It was a frustrating experience for us, but it served to spark an idea. The Guild started talking about forming a non-profit legal defense fund that could support litigation to defend not just playwrights, but audiences, theaters, and other directors from the carnage that would ensue from the establishment of a copyright in directorial ideas [for more on that, see URINETOWN PAPERS, on the DLDF webpage, at DLDF.org].
But that was not all such a fund could do. It could champion the victims of censorship; it could fight for playwrights claiming fair use; it could support indigent playwrights involved in such litigations; it could advocate for the proper administration and defense of copyrights against piracy; it could sponsor a website, publications, and public events to educate on these issues of the First Amendment, copyright law, fair use, and the public domain, and the necessary balance between these sometimes conflicting concepts; it could even try to get such subjects into the curricula of theater departments around the country.
And so, with the enthusiastic support of the Guild council and its president, Stephen Schwartz, the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, Inc. was organized to “…conduct charitable and educational activities that advance the progress of arts for the enjoyment and benefit of the public; promote the right to freedom of speech as guaranteed in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, particularly with respect to stage productions; and educate the public and the legal community about the protections afforded under the Copyright Act of 1976, the interactions between such protections and the First Amendment protection of free speech, the artistic and lawful importance of a robust public domain, and the public benefits that arise from such protections” [from the DLDF’s corporate filings, available now on its webpage].
The DLDF created a governing board which now includes former DG Council President John Weidman, attorney Rick Pappas, playwrights JT Rodgers, Sarah Ruhl, and Lydia Diamond, as well as the Guild’s Associate Executive Director for Business Affairs, David Faux, and my humble and lovable self. The funding has come, initially, from a generous grant by the DG Council, but we are hopeful that over time, we might attract additional public and private support.
To be clear, the DLDF, as a 501(c) 3 public charity, cannot become involved in purely private disputes that have no public benefit component. So the board will have to assess any request for support in this light. For example, if someone infringes your copyright, and their defense is “no, I didn’t,” then there is only a factual matter being determined, to decide a private dispute, and the DLDF can’t get involved. Even if their answer is “yes, but it’s a fair use” (for example), it may still be only a factual matter deciding a private dispute. But if a case raises a legal (not just factual) question about “fair use” that could impact its application for others, then it’s a public dispute for the purposes of the DLDF.
The DLDF’s first public action was to sign on and financially support an amicus brief in the Authors Guild class-action suit against Google, which came about when Google downloaded the entire contents of a major university library into a searchable database that they owned and controlled, without getting permission from any of the copyright owners [For more on this, see the brief posted on the DLDF website]. Our new website not only contains the Google brief, but prior briefs entered into by the Guild (including the Rent brief), and articles, too, dealing with issues that can now be tackled by the DLDF. It will also have a news feeder, constantly updating news in these areas. The site also has a directory of legal assistance in 10 cities around the country, which we plan to expand and develop, to include also those private attorneys offering pro bono or dis- counted representation to playwrights for these kinds of issues.
But we cannot do any of this by ourselves. Here’s what we need you to do:
- If you are aware of a legal dispute in your community which deals with these types of issues of public im- port, please let us know
- If you are an attorney, or know of any, or are aware of any other kinds of legal services that would offer pro bono or discounted representation in these practice areas, please let us know so we can include them in a database of contacts and expand our lawyers' directory
- If you are in a theater program, or teaching in one, and can provide us with information about the program (particularly a copy of the playwriting syllabus), we would be grateful. It’s our hope to provide speakers, literature, AV material, and even suggested supplementary curricula for courses to such playwriting programs around the country; and
- The website has a donation button that we hope you might use to support these efforts.
It will take some time, but we are hopeful that the DLDF will establish itself as a new line of defense for both the American playwrights and the public to whom they speak.