Open Forum

Hi folks,

There have been some good discussions, both in the forum and privately, about copyright and licensing issues of late, and it's been gratifying to see a number of teachers really take up the banner on here when it comes to protecting intellectual property and the rights (and financial well-being) of the artists who create the work you perform. As I'm sitting here contemplating writing personal notes to infringers that my publisher thus far has been unable to corral (because that's always a fun way to spend the wee hours instead of writing a new play), I'm wondering how we can do better at 1) teaching intellectual property rights and 2) creating systems that both enforce and educate at the same time.

What has surprised me is that several of my recent play infringements have come at festivals, including a district festival in Florida. That brought up a series of related questions for members of the forum:

1. In what festivals do you participate, and what sort of proof of rights do they require?
2. How rigorous are they in actually enforcing these requirements?

I'm curious as to whether these standards are uniform across EdTA member chapters, and further, whether there's been outreach to festivals/competitions that, while not official Thespian festivals, share a similar purpose and design.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, and thank you to everyone who does the right thing.

Cheers,
Jonathan

Hi Jonathan,

I'm in Virginia, and for our Virginia High School League festivals, the competing school's principal needs to sign off on the entry form which includes language stating that we've: obtained permission to perform, paid any applicable royalties, and secured written permission to cut/alter the show, if necessary.  I'm also supposed to send proof of royalty payment with the entry form.  If questioned at the festival, I need to be able to provide proof that I have paid for the rights for the show on the spot.  

------------------------------
Robert Ellis
NorthChesterfield, VA

In Kentucky there is no proof of royalty payment required. I have mentioned the problem to several KTA  board members but they do not seem to think it's important to make sure the playwright be paid for their artistic work.

------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY

Original Message:
Sent: 12-16-2015 07:32
From: Robert Ellis
Subject: proof of permission to perform?

Hi Jonathan,

I'm in Virginia, and for our Virginia High School League festivals, the competing school's principal needs to sign off on the entry form which includes language stating that we've: obtained permission to perform, paid any applicable royalties, and secured written permission to cut/alter the show, if necessary.  I'm also supposed to send proof of royalty payment with the entry form.  If questioned at the festival, I need to be able to provide proof that I have paid for the rights for the show on the spot.  

------------------------------
Robert Ellis
NorthChesterfield, VA

John, I assume KTA is the Kentucky Theatre Association? That's really unfortunate if that's the attitude. How do we change that? If I'm not mistaken, they seem to feed into SETC at some levels--don't know if that could be useful... I also wonder to what extent a festival that hosts an infringed production opens itself up to potential legal liability--some people may only understand that sort of argument.

It's great to hear that Montana Thespians and VHSL run tight ships. Would love to hear about more.

I think I just found another probable infringement last night, which, if confirmed, would be in competition in Oklahoma...

Cheers,
Jonathan

Hi folks,

There have been some good discussions, both in the forum and privately, about copyright and licensing issues of late, and it's been gratifying to see a number of teachers really take up the banner on here when it comes to protecting intellectual property and the rights (and financial well-being) of the artists who create the work you perform. As I'm sitting here contemplating writing personal notes to infringers that my publisher thus far has been unable to corral (because that's always a fun way to spend the wee hours instead of writing a new play), I'm wondering how we can do better at 1) teaching intellectual property rights and 2) creating systems that both enforce and educate at the same time.

What has surprised me is that several of my recent play infringements have come at festivals, including a district festival in Florida. That brought up a series of related questions for members of the forum:

1. In what festivals do you participate, and what sort of proof of rights do they require?
2. How rigorous are they in actually enforcing these requirements?

I'm curious as to whether these standards are uniform across EdTA member chapters, and further, whether there's been outreach to festivals/competitions that, while not official Thespian festivals, share a similar purpose and design.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, and thank you to everyone who does the right thing.

Cheers,
Jonathan

I'm from Montana and because the festivals are run though the and at University of Montana, they are pretty strict. We are required to show either proof of licensure, or proof that it is in the public domain. I myself, am very strict about this and I honestly believe that our board would be strict on these issues even if it were away from the U of M.

We're headed to SETC this year and their first order of business was to remind us to obtain rights for the correct day. Schools are required to send a copy of performance rights (including permission for any and all cuts) and a photocopy of the payment check to SETC in order to perform. We also have to show permission and payment for any music used in the performance.

VTA, the Virginia state organization that feeds into SETC also requires us to provide proof of performance rights and payment of royalties.

------------------------------
Meg O'Connor
Alexandria, VA

Anyone on the KTA Board of Directors reading this?

The High School Theatre Festival rules only state:

3.       A participating school must secure production rights from the playwright/publisher. If a published play, the publisher must be identified in the program. The Kentucky Theatre Association shall not be held responsible for any faults or discrepancies that occur with royalties under any circumstances.

------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY

Original Message:
Sent: 12-16-2015 12:01
From: Meg O'Connor
Subject: proof of permission to perform?

We're headed to SETC this year and their first order of business was to remind us to obtain rights for the correct day. Schools are required to send a copy of performance rights (including permission for any and all cuts) and a photocopy of the payment check to SETC in order to perform. We also have to show permission and payment for any music used in the performance.

VTA, the Virginia state organization that feeds into SETC also requires us to provide proof of performance rights and payment of royalties.

------------------------------
Meg O'Connor
Alexandria, VA

We're headed to SETC this year and their first order of business was to remind us to obtain rights for the correct day. Schools are required to send a copy of performance rights (including permission for any and all cuts) and a photocopy of the payment check to SETC in order to perform. We also have to show permission and payment for any music used in the performance.

VTA, the Virginia state organization that feeds into SETC also requires us to provide proof of performance rights and payment of royalties.

Meg, that's great about SETC and VTA (where I just saw a properly licensed production of my play 4 A.M. this fall!).

Michael, that's a good point when it comes to some of the less well known but still important contractual obligations, but it seems like the first mountain to conquer is that there are so many violations of the basic "permission to perform" part.

John, it's interesting that their rubric says they're not responsible for any faults or discrepancies. But if they're not actually requiring proof as many of these other festivals are, while I'm not an attorney, I wonder if that's actually true. After all, they're the presenting organization of the infringed performance.

Cheers,
Jonathan

Hi folks,

There have been some good discussions, both in the forum and privately, about copyright and licensing issues of late, and it's been gratifying to see a number of teachers really take up the banner on here when it comes to protecting intellectual property and the rights (and financial well-being) of the artists who create the work you perform. As I'm sitting here contemplating writing personal notes to infringers that my publisher thus far has been unable to corral (because that's always a fun way to spend the wee hours instead of writing a new play), I'm wondering how we can do better at 1) teaching intellectual property rights and 2) creating systems that both enforce and educate at the same time.

What has surprised me is that several of my recent play infringements have come at festivals, including a district festival in Florida. That brought up a series of related questions for members of the forum:

1. In what festivals do you participate, and what sort of proof of rights do they require?
2. How rigorous are they in actually enforcing these requirements?

I'm curious as to whether these standards are uniform across EdTA member chapters, and further, whether there's been outreach to festivals/competitions that, while not official Thespian festivals, share a similar purpose and design.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, and thank you to everyone who does the right thing.

Cheers,
Jonathan

Jonathan,

We performed The Rimers of Eldritch at SETC a year ago.  They required us to submit our license agreement showing that we had permission to do a 45 minute cutting, which we did.  Because we participate in several festivals and competitions with strict time limits, we tend to do a lot of classical, public domain work -- Antigone, The Revenger's Tragedy, Shakespeare -- that we can cut as needed.

Hi folks,

There have been some good discussions, both in the forum and privately, about copyright and licensing issues of late, and it's been gratifying to see a number of teachers really take up the banner on here when it comes to protecting intellectual property and the rights (and financial well-being) of the artists who create the work you perform. As I'm sitting here contemplating writing personal notes to infringers that my publisher thus far has been unable to corral (because that's always a fun way to spend the wee hours instead of writing a new play), I'm wondering how we can do better at 1) teaching intellectual property rights and 2) creating systems that both enforce and educate at the same time.

What has surprised me is that several of my recent play infringements have come at festivals, including a district festival in Florida. That brought up a series of related questions for members of the forum:

1. In what festivals do you participate, and what sort of proof of rights do they require?
2. How rigorous are they in actually enforcing these requirements?

I'm curious as to whether these standards are uniform across EdTA member chapters, and further, whether there's been outreach to festivals/competitions that, while not official Thespian festivals, share a similar purpose and design.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, and thank you to everyone who does the right thing.

Cheers,
Jonathan

Hi folks,

There have been some good discussions, both in the forum and privately, about copyright and licensing issues of late, and it's been gratifying to see a number of teachers really take up the banner on here when it comes to protecting intellectual property and the rights (and financial well-being) of the artists who create the work you perform. As I'm sitting here contemplating writing personal notes to infringers that my publisher thus far has been unable to corral (because that's always a fun way to spend the wee hours instead of writing a new play), I'm wondering how we can do better at 1) teaching intellectual property rights and 2) creating systems that both enforce and educate at the same time.

What has surprised me is that several of my recent play infringements have come at festivals, including a district festival in Florida. That brought up a series of related questions for members of the forum:

1. In what festivals do you participate, and what sort of proof of rights do they require?
2. How rigorous are they in actually enforcing these requirements?

I'm curious as to whether these standards are uniform across EdTA member chapters, and further, whether there's been outreach to festivals/competitions that, while not official Thespian festivals, share a similar purpose and design.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, and thank you to everyone who does the right thing.

Cheers,
Jonathan

In Indiana we require each performing school to submit proof of permission to perform by a certain deadline or the school is docked a ranking. (This happens on occasion.) If a school failed to provide the proof of permission, they would not be allowed to perform. (This has never happened - the proof of permission has always been submitted.)

The usual method is for the director to fax a copy of their contract. We verify performance dates and make sure they are allowed to produce a cutting.

Our festival requires us to sign a statement that says we have acquired the rights/license to perform. I may be mistaken, because we always pay our license fees, but I don't know if there is a follow up. I recall thinking that it was very trusting of our district to take people at their word and not require a copy of the contract/license agreement! I personally would welcome such a move, to remove all possible temptation.

I second the point made by John. Fagles' translation still towers over others for 'Antigone,' and permission needs to be secured to use those translations even if they are sadly no longer with us (check up on how long they've been dead, and then check to see if there is an estate to which you need to apply for permission).

Off topic, but does anyone know if Charles Dickens' works qualify as public domain now? Sorry if it's an idiotic question...

Phillip, Dickens should be well past its expiration date. There is the very occasional outlier when it comes to copyright expiration, but I'm almost certain that Dickens isn't one.

It's wonderful to hear about the states that require presentation of proof of license. It's interesting that Florida, which is probably the largest competition anywhere (other than MAYBE UIL in Texas) requires a statement that one has permission to perform, but no actual documentation. I agree that it would be best if schools had to produce actual proof, particularly given that as I write this, we're investigating a school in Florida that appears to have performed 4 A.M. in District competition without licensing the show. How do we change that requirement?

Cheers,
Jon