Does Changing the Setting of a Show Violate Copyright Laws?

[gleek4114]

Posted: 9/23/16 at 1:19am

I am thinking about directing a local production of Spring Awakening. It has been done in this area twice in the last couple years, but this company is very sold on the idea to do their own production. I was thinking just now and wanted to know if you could get in trouble for changing the setting/time period. As many know, it is written to take place in Germany during the late 1800s, but my idea was to set it in the deep south during the 1960s. Please don't come at me from a defensive angle, merely asking if something like this would even be possible. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 9/23/16 at 1:23am

Generally speaking, as long as the script and score remain im tact, you're free to change the setting. There are some titles that don't allow this (West Side Story), but that is made explicitly clear in the rental agreement. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 9/23/16 at 1:25am

And your concept isn't any more outlandish than having teens wearing 19th century garb with emo haircuts belting into handheld microphones. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/23/16 at 2:14am

You just need to check with the licensing company.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 9/23/16 at 10:29am

This is one of those questions that I never understand why people post here. 

Has the rights administrator's phone and internet been shut down? If not, no answer here means anything. 

The copyright laws are not self-executing: the rights holder gets to decide what's allowed. Many things are allowed even though at odds with the script; and some things that most would consider OK are disallowed. Bear in mind (a) that the author almost always has the wherewithal to shut down a production on some pretext, and (b) even if they are wrong, you presumably don't have the wherewithal to litigate the issue. 

So pick up the phone and call, or pullout your laptop and write the rights agency.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 9/23/16 at 10:49am

Let's also bear in mind that as long as every letter and every note doesn't change, there is nothing blocking someone from making design decisions that suggest the South in the early Sixties without needing to come out and say that's when the piece has been set. It's called creative license.

Think about it. How are they gonna police what you think the audience would be willing to accept as "Germany in the late 1800s"? If they can do that, then Andrew Lloyd Webber's going to have to explain why every modernized rendition of Jesus Christ Superstar is totally set in "Roman occupied Jerusalem at the time of Christ," as the license conditions state the show should be.

Updated On: 9/23/16 at 10:49 AM

[BJR]

Posted: 9/23/16 at 11:56am

Ultimately, HogansHero is right. Just ask.

 

And design decisions can fall under copywright, depending on the author or estate. While these are often cases of extremely strict estates, it happens. Beckett's estate is famously strict about the design being exactly as he describes it. I know a major scenic designer who had to redesign parts of a GODOT set at a major regional theatre because it didn't look enough like a road to the Beckett estate. And Albee has many stipulations in casting and production design. (One I've heard is that in many of his plays the characters race shouldn't be changed.)

That said, musicals are usually much more lenient in design, as long as the music and text isn't changed and the genders are switched in casting. But if you're nervous, just ask.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 9/23/16 at 12:44pm

there is no such thing as creative license if the rights holder disagrees with your creativity, and there is a contract, incorporating a script, blocking anything a production does that does not meet with the consent of the rights holder. Best not to give bad advice, for fear someone might actually follow it. A green dress cannot be yellow, and a SR door cannot be SL, if the writer requires otherwise. So always ask. always. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/23/16 at 3:17pm

No....you do NOT have to have an actor exit the same way its stated in the script.   That's ridiculous.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 9/23/16 at 3:43pm

dramamama611 said: "No....you do NOT have to have an actor exit the same way its stated in the script.   That's ridiculous."

It may be ridiculous but it is within the rights of the playwright to dictate. Obviously it is not common. The point: where there is doubt, asking is cheap and easy, and avoids problems. Second point: asking on the internet can get you in trouble. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/23/16 at 4:22pm

To your 2nd point, I said that before everyone else, so obviously I agree. 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/23/16 at 11:11pm

Wasn't the point of the big MAN OF LA MANCHA law suit in the 1980s that the court ruled that the setting (even in general terms) IS part of the copyright? I thought the tort alleged was a production of MOLM set in Nicaragua.

Obviously, as said above, the rights holder has to care enough to sue you. And SPRING AWAKENING is already designed to be anachronistic

A more important question is what is to be gained by setting it in the American South? Doing so just to be different is ethically wrong, whether or not you get caught.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 9/24/16 at 12:54pm

GavenstonPS said - "A more important question is what is to be gained by setting it in the American South? Doing so just to be different is ethically wrong, whether or not you get caught."


I don't see how it is ethically anything. The content of the show is about teenagers growing up in a culture which values excellence and is uncomfortable talking about important things like sex - to the extent that it is an almost hostile environment for those kids. A deep south setting can enrich the various flavors in the show so beautifully - the class divides could be shown without needing as much explanation as the show has to do in its original setting. I think another different setting could be modern day India or any other Asian country really, where the pressure from parents is suffocating and the lack of sex education is abhorrent. There is absolutely nothing wrong, ethically speaking.

 
I cannot add anything to what Hogan said about copyright laws being subject writer's/estate's wishes. You should talk to the licensing company to get in touch with them and see what owners think.

An example, however, where following playwright's stage directions had to be followed is Noises Off. I remember a Broadway.com conversation with leading ladies from the 2016 revival talking about that. They implied that it was more to do with having the show make sense than anything else though.

An example of a different setting being used for basically any take on the show is Pippin. I have seen productions which have placed it in a 1940s midwest carnival, an travelling circus (2013 revival) which is implied to be somewhere in Europe, an early 20s German vaudeville troupe, a late 80s cabaret act, a magic show (which I think was what one of the earlier version of the show had also tried).

I think Pippin allows for this reimagining slightly more than other shows, but if done well, the American South setting for Spring Awakening could be quite brilliant. 

Updated On: 9/24/16 at 12:54 PM

[Drewski Vanderbilt]

Posted: 9/24/16 at 1:25pm

If I remember correctly didn't one company produce a production of hair base on Iraq instead of Vietnam?

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 9/24/16 at 2:12pm

Drewski Vanderbilt said: "If I remember correctly didn't one company produce a production of hair base on Iraq instead of Vietnam?"

Yes. In 2005, the Gate Theatre did a staging which updated the topical references (Claude was too busy playing PlayStation to pay attention to his parents in the scene before "I Got Life," for example) and revised dialogue to reference the war in Iraq and then-current events. The production was a commercial success, but though Jim Rado had allowed the changes as an experiment to see what they offered, he ultimately repudiated it. One source says he even dubbed the new version "The Selfish Anti-American Solipsistic Hate/Sex Musical," a reference to the show's original subtitle ["The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical"].

Updated On: 9/24/16 at 02:12 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/24/16 at 2:49pm

And while we don't know, you can hope that these examples you are citing asked for, and were given, permission.

 

I've asked permission to cut, change a character from male to female: with and without script changes (other than pronouns or other identifying words), allowing a person of the opposite sex to play a role AS defined, as well as settings changes.  An overwhelming amount of the time permission has been granted.

[gleek4114]

Posted: 9/24/16 at 3:42pm

Thank you to everyone for the input. I will definitely talk to MTI during the process of acquiring the rights to the show. No my mind, the themes of the show are so univeral, and the American South seemed like another setting that could work in terms of radical religious presence, and the discouragement of learning about important topics such as sex education. Part of my diving into this idea, WAS to be a bit different than other productions my community has seen, but I wouldn't change anything setting/time period wise unless it made since. So, I guess I'm saying I would want to change it to be different in a GOOD way, not just do so something crazy and outlandish for attention.  

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/24/16 at 3:50pm

Glad you plan on taking the right steps.  (But I think the overwhelming majority of directors that try something different - no matter how ridiculous - believe they are making those choices for artistic reasons.)

 

It's an interesting choice, to be sure.