Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

We get questions, lots of questions, about licensing, videotaping, changing the script. If you have questions, check here. You may find all the answers you need. Click on the question to link to the answer. Throughout our site you will also find the icon. Click these icons for answers to frequently asked questions specific to that page. See Ordering Plays and Other Materials, Applying for Rights and Shipping Info for questions relating to those topics. If you still need an answer, see our Contact Info page for the appropriate email address for your inquiry.

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>> Copying Rights

May I make a copy of the play for the actors at my theatre?

The short answer is "no." Have you ever borrowed a record or CD from a friend and made a tape of it? Most likely you have. But it is illegal. It doesn't matter that Paul McCartney is a billionaire. He still deserves to get paid. Piracy of intellectual property is big business. There are frequent reports of bootleg copies of movies and music being distributed in Eastern Europe. The U.S. government has been in discussions with the Chinese about closing down factories in China that turn out pirated copies of American music and computer software CDs. The music and computer industries estimate losses of hundreds of millions of dollars because of these violations. You can find pirated videotapes of current movies being sold on the streets of New York. And Congress is currently debating the best ways to protect copyrighted material from being disseminated over the Internet. Digital technology makes it possible to make perfect copies of a piece of music. A fifth generation copy may be just as good as the original itself. What does all this have to do with copying plays? Just like making a copy of a friend's CD, this is a violation of copyright law. Royalties from script sales is one of the ways that a playwright makes money for their work. Every illegal copy of a play made means that the author has been denied income that she is rightfully due.

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