Writer for a game whose director disappeared

[ShojiAmasawa]

Last year I began writing a scenario for another studio. The project was called (she was a) Human Cat-Girl! and featured some of (in my opinion) the best characters I've ever written. Though it had a cliched high school setting, the plot was based in psychology and science, attempting touch on serious themes without being pretentious.

Unfortunately, the project manager has vanished off the face of the internet. I have not been able to contact her in months, trying email, Facebook and Deviantart. At least one other person was involved, but I have no way of contacting them either, as I don't have their name or contact information. The script I've put so much work into is sitting in a lonely folder on my MacBook, collecting virtual dust.

My question the community is this: what should I do with this project? I hate letting something I've put so much work into go to waste, but I'm hesitant to take it to another studio without approval from the original project manager. It's not something I can take to my studio right now, since we already have projects we're working on. Should I shelve it for now and bring it to my studio when we have time for it; Bring it to another studio now, or give it up as a beautiful dream that will never come true?

I could post a more detailed synopsis for anyone interested.

Also, I'm sure there are others on this site who have similar experiences. I'd love to hear some stories!

Thanks, everyone.

[fleet]

"My question the community is this: what should I do with this project? "

I am not a lawyer. For legal advice consult an attorney.

Was the original idea for the story yours? If that is true, AND if you did not have a signed contract, I see no problem for you to offer it to another studio, or for your studio to develop it.

[ShojiAmasawa]

The story was entirely my own. The characters and events were all created by myself, and no contract was ever put into the equation.

Thank you, fleet!

[Taleweaver]

Was there some kind of agreement involved, i.e. could someone reasonably claim that the work you did was made for the purpose of someone aside from you doing something with it? Did you exchange information with someone electronically (e-mail, Skype, WhatsApp, forums...) that contains an agreement between you and that other party that what you are doing is supposed to become their property?

In that case, you probably have a contract. Only in certain cases does a contract require written form and a signature (or you couldn't even buy a pizza by ordering it on the phone since there's no writing and no signature involves), and if there is any sort of writing that can prove two parties agreed on doing business, that writing, even if unorganized and/or messy, serves as your contract.

I'm no attorney and this is no legal advice, but if you live in the US, land of lawyers, I would strongly recommend not to take any risks here. If someone wants to sue you, and he has anything that looks as though it makes your writing his property, he will easily find an attorney to make you pay for violating his property rights.

[SundownKid]

If the studio paid you for your script then they own the script so taking it somewhere else would be bad.

If you just volunteered to write the script then I'd take it somewhere else. It would be doubtful they'd have the legal means to sue you in that case.

[Taleweaver]

It would be doubtful they'd have the legal means to sue you in that case.

I'd say whether they have the legal means depends on what sort of organization it is. A professional publishing studio WILL have the legal means, and even an amateur can hire an attorney to defend their rights.

The problem is always this: what sort of agreement was made about any created content? How was it supposed to be monetized, and how were the profits to be divided?

I'm quite certain Shoji's script was not a work he was already paid for, or he wouldn't be asking this question. If it was a typical commission and the other party didn't pay - well, that's a breach of agreement on their side, and to my understanding (I'm no attorney, so take care), that would mean Shoji can just refuse to hand them the rights to his work and do with it whatever he likes. If it was a substantial work I had done, I would even consider hiring an attorney myself and sue for the money.

However, I believe that if there is any money involved, it's probably because Shoji was promised a share of the project revenue. (Or the project was already non-commercial in the first place.) And in that case, the situation isn't quite as simple and depends what sort of agreement Shoji had with the others.

[ShojiAmasawa]

First off, thanks to everyone for your advice. Life happened and I forgot about this thread for a while, but I think I now have a clear idea of what I should do with this project.

Once again, thank you all.