Advice on How To Protect Your Plays
From an email:
Anyway, those are a few thoughts on the subject. I hope it helps.
I’ve been to multiple websites and they all have fees for additional performances. But there’s one thing I don’t understand. Once I sell a script, what’s to stop the customer from stealing by performing my play indefinitely or “sharing” it with other groups?
Is there a way to track it or is it pretty much an honor system?
I would really appreciate your advice. - S.
That's a great question but truthfully, besides the protection of copyright, the bottom line, it really is an honor system. Once you send your play out into the world, in whatever form: pdf, print version etc.. who knows what happens to its remains once produced. Yes, it could be recycled without your knowledge. Having said that there are methods you can use such as the standard legal disclaimer - you may have seen the inside on the first page or so of any play that states:
"Caution: Professionals and amateurs are hereby advised that (title of your play) is subject to a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America ..etc..." This could install a little fear or guilt into any guerrilla theatre troupe that stages an outlaw production. Maybe.
Beside that legal verbiage - a few methods I also use is "Search Alerts" such as the one Google has - http://www.google.com/alerts
You can define Keywords -such as the Title of your play - because theatre groups need to advertise and most likely will use the Web/Facebook - etc.. and the Search Alert will notify you with an email when it finds your Keyword (or Play Title) listed. This is a nice automated way to monitor where your work is being produced and by whom. Of course, you can just type in the title yourself and search - but that takes a bit of time. This can help a playwright keep track - as long as they use your original title.
I've been putting my work out there for over 15 years and never really had a problem with unauthorized performances. I am sure there may have been groups who did an extra performance and neglected to let me know - but I've had quite a few theatre groups contact me and say, "We want to do an extra show, how do I pay?" or " We did an extra night we need to pay you" - therefore I have found the honor system work sometimes.
I believe in this day and age of information technology and social media - it's much easier for people such as us - playwrights/musicians and others to find out who is performing our work and IF they should be. If a high school performed an extra weekend of George Bernard Shaw or Neil Simon - who would know? Not Neil or George. They didn't have Google. There would may be a small blurb in the local paper and chances are the Samuel French Police would never find out. There was no Twitter or Facebook for the actors to post "Come see me in this play".
