 |
This Weekend!
Southern Region Community Conversation
Join us for our final conversation this Saturday, February 5. We want to hear from you about what’s happening in your local theatre community, and how the Guild can help.
And, of course, you’ll be able to connect with other Guild members as well.
|
|
|
|
|
Save The Date!
DG Advocacy Summit
On March 18,19, and 21, we'll be holding our first-ever advocacy event for dramatists to learn about the issues that are affecting playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists, and investigate ways to address said issues. This is not an invitation to sit and gripe. We want to educate and activate our members. We know what the problems are; what are we going to do to change them?
|
|
|
|
|
Why DG Supports Collective Bargaining for Creative Professionals
The Dramatists Guild is a member of a coalition of creative professionals who co-filed a request with the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice for collective bargaining rights on behalf of creators of copyrighted works everywhere, including playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists.
Such artists continue to suffer in the marketplace, due to outdated labor laws that treat them as independent businesses rather than as workers; this treatment results in their inability to protect themselves through collective bargaining.
To confront this issue, the coalition has recommended three possible legislative approaches that could make a world of difference to writers like you.
- The Freelance Author and Artist Labor Act (“FAALA”) of 2022, which would be an amendment to the National Labor Relations Act that would add “professional creative workers” to Section 7 of the NLRA (the provision that allows “employees” to bargain collectively and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection);
- The Freelance Author and Artist Freedom Act (“FAAFA”) of 2022, which would be a stand-alone antitrust exemption for professional creative workers;
- Amendments to Section 101 of the 2021 Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 842), to have it cover professional creative workers.
Any of the pieces of legislation proposed by the coalition would serve to empower dramatists to act collectively through their guild to establish fair terms and practices in the theatre industry, so we support this effort and ask you to consider supporting it as well.
As you may recall, the Guild lobbied for an exemption to the anti-trust laws about 15 years ago, to achieve this very purpose. While we were successful in having bills proposed in both the Senate and the House, and even had hearings on it, our efforts were ultimately unsuccessful due to the objections (and greater resources) of New York producers and landlords. This time, however, we are not going it alone.
|
|
|
|
|
What is The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (The CASE Act)?
The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (the CASE Act) was signed into law in 2020, with the support of the Dramatists Guild. It establishes a small claims court-type tribunal within the United States Copyright Office that allows copyright owners (like dramatists) to bring claims in a less expensive and more efficient way.
The Case Act allows the Copyright Office to establish a Copyright Claims Board (the “CCB”) that can hear infringement claims up to $30,000 (half that for unregistered works), as well as make declaratory judgements in fair use cases. However, the process is voluntary; once a claim is filed, respondents have a sixty-day period to opt-out. The process is also not available for claims against federal or state governments or foreign entities, nor for claims already established in pending cases. Despite these limitations, though, the CCB may prove to be a valuable tool, making copyright enforcement more available and deterrence more likely.
Currently, the Copyright Office is establishing the rules and procedures for the CCB system. These procedures are intended to include a right for a party to be represented by law students, making the system even less costly for both parties. The CCB is expected to be ready to hear claims by the spring of 2022.
|
|
|
|
|
Watch The Power, Peril, and Promise of the Creative Economy Congressional Hearing
”Representing nearly 5.2 million American workers, the arts sector is a major component of the economy. Unfortunately, this industry has been exceptionally hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and its recovery has been slower than many others. The hearing provide[d] recommendations for investments in key infrastructure and provide[d] a roadmap for bringing arts, culture, and creativity into the center of long-term recovery. Members hear[d] from experts alongside creative entrepreneurs to demonstrate the power of the creative economy and its importance to a robust recovery.”
|
Reminder! Today is the last day to submit your testimony about the Creative Economy in your district to the historical Congressional record. Please use the BAH toolkit and template, or write your own impact letter about how the pandemic has affected your community and what meaningful legislative steps could help you and your organization, community, or business. Testimony is due today, February 3.
Please label your testimony like this:
STATE-District_Last Name, First Name [EXAMPLE:] TX-07_Chu,Tallulah.pdf
-OR-
STATE-District_Last Name, First Name_Org [EXAMPLE:] TX-07_Chu,Tallulah_ Dance-NYC.pdf
|
|
|
|
|
Do You Know Your Rights?
An Introduction to the Dramatists Bill of Rights
February 22
The webinar is open ALL theatre writers. Please share this event with your fellow dramatists.
Playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists often struggle professionally in theatres throughout the country, and even on Broadway, due to the wide-ranging demands and expectations that are imposed on them by their producers (and other collaborators), and are presented as “standard” terms. It is essential, therefore, that dramatists know the Dramatists Bill of Rights, which the Dramatists Guild established in 1926 and has defended ever since.
To ensure this ownership and control over your work, the Guild recommends that any production that involves a dramatist incorporates a written agreement in which both the producer and the writer acknowledge certain key industry standards.
During the webinar will walk through the key standards and open the room to questions.
Atlantic Time: 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Eastern Time: 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Central Time: 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Mountain Time: 4:30pm– 6:30pm
Pacific Time: 3:30pm – 5:30pm
|
|
|
|
|
Contract Coaching with Ralph Sevush
February 15
This event is limited to a small group and is for Guild members only. Please do not sign up unless you can attend.
Theatre contracts can be overwhelming. What key standards do they express? How should they be used? What happens if a theatre or producer pushes back? What do the terms in these contracts mean? How can you use your contract as a force for good?
At our interactive Contract Coaching session, we'll work with a small group of dramatists to address their questions, discuss recent contract experiences, and offer ways for each writer to feel more conformable in saying "yes" or "no" to specific deals.
The event will be conducted by Ralph Sevush, DG's Executive Director of Business Affairs, and moderated by Emmanuel Wilson, DG's Executive Director of Creative Affairs and Membership.
This event is a working session limited to 35 writers. When they register, each writer must submit one question about a contract, or about negotiating a contract. While we will attempt to answer every question that is submitted, the interactive nature of this event may prevent that outcome.
Atlantic Time: 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Eastern Time: 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Central Time: 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Mountain Time: 4:30pm– 6:30pm
Pacific Time: 3:30pm – 5:30pm
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright Clinic with Deborah Murad
February 16
How do you register and manage your copyright?
At this event, conducted by Deborah Murad, Executive Director of DG Copyright Management, you'll learn about:
- The life cycle of copyright;
- How to register your work;
- How the public domain works;
- How to manage your intellectual property over its lifetime.
Atlantic Time: 4pm – 8:30pm
Eastern Time: 3pm – 4:30pm
Central Time: 2pm – 3:30pm
Mountain Time: 1pm– 2:30pm
Pacific Time: 12pm – 1:30pm
|
|
|
|
|
There is no reason to write alone. Join a National Silent Writing session.
All February
Registration is now open for all February 2022 dates. How does it work?
With evenings, mornings, weekdays, and weekend slots all available, simply find a time slot that fits your schedule, register, and sign in to write silently, in community with others, all across the nation.
Dramatists are welcome to register for any time slot of their choosing. The sessions are only organized by region to show who will be moderating during that period of time.
|
|
|
|
|
Voting is now open for the 2022 DG Council Election!
Vote by February 28
All eligible Guild Members can help to elect the Council Members who will make decisions about how the Guild operates. Each candidate has crafted a biography and a personal statement for your review and selection. Please click the button below to read their entries and to vote for the Council Members you want to see representing your Guild.
Also on the ballot:
At the council meeting held on December 20, 2021, a motion was made, seconded, and passed unanimously to revise Article IX/Section 5(d) of the Guild’s bylaws. That section deals with the disciplining of members who have been accused of harassment and other discriminatory or dangerous behavior. The proposed revisions provide both a complainant and an accused member with a greater degree of safety and privacy for resolving such claims, and in a more expeditious manner, while protecting the rights of accused members to a fair process.
Pursuant to the bylaws, the proposed revisions require the consent of a majority of the members who cast a vote on this resolution.
Voting closes on February 28 at 2pm EST, so make your voice heard today! (Please note that you are only allowed to vote once.)
|
|
|
|
|
Click on an article below and catch up on what is happening in writing communities around the country.
|
|
|
|
|
Contracts and Best Practices |
|
|
|
|
Download a DG Best Practice, Model Contract, or Guide Today!
Because the Guild tracks national and worldwide trends, we are able to provide certain model contracts that reflect up-to-date industry standards.
We encourage our members to use these models to educate themselves and to use them as guides when entering into productions or collaborations.
Devised Theatre
Anti-Piracy
Best Practices
Broadway
Collaboration
Commissions
Diversity and Inclusion
Licensing
Live Stream/Digital Theatre
Negotiation
Opera
Production
Translation
Underlying Rights
|
|
|
|
|
We would like you to be informed, educated, and well-equipped when you navigate the business side of theatre. There are so many questions that writers have about this industry; we want to bring those questions and answers directly to you. Dear Business Affairs features DG members' most pressing questions, answered by staff in our BA department.
|
|
|
|
|
Question: January 1, 2022 was Public Domain Day. What works are now available for public use?
Each year, copyrights expire and new works enter the public domain on January 1. The “Progress Clause” of the U.S. Constitution established the legal basis for federal copyright law, and it did so in order to encourage the progress of our society, to incentivize the creation of new works that would eventually enrich the public domain and be accessible to everyone. So each work that enters the public domain is an example of how that purpose continues to be fulfilled.
Under the copyright laws that were in effect at the time, works created in 1926 would have entered the public domain twenty years ago, when the duration of copyright was 75 years. However, Congress revised the Copyright Act to extend the copyright term for an additional 20 years. So now, after 95 years, those works entered the public domain this year, on January 1, 2022. They include such noteworthy texts as Ernest Hemmingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Langston Hughes' The Weary Blues, Willa Cather's My Mortal Enemy, Edna Ferber's Show Boat, William Faulkner's first novel Soldiers' Pay, Dorothy Parker's poetry collection Enough Rope, and A. A. Milne's beloved children's classic Winnie the Pooh, as well as musical compositions by Ira and George Gershwin ("Someone to Watch Over Me") and Irving Berlin ("Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”).
The public is now free to build upon these works, including dramatists who wish to adapt them for the stage, without having to worry about securing any rights. That said, there are always caveats in terms of what, when, and how works enter the public domain. For example, the original text of Edna Ferber's Show Boat is now in the public domain but subsequent adaptations, including the film and Broadway musical, are still under copyright. Similarly, certain musical compositions have entered the public domain but many recordings of those compositions, by various recording artists, are still firmly under copyright. And a work may be in the public domain in the U.S. but still be protected in certain foreign territories.
Even if a work is still protected by copyright, the public has a right of “fair use,” to use copyrighted works under certain circumstances. Given these complexities, it is advisable that you consult with an attorney to help you to clarify a work’s copyright status and your right to adapt it or to incorporate such material into your own work.
Please direct any questions you have to our Business Affairs department. They can also offer members any of the many past articles and seminars on the subjects of copyright, public domain, and fair use.
|
|
|
|
|
We are writers; what we love to do most...is write! Second to that, we might love rehearsing in the room with performers or getting to see our work fully realized and produced.
However, as writers, we will inevitably have to deal with the non-creative, not-so-fun, but very essential part of our industry-- the business. We might come across some complicated looking terms, such as subsidiary rights, copyrights, or collaboration agreement.
What do these terms mean, and why do we need to know them? The DG Glossary is your handy go-to guide on important terms that every writer of the theatre should know.
|
|
|
|
|
Collective Bargaining
The phrase “collective bargaining” refers to the process by which employees negotiate the terms of employment with their employers. Employees are normally represented by a labor union during this process and are therefore acting collectively to balance the relative bargaining power of those providing the labor with those providing the capital.
The terms negotiated during collective bargaining can include a wide range of subjects, including working conditions, salaries and compensation, and benefits (including pension and healthcare).
The goal of collective bargaining is to establish a written contract, sometimes called a “minimum basic agreement” (an “MBA”), which covers specific periods and is renegotiated thereafter at specified times, to reflect the evolving conditions of a particular industry.
The process of collective bargaining is governed by the National Labor Relations Act. Under the Act, labor unions are exempt from the restrictions of anti-trust laws, which would otherwise make such collective actions illegal.
Currently, only “employees” are entitled to the anti-trust exemption provided for labor unions. Independent contractors (like dramatists) are not deemed “employees” for purposes of labor, tax, or anti-trust laws and are therefore not entitled to form a union or to otherwise engage in collective action (including collective bargaining, boycotting, and/or striking).
When employees create copyrightable work within the scope of their employment, their work is deemed a “work for hire” and is owned by the employer. So, as independent contractors, dramatists retain ownership of their copyrights and exert control over their work through their production agreements.
Only about 10% of the American labor force is currently unionized, with a third of those employees working in the public sector. But work in America has changed since those early 20th century laws were enacted, and many workers are now treated as independent contractors, unable to protect themselves in the marketplace. That is why the PRO (Protect the Right to Organize) Act and other federal legislative initiatives are intended to either redefine “employees” to include certain types of independent contractors, or to otherwise allow such workers to engage in such collective action, without making these authorial workers “employees” whose copyrights are automatically subject to the “work for hire” doctrine.
Related Articles:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
