In addition to advocacy, the DLDF educates… not only about the importance to our society of free expression, rational copyright regulation, and an ever-expanding public domain but about the industry standards that have evolved over the past hundred years to protect the development and production of dramatic works in America, in order to bring to theaters and theater audiences a fuller understanding of the theater business and the playwright’s vital role in it.
The DLDF’s recent activities have included the filing of an amicus brief in 2014 in the case of Adjmiv. DLT Entertainment LTD. in support of playwright David Adjmi’s claim that his off-Broadway play 3C was a fair use and a parody of the TV show Three’s Company. In 2016, the DLDF also co-sponsored an amicus brief in support of the Authors Guild suit against Google, to stop their mass infringement of entire libraries of copyrighted works, including plays. It has also shown its support across the country by working with students in Trumbull, CT and Maiden, NC to help remount canceled productions of Rent and Almost, Maine, respectively, and collaborating with the National Coalition Against Censorship to create a school censorship toolkit.
Last year, the DLDF supported the “Banned Broadway” program by New York’s TADA! Youth Theater, in which teen actors performed scenes and songs from shows which had faced censorship. By participating in Tada’s program, the DLDF board discovered that there was no systematic way of tracking and updating information about which works had faced censorship (and by whom, and why) so, to answer these questions, the DLDF built a database to identify specific shows that have been canceled or closed due to legal, political or economic pressure or had to overcome such obstacles in order to be seen. This year, the DLDF is working with a national coalition as a co-sponsor of Banned Books Week, producing its own event entitled “Banned Together,” a performance of songs and scenes from banned dramatic works drawn from its database, to be presented simultaneously across the country during the week-long event.
Additionally, The Dramatists Legal Defense Fund created the Defender Award, presented to one person annually to honor work in support of free expression in the dramatic arts. The late Edward J. Davis Esq. was the 2016 recipient for his successful representation of David Adjmi on the 3C case. Past award winners have included Trumbull High School student Larissa Mark (2013) and theater advocate and journalist Howard Sherman (2015).
-
LET US KNOW: If you are aware of a dispute in your community that deals with these types of issues, please inform us;
-
INVITE US: If you are a part of an academic institution or nonprofit theater organization, invite your playwrights and your staff attorneys to discuss these issues with us and with your community;
-
JOIN US: If you are an attorney, or know of any, or are aware of any legal service group that would offer pro bono or discounted representation on these sorts of issues, please recommend them to our attention, so we might include them in our national legal services directory; and
-
AID US: the DLDF is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that relies on donations for its survival. Your contributions can be made by mail, phone, or on our website.
-
CONTACT US: www.dldf.org info@dldf.org • twitter: @TheDLDF