Stage Writers Handbook: A Complete Business Guide for Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Librettists

327 Pages·1996·1.098 MB·English

by  Dana Singer

the clytemnestra project
Stage
Writers
Handbook
d
Stage Writers Handbook
Marketing and Self-Promotion
Stage
Writers
Handbook
d
A Complete Business Guide
for Playwrights, Composers,
Lyricists and Librettists
Dana Singer
Theatre Communications Group
Stage Writers Handbook
Copyright © 1997 by Dana Singer
Stage Writers Handbookis published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc.,
520 8th Ave., 24th Floor, New York, NY 10018.
All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio or
television reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This publication is made possible in part with public funds from
the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.
TCG books are exclusively distributed to the book trade by
Consortium Book Sales and Distribution, 1045 Westgate Dr., St. Paul, MN 55114.
Singer, Dana
Stage writers handbook : a complete business guide for
playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists / Dana Singer.
eISBN 978-1–55936–712–7
1. Theater—Vocational guidance. 2. Theater—Economic aspects.
I. Title.
PN2074.S56 1996
331.7’02—dc20 96–7093
CIP
Book design and composition by Lisa Govan
First Printing, February 1997
Third Printing, April 2004
Marketing and Self-Promotion
This book is dedicated to my partner Jane Grochowski
and my best friend Karen Abbott.
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Stage Writers Handbook
Marketing and Self-Promotion
Acknowledgements
d
F
IRST, I interviewed many, many people who spoke with me confi-
dentially and off the record. This information was truly invaluable and
much of this book could not have been written without their input. I
wish I could thank them publicly, but they know who they are.
I would also like to thank the following:
Paul Aiken at the Authors Guild, The Association of American
Publishers, Jeffrey Brabec and Todd Brabec for their book Music, Money
and Success, Stephen DiLauro, Steven d’Onofrio, Bill Downs, Patricia
Felch, David Friedlander, Richard Garmise at the Dramatists Guild, Elana
Greenfield, Stuart Greenman, David Grossberg, Nikki Harmon, Robert
Harris, Sharon Jensen, Susan Lee, Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of
America, Susan Lowenberg, Gary Marshall, Lauren Marshall, Phillip
Mattera and the National Writers Union, Sarah Montague, Scott J. Parker,
Maria Pillante, David Pritchard, Sarah Schlesinger, Roger Hendricks
Simon, Helen Sneed, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers,
David D. Wright, Lou Anne Wright, and Blake Edwards, Terry Nemeth,
Steven Samuels and Wendy Weiner at Theatre Communications Group.
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Stage Writers Handbook
Special thank-yous to Peter Stone and everyone on the Council of
the Dramatists Guild, Elliot Brown, Jere Couture, Alvin Deutsch, Seth
Gelblum and, again, Robert Harris, from whom over the years I have
learned an immeasurable amount about the theatre industry.
Last, I used many resources in researching various parts of this book,
but two in particular deserve special recognition: The Rights of Publicity
and Privacyby J. Thomas McCarthy and Melville Nimmer’s four-volume
treatise on the Law of Copyright.
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Marketing and Self-Promotion
Contents
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Dedication v
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction xix
Chapter 1: COPYRIGHT 3
Copyright ownership for stage writers 4
Commissions 5
Term of copyright protection 6
Registration 7
What registration means 9
Timely registration 10
Registration required before lawsuit 10
Risk of losing important copyright benefits 11
Registering revised works 13
Combining multiple registrations 14
Renewal term registration 15
Public domain 16
Death of the copyright owner 17
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