Do directors have a copyright in their version of my stage directions?
No. Statues and courts have not recognized a copyright in stage direction and the Department of Justice has entered at least one civil law suit on behalf of the Copyright Office specifically to state that there is no such thing as a “director’s copyright.” The product of a director’s work is conceptual, not tangible, and copyright does not protect ideas, only the specific expression of an idea fixed in a tangible medium.
Any changes a director may suggest in an author’s stage directions are subject to the author’s approval and, under any Guild contract, all approved changes become the author’s sole property. Directors do not become co-authors of a play simply by offering dramaturgical advice to a playwright or offering ideas that the author is free to accept or reject. Such contributions are conceptual and considered part of directors’ customary services in the course of their employment. Directors do not become co-authors unless they make a copyrightable contribution to a work and the author intends the director to be co-author.
Related Articles
What are subsidiary rights? Who should share my subsidiary rights revenues and at what rates?
Subsidiary rights include the myriad of ways an author can license a work after its initial stage production. Often times, these rights are withheld from the stage producer. They include, among other things, publishing rights, stock & amateur ...
DG Considerations for Director Agreements
Click below under "Attachments" to download and print this article.
When should I register my copyright?
Generally, there are three points in the life of a work at which copyright registration and revised registration makes the most sense: (a) When you have finished a work and are prepared to start submitting it to theaters, festivals, agents, ...
DG Sample Contract: Collaboration Agreement For Plays
Form agreement for collaboration between authors writing a straight play. It is in the best interest of parties to enter into a collaboration agreement early in the creative process, to avoid potential difficulties that could arise at a later time. ...
Does the Guild review contracts? What contracts will you review? How should I send them to you?
Guild members are required to use the Guild’s Approved Production Contract for all First Class productions (i.e., Broadway and equivalent productions throughout the U.S., Canada and London’s West End). These agreements are subject to the Guild’s ...