theatricals - FAQ
THEATRICALS FAQ
WHEN MUST YOU PAY ROYALTIES?
Under all circumstances, even for charity performances and dress rehearsals with an audience. Any unauthorised performance is illegal. There's a simple rule: if there's an audience (paying or not), it's a public performance and you must pay royalties.
WHY ARE CHARITY PERFORMANCES CHARGED FOR?
The royalties are the author's income, and it's up to the author to decide how to use that income.
MAY I ALTER OR ADAPT A PLAY OR BOOK?
You need to obtain written permission before you alter, translate or adapt a play, or create a play from an existing book, story or film. This can be a very long process, and the owners of the copyright have every right to refuse permission.
How much are royalties?
Royalty fees differ from show to show and publisher to publisher.
May we update and modernise the show?
This is the same as adapting the show - and entirely at the discretion of the rightsholder. You need to request permission in writing first.
How long does copyright last?
In South Africa copyright protection continues for 50 years after the year in which an author dies. Where more than one author creates a work, the work remains protected as long as one of the authors is protected.
May I perform an extract or shortened version of the show without paying royalties?
No, you'll need to get permission in advance as not all authors permit the use of extracts, and you'll still need to pay royalties.
If I bought the script or got it off the Internet, then aren't the Performance Rights and Permission to perform automatically included and free?
No. Being in possession of the material does not grant an automatic right to perform a play or a musical.
We won't be asking money for tickets, the show is free; do we still need to pay royalties?
Yes, because royalties pay the creators of the work for their work. By paying royalties you are giving an author an income, acknowledging that they created the work.
Can I read a script or listen to a musical before I decide?
Absolutely! We have fully equipped reading and listening rooms for our clients to use to decide which works they want to perform. Feel free to make an appointment to come in and browse - and we'll gladly help you choose. If you are too far from our Johannesburg offices, contact us to see what other options we can offer you, like our perusal service. Unfortunately we can generally not provide plays for perusal.
May we record our performance?
Not without permission, which you'll usually have to pay for. Please check with us if the facility is available for the work you're using.
Tips and helpful hints:
- When contacting us, please give us all the information we need to help you as efficiently as we can. We'll need all your contact details including a postal address, telephone numbers, an e-mail address and what organisation you are affiliated to, if any.
- When requesting the performance rights, it will speed up the process if you know the Title and Author of the play. Also, we'll need you to give us your proposed number of performances, performance dates, name and location of the venue, how many seats it has and what the ticket prices will be. All of this, or as much information as possible, will help speed along the process.
- If you're not sure which show you want, we suggest you give yourself at least 2 to 3 months to find that perfect production and to get all the performance rights and royalties sorted out. Performance rights are not always available!