Here's a sneak peek from The Perfect Pitch:

Q: What if I just pitch an idea and not a Screenplay?
A: If you just pitch an idea you’re in trouble. You cannot copyright ideas. Or titles, or names of characters, or bits and pieces of dialogue, or ideas for scenes. Copyright protects the “execution” of your idea; that includes your characters, your dialogue, your situations, your plot turns, all the elements that make your story truly yours.

Q: I don’t want to steal somebody else’s work, but what the heck does ‘Public Domain’ mean?
A: Public Domain (or PD) means that material is no longer protected by copyright. Here are the guidelines for PD:

•  If a work is published before 1923, it’s PD.
• If a work is published between 1923 and 1963, it could be PD after 28 years or the copyright could be renewed for a total of 67 years.
• If a work was published between 1964 and 1977, the work will not be PD until 67 years after the publication.
• If a work was published January 1, 1978 or after, PD doesn’t kick in until 70 years after the death of the creator.
• If the work was created before January 1, 1978 but published between then and December 31, 2002, PD starts 70 years after the death of the creator or December 31, 2047 or whichever comes later.

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Reprinted from The Perfect Pitch with permission from the publisher, Michael Wiese Productions. Copyright © 2009 by Ken Rotcop. Order The Perfect Pitch from B&N.com.