This conference will explore connections and disconnections between copyright law in the theater and the actual practice of theater-making. Key questions include: What controversies between playwrights and other collaborators (designers, directors, actors, etc.) have emerged in the industry? What organizational frameworks or professional norms attempt to mitigate copyright law’s failures? How do members of the theater community assert their legal authority? How has the history of copyright in the theater shaped its present form? What should the future of copyright and theater be?
We will combine the perspectives of legal scholars, theater historians and critics, and theater practitioners. We aim not simply to share research and assumptions about theater and copyright, but also to develop a sustainable dialogue about how theater artists can work better with copyright and how copyright can better serve the theater.
The conference website with full schedule, locations and registration details can be found here.
The keynote session with Tony Kushner on March 9 at 4:30 pm is free and open to the public. Members of the public are also welcome to the five conference sessions on March 9 and March 10, but we ask that you contact us if you plan to attend.
This is a joint endeavor by Yale Law School, Yale School of Drama, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and held in conjunction with the Beinecke exhibition The Art of Collaboration (January 19 – April 15, 2018). The event has received generous support from the Payson R. Wolff Lectureship Fund, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and Yale School of Drama.
