If you learned a theater was not paying royalties.

[Joe]

Let's say for example that there is a theater that has run the same show year after year and you learned they were not paying royalties after the first year.

What would you do?

Would you work there?
Would you turn them in?

Now I'm not saying there IS a theater currently doing this... but I heard a rumor that it has happened here in Indy before.

[LizC]

It would tick me off. I know that my theatre dot's every i and crosses every t with regards to that stuff. And to know that some other group doesn't do the same...

I'd probably not work with that group.

[emily]

if you were 100% positive that this was happening, i'd turn them in. no reason the theatre should profit and screw the playwright out of royalty money. i've turned people in for stealing money at work - it was a tough decision, knowing they'd get fired - but you have to do what you think is right.

as for working there....that's a tough call. i'd like to think i wouldn't, but if the show was too irresistable, i don't know what i'd do.

[thewillowtree]

I don't know that I would turn them in, partly because I don't know the process for doing that, but I would not work there. I was involved in a similar experience. We were doing Smile! and learned that the reason we still had not received the script and score books halfway through the rehearsal process (we'd been working from copies of the evaluation materials, which seems to be a common practice, while we waited for the originals to come in) was that the producer had not sent in the royalties, nor did she plan to. The director (who was also the music director, choreographer, and conductor) managed to scrape enough together from the remainder of his budget, his pockets, and contributions of cast members who didn't want to be in an illegal show (but also didn't want to put the director in a bind by dropping out) to have the rights paid by the time we opened. It's not a situation I want to be in again, and had I known from the beginning that the rights were not going to be paid, I would not have auditioned. I have not worked with that producer since, nor will I unless I find evidence that things have changed drastically.

[liloldlady]

Have to second Liz. Epilogue also is strict about following those rules. If I had proof, I would go to their Board and question them. No, I could not work there. >:(

[ML]

I don't know what I'd do... I mean, I'm presuming they'd know it was me that blew the whistle... I guess I'd have to first figure out what bridges that would burn, as in would any other theatres want to work with me after I turned in another theatre... Wow! Ethics questions... Still to early in the morning for me :D

[gavinrulon]

You know I heard about a local theater that wasn't paying royalties.
Obviously, I don't know for sure, so I won't say who, less they prove me wrong and I'm libel... or I'm right and they sue me anyway.

anyway, I wouldn't want to work there, and being that I am trying to write my own play, I would be fairly honked off by a theater not paying.

[tamararulon]

I have to agree that not paying royalties is underhanded, shady, dishonorable, and downright hateful.
I wouldn't want to work for such a theater. For me, no matter what the role was, the whole experience would be tainted.
Not to be overly dramatic, but I think I would feel dirty putting it on my resume.

[gavinrulon]

feel dirty.? ... nice one...

[mickeyNjudy]

I, too, find it horrible when theatres do not pay royalties. Buck Creek Players also plays by the rules when it comes to this. I know because I am the one who attains the rights, orders the scripts, and sees that our treasurer cuts the checks for me to mail to the publishing houses. Buck Creek Players also pays BMI for all broadcasted pre-show music, post-show music, etc., and ASCAP fees when we produce our own revues.

I have only been in one production at an Indianapolis theatre that I suspected did not pay royalties. We worked from Xerox copies of scripts and music and they had already created an orchestral track from a previous production of the show. Things that make you go "hmmmm."

[Amphitryon38]

Great topic, but I'm getting concerned. I feel like I should let you know that Wayne Township Community Theatre also pays its royalties for plays and musicals.

Personally, I would be hesitant to drop out of a project that was already cast, but I probably wouldn't want to be involved in another production there again.

Would anybody's opinion change if ticket sales were going to hurricane relief?

[scottganyo]

I feel strongly that the theatre should pay royalties that are due. I don't think I would work with them.... and I would definitely complain to the theatre.

The strong emotions here, though, makes me wonder: Do you have movies, software, or music you didn't pay for? How do you feel about that? :-/

S

[gavinrulon]

That's a valid question, Scott.

I do NOT have illegal software, songs, etc...
in fact all the companies I have worked for, I have either written their anti-piracy rules or vocally supported them...

while it is a valid question, it certainly is not comparing apples to apples... unless you will profit from downloading that illegal music, etc...

[BackstageOnly]

I would not work (OK, volunteer - who'd want to hire me?) for a theatre that did not pay their royalty fees... even for a benefit.

I like Darrin's statements about how it affects the creators.

[Daniel_Shock]

Theatre's should do their best to comply with the law. I do feel however, that the concept of copyright has been perverted from what it once was. Certainly an artist has the right to profit from their work. But, I don't believe that this should be an indefinite period. Huge corporations who have built their fortunes on public domain works (Disney for example) are hypocritically paying Congress bribe money to continually lengthen the time that a work is "protected".

How many movies and plays have been based on Shakespeare or the stories of The Brothers Grimm? TONS. Do their decendents get compensated for those? NO. And nor should they. Eventually a song or or a story enters the culture and belongs to all of us. Someday, someone should be allowed to do their own version of Star Wars without threat of lawsuit.

(edited multiple times for spelling)

[t8878]

Seemed like everyone had pretty much the same opinion on this topic . I was waiting for someone to come with something different , thanks for not letting me down Daniel . :) Good points on both sides .

[scottganyo]

Indeed. They aren't different sides, though... Copyright is absolutely intended to be granted for a limited time. And, as Daniel mentioned, has been perverted recently by Disney and friends, who refuses to relinquish control of their old copyrights and have enough influence in our government to seemingly extend copyrights nearly indefinitely. This is a very bad trend for artists and consumers alike.

Read this for an excellent take on this ridiculousness:

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20020305_sprigman.html

S