Iluminace 2025, 37(2):31-52 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1811

Copyright, Credits, and Write-for-Hire Creativity. Authorship and Authority in Czech Silent Screenwriting

Martin Kos ORCID...
Independent Researcher, Czech Republic ✉

This article examines the professional status and creative labor of screenwriters in Czech silent cinema, using the 1926 adaptation of Ignát Herrmann’s novel, Father Kondelík and Bridegroom Vejvara, as a case study. Drawing on Jonathan Gray’s and Matt Stahl’s concepts, the research analyzes how work-for-hire practices and copyright defined creative control and artistic recognition, examining authorship and authority within regional “authorial clusters.” The article reveals screenwriters’ working conditions and their innovative contributions to cinematic storytelling and style under the constraints of corporate and contractual forces. In so doing, it uncovers overlooked work patterns and professional challenges faced by silent-era screenwriters, contributing new perspectives to regional screenwriting studies on authorship and creative labor in unique industrial contexts.

Keywords: Czech silent cinema, Father Kondelík and Bridegroom Vejvara, regional screenwriting, copyright, work-for-hire creative employment

Received: February 24, 2025; Revised: July 7, 2025; Accepted: October 2, 2025; Published: November 10, 2025  Show citation

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Kos, M. (2025). Copyright, Credits, and Write-for-Hire Creativity. Authorship and Authority in Czech Silent Screenwriting. Iluminace, 37(2), 31-52. doi: 10.58193/ilu.1811
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