How Do You Credit A Non-Writing Screenplay Author?

What credit on IMDb do you give someone found by a court to be a joint author of a film screenplay, who may not actually have written any of it?  That question was considered by Mr Justice Meade at the IPEC in the latest chapter of the Martin v Kogan case.¹

After considering IMDb rules and the definitions in the respective guidelines of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain and the Writers Guild of America, Meade J decided that "(written by) (originally uncredited)" was the fairest credit, reflecting as far as possible the relevant guidelines, his main judgment and the test of "authorship" under UK copyright law. 

Comment

Credits play an enormous role in determining a writer's position in the film and TV industry.  Film scripts are often the work of a few writers, but quite often the credit that we see on screen isn't wholly representative of the work that went into putting the final script together.