Tags: Copyright

Join our Business Affairs Staff for an enlightening discussion on Artificial Intelligence and its implications for theatrical writers. This event will explore how new innovations can influence the creative process, copyright issues, and the future of theatre writing. Theatre writers are increasingly concerned about AI's potential to scrape online scripts without permission, create AI-generated plays, and replace human dramatists. Legal and ethical...

Calling all theatre educators! We're thrilled to announce the launch of our new  DG publication: Can I Do That - A Helpful Guide to Performing Plays and Musicals in a Classroom or an Educational Environment!Playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists recognize the importance of your work as an educator; we want to support you as you inform, guide, and cultivate the next generation of theatremakers. That's why we've created this new guide, specifically designed to...

Sometimes, what goes on in Washington D.C. can feel worlds apart from what happens on our stages but that couldn't be further from the truth. When you vote, you have the power to help elect officials who will prioritize issues that matter to writers like you.  Here are some of the policy and legislative relative issues the we've been working on in our advocacy efforts on behalf of playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists. Discover our...

Back in April, a Guild member contacted the BA HelpDesk to alert us to what appeared to be pirated libretti and scripts (many of which were written by DG members) that were being sold on eBay by a highly rated seller. The Guild's Business Affairs team investigated the matter; it was determined that many (if not all) of these scripts and libretti were likely being sold without the author's permission,  potentially infringing...

With our members hard at work writing and revising pieces for End of Play.®, the Guild has received a number of inquiries asking when it is appropriate to give someone a co-writing credit. To answer that question, first it is important to understand one of the basic fundamentals of copyright law: the idea/expression dichotomy. Under copyright law, only an author’s original expressions that are fixed in a tangible medium (i.e. written down or...

The Copyright Advocacy Committee is gearing up for Copyright Awareness Week 2022, which kicks off on Monday, April 25.  What is Copyright? Copyright is to writers what patents are to inventors. When you create original written material, whether it’s a play, musical, libretto, lyric, or song, you automatically own that copyright. Your work is protected by your copyright, which is what gives you the ability to...

What Happens if I Make a Mistake When Registering My Copyright? On February 24th, the Supreme Court issued a decision in the Unicolors v. H&M case which will help allay one of the fears many of our members have when submitting an application for copyright registration: making a mistake! For a little background, Unicolors sued H&M for copyright infringement. H&M sought to invalidate...