• Authors own the copyright and all other rights in their work;
• No additions, omissions, or alterations to the text, title or stage directions of the play may be made without the author’s prior written consent, and all such approved changes are the sole property of the author, free of liens or encumbrances;
• The author and the producer have mutual approval of the cast, director, and designers and any of their replacements; and
• Producers are granted only limited and specified production rights for specific territories, and all rights not granted are reserved to the author.

Guild contracts currently available:

• Approved Production Contract (“APC”) (Musical or Play): Form contract for Broadway/First Class productions. Ordering an APC requires approval by the Guild’s Executive Director. The APC requires Guild certification.
• Model LORT Agreement: Most League of Resident Theatres (LORTs) have agreed to offer contracts to DG members for premiere mainstage productions that are consistent with the DG’s Model LORT Agreement. Ordering this contract requires approval by the Guild’s Executive Director, and members are required to submit proposed LORT agreements to the Guild for review.
• Model Small Theater - National Premiere Contract (National, Los Angeles or New York): Model agreement for small theatres or Equity Showcases presenting premiere productions.
• Model Collaboration Agreement (Musical or Play): Form agreement for collaboration between authors.
• Model Underlying Rights Agreement (Musical or Play): An option agreement with the owner of an existing work to be used by a writer to obtain the basic rights to adapt the existing work as a play or musical.
• Model Commission Agreement: Agreement between a commissioning producer and an author to write and revise a script, to be used in conjunction with a production contract.
• Model Licensing Agreement: A simple licensing agreement based on typical stock & amateur licenses, it grants the rights to produce a production without granting subsidiary rights and future options that might go along with a premiere.