Weeded Out: final letter to the lawyers

Weeded Out is an original dramatic work authored solely by me, with authorship and originality established by time-stamped drafts spanning 2020–2022, demonstrating continuous and consistent “creative DNA” (characters, plot architecture, themes, and scene sequence) predating all later conflicts.

My subsequent prose project Just Like Yesterday (commenced 2024 and still incomplete) is a derivative adaptation of that underlying screenplay, and the absence of a final prose ending does not create any lawful entitlement for third parties to “complete,” rewrite, perform, film, produce, or otherwise exploit the screenplay or its associated protected elements; on the contrary, it confirms continuing authorship and ongoing development by the copyright owner (Amanda Riddell).

In light of the documented dispute chronology—particularly repeated good-faith offers of mediation and arbitration, followed by proportionate escalation to formal cease-and-desist correspondence after those offers were refused—any attempted production, commissioning, publication, or distribution of Weeded Out (or any derivative thereof) without my express written licence would constitute wilful infringement and bad-faith exploitation of protected intellectual property, engaging both civil liability and injunctive remedies.

For the avoidance of doubt: I do not recognise, endorse, ratify, waive objection to, or consent to any purported “rewrite,” “treatment,” “derivative draft,” “project proposal,” or other adaptation of Weeded Out created, circulated, or submitted by any third party without my express written licence.

Any such document—whether disseminated informally within the industry or provided to institutions and intermediaries, including screen-sector funding bodies—constitutes an unauthorised derivative work and/or infringing copy, and its circulation cannot confer rights, implied licence, estoppel, or legitimacy. This remains the case even if the infringing material has been reviewed, discussed, assessed for funding, or otherwise platformed within institutional channels, including the documented claim that an unauthorised derivative was received by the New Zealand Film Commission in 2023.

Unlawful copying and institutional circulation do not transfer copyright, do not create permission, and do not diminish my exclusive rights as author; rather, they aggravate liability and strengthen the basis for injunctive relief, takedown demands, and damages.