The Copyright Advocacy Committee is gearing up for Copyright Awareness Week 2022, which kicks off on Monday, April 25.
What is Copyright?
Copyright is to writers what patents are to inventors.
When you create original written material, whether it’s a play, musical, libretto, lyric, or song, you automatically own that copyright.
Your work is protected by your copyright, which is what gives you the ability to negotiate fair contracts for the use of your play or musical. Everybody who licenses and performs your work has to abide by those contracts.
Copyright Registration Drive
Monday, April 25- Friday April 29
In view of the Guild’s mission to aid dramatists in protecting both the artistic and economic integrity of their work, we are excited to announce the first ever DG Copyright Registration Drive.
Why register your copyright?
We believe that one of the best ways to protect your work throughout its lifetime is to register your copyright. When your work is registered, you have control over how it is used.
Furthermore, if someone infringes upon your registered copyrighted work, you get full protection -- including the right to statutory damages and an attorney’s fees -- when you take them to small claims court and win your case.
The good news is that the copyright registration process is fairly straightforward, so you don’t need a lawyer to do it for you. You can register your copyright yourself! Just visit the U.S. Copyright Office: https://www.copyright.gov/registration/
If you would like some extra guidance on how to register your copyright, we encourage you to attend our registration demo workshop on Monday, April 25. Scroll down to learn more about the workshop below!
Copyright Registration Demo Workshop
Monday, April 25
Atlantic Time: 4pm
Eastern Time: 3pm
Central Time: 2pm
Mountain Time: 1pm
Pacific Time: 12pm
To kick off Copyright Registration Week, and our first ever DG Copyright Registration Drive, the Business Affairs team will be hosting a special event on copyright registration.
Our very own Dave H. Faux, Esq. will lead us through a copyright registration application, step by step, for the play Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers by William S. Yellow Robe, Jr., which is currently under the purview of DG’s sister organization, DG Copyright Management.
During the event, Dave will also answer DG member questions about the ins and outs of the registration process, and explain the differences between registering a play and registering a musical.
After this event, you should feel empowered to file applications for any of your unregistered works, so that you can not only participate in the DG Copyright Registration Drive but continue to successfully register your work throughout your writing career.
Think Before You Throw (or Donate): The Value in Your Papers
Friday, April 29
Atlantic Time: 3pm
Eastern Time: 2pm
Central Time: 1pm
Mountain Time: 12pm
Pacific Time: 11am
We all know that we should protect the copyrights in our plays, songs, and musicals, but what about the drafts, letters, and papers we generate while creating them?
Join DG Copyright Management’s Deborah Murad and chief archivist and head of the NYC branch of Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, Lauren Miller Walsh, for a conversation on how to best preserve and benefit from your life’s work. Topics we will cover include archive curation and valuation, finding the best home for your archive, sale of archives, donation, tax implications, and more! This event, which is open to the public, is not to be missed for any dramatist who is thinking of donating or selling their archive.
If you have a specific question for Ms. Walsh, please email info@thedgcm.org.
DG Copyright Management (DG©M) is an estate planning consultancy and intellectual property management organization. The DG©M was created to oversee the stewardship of plays, songs, and musicals that are bequeathed to the Dramatists Guild or its related organizations.