Bit of a paranoid question. This spring, I worked my ass off in my last semester of college to create a short film based on original characters I’ve created and plan to expound on and do features with down the line. The main character is pretty much the centerpiece for what I hope to be my own IP; he has a signature, original item of clothing we’ve created, specific supporting characters/antagonists linked to him, and so on.

Haven’t done well this summer with festival circuits, c'est la vie, but I want to put him online or even get the film on some sort of streaming platform through FilmHub.

The thing that’s stopping me from hitting upload or submitting to FilmHub is fear that someone with more money/resources could see what I’ve done and either straight up take the name (haven’t been able to afford to trademark it) or take the plot/character elements and create something that makes my capstone project totally obsolete.

I’m not pretending like I have the next Batman and some big studio is gonna swoop in and steal from me; I’m more so fearful of someone else on my level or a few levels above doing it.

Has this happened to anyone? What precautions could/should I add? I’ve already copyrighted the film with the government, and there’s tons of evidence on social media and even the press that my film exists and is under my name. Is there any protection at all for the character’s name/concept?