Screenwriters Association

Team SWA
21 February 2023
5097

SWA SUSPENDS TWO MEMBERS OVER DISCIPLINARY ACTION

The Disciplinary Committee constituted by the Executive Committee (EC) in its meeting held on 21 January, 2023 decided to suspend two SWA members based on the recommendation of the Dispute Settlement Committee (DSC):

1) In the first instance, the DSC had received a complaint through WIFPA, filed by one of its members, against an SWA member, for failure to submit the screenplay and dialogues for a film being produced by them, as well as for failing to return the book and materials sent to the writer for writing the same. The Joint Dispute Settlement Committee (JDSC) constituted by WIFPA and SWA in its decision in February 2020 asked the SWA member to submit to the complainant, the complete screenplay and dialogues for the complainant’s film as well as to return all the books and materials which were loaned to the writer for this purpose. Despite numerous follow-ups over the course of three years thereafter, the writer did neither submit the dialogues for the film, nor the borrowed books and materials, claiming that the same had been destroyed due to a rat infestation. The matter was finally referred to the EC which constituted a Disciplinary Committee. The Disciplinary Committee after hearing the writer and his justifications decided to suspend him for a period of five years for the above transgressions.

2) In the second instance, the DSC had received a complaint from an SWA member alleging that their story was plagiarised by an OTT platform to which the member had pitched the story. Over the course of its mediation process, the DSC sent the SWA member’s story to its panel of experts appointed by the DSC to compare the writer’s story with the web series produced by the OTT. It was discovered that both the writer’s story and the OTT show were plagiarised from a 1998 thriller novel written by a well-known American author. The SWA member was admonished by the DSC for not only plagiarising the novel without seeking permission from the original author, but also for misusing the DSC’s mediation mechanism by approaching the DSC with a complaint regarding the same, being fully aware that the writer’s story itself was a product of blatant copyright infringement. When the DSC received no justification from the writer for this, the matter was recommended to the EC for disciplinary action. The Disciplinary Committee, after due process and lack of proper reasoning, decided to suspend the writer for a period of one year for the above transgressions.

SWA urges all its members to adhere to the policies and norms and refrain from committing transgressions. Also, any declaration submitted by a member is an affirmation that s/he has understood the content and accepted the same and that all information provided is true and correct. A wrong declaration is an offence of Perjury, and the member is solely responsible for the consequences arising thereafter including but not limited to legal action, disciplinary action, cancellation of registration, publicly announcing the default wherever SWA deems appropriate, along with the member’s details, or any other action as SWA deems fit.

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SWA SUSPENDS TWO MEMBERS OVER DISCIPLINARY ACTION

SWA SUSPENDS TWO MEMBERS OVER DISCIPLINARY ACTION