriters, both historically and today, this article brings an under-represented perspective to light and captures the precarity of the screenwriting profession in Canada, a struggle that is mirrored in other international territories.