Photography during a performance

[lighttechie5948]

Hi All,


I know that theaters announce that taking pictures or video taping the performance is illegal. Is this actually illegal? What kind of performances does this apply to? Just registered copyright works or any work where there is an announcement made prior.


I am production managing a dance production soon and we want to announce that the recording of the performance is prohibited by law...can we do this? the choreography is property of the production company, but is not registered with the US copyright office. Can we still make this announcement, legally?...how should it be worded?



Thanks!

Joe

[fredthe]

Copyright is assumed for any work. AFAIK the work only has to be registered if and when you are going to take someone to court over it.

Having said that, all the announcements I've heard say taking pictures, etc. is strictly prohibited. Depending on the audience, you may want to sound more like you are giving them information (perhaps they thought it would be OK to take pictures), rather than sounding like you are going to call the cops.

-Fred
(Disclaimer: IANAL)

[icewolf08]

The answer to your question is that any produced work is protected by copyright. The work of all the design/artistic staff is protected work. Unauthorized reproduction of that work is illegal. In order for it to be OK for audience members to take photographs, the producer would have to obtain the permission of all members of the design/artistic staff as well as all of the cast. The producer could then say that taking photographs during a performance is OK.

You probably don't want your announcement to outright say that taking photographs is illegal. As fredthe said, typically announcements say that recording of any kind is prohibited. Often this is also accompanied by the explanation that it can be distracting to the cast and to fellow audience members.

So, in short, you are within your rights to make an announcement to the effect of no photography or recording of any kind during the performance.

[Van]

Another, Major, piece of info about picture taking during performances, especially for dance companies is to add " For the safety of our dancers..."
Dancers that are spotting, or preparing to land need to see where they are going, a flash from a camera can impede this.and cause serious bodily harm.
Several years ago at the Trail of Tears Drama, during a Major dance number, The Phoenix Dance, the phoenix dancer was hurt when, as part of the dance he was to run DS, jump onto the short wall that surrounded the playing area and doo this big pose. As he leapt someone in the front row took a photo and he missed the wall. He fell 8 feet down and 6 out into the audience landing on the concrete setps. He suffered a broken jaw and other serious head, neck and back injuries.

The following:
" ____ would like to remind you that for the safety of our dancers and due to copyright restrictions, photography and recording devices are Strictly prohibited"
Is well within your rights and obligations.

[lighttechie5948]

Originally Posted by fredthe

Copyright is assumed for any work. AFAIK the work only has to be registered if and when you are going to take someone to court over it.

Having said that, all the announcements I've heard say taking pictures, etc. is strictly prohibited. Depending on the audience, you may want to sound more like you are giving them information (perhaps they thought it would be OK to take pictures), rather than sounding like you are going to call the cops.

-Fred
(Disclaimer: IANAL)

We have used this type of announcement in the past and people have still gone ahead and taken flash photos. Normally if I notice a flash I look down from the lighting booth to what row and seat it came from, then I instruct the stage manager, or go myself to their seat at intermission and personally remind them of our photography policy and inform them that if they can not comply that they will be asked to leave the theater.

I was trying to make the announcement sound stricter so that this would not even be a problem to be begin.


I like Van's idea and will probably go with that. I am hoping to add to the playbill's title page: The choreography used in this production remains the property of [Company Name] Incorporated. Unauthorized use or recording of this choreography, in part or in its entirety, is prohibited by law. The music used in this production is used with permission from BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC.

[Van]

that's pretty good wording. Ushers should also be instructed that if they see photography, they have every right, a responsibility even to, contact the patron, ask they to desist or they will be forced to confiscate the camera, as a matter of course the patron should be asked to delete any photos from the memory < if it's a digital> or remove the film. When you have posted, in the lobby " Photographic and recording devices are strictly prohibited" you have every right to confiscate such devices at the door to the theatre, as long as they are returned at the end of the evening.

[jwl868]

US copyright information can be found here:

U.S. Copyright Office

Choreography is discussed here:

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl119.html



Joe

[chris325]

My high school theatre has the basic policy of giving a patron a warning on the first offense, and then asking them to leave if they continue. It's certainly better than being sued by MTI (we get most scripts from them). Another warning that we have to heavily patrol is the no-cellphone policy. Even one call or text message can cause enough interference with the sound system to be noticed by the audience. This is a huge problem in a high school theatre, where students just can't live without a cellphone on. Again, ushers have to be assertive in order to be able to prevent these things.

[acoppsa]

In our HS production this year, one of the lead actress' parents were taking A LOT of flash photography. But because of the way the auditorium was set up we couldn't remind him it wasn't allowed. When we went up to him at intermission and told him he got really defensive and told us that we had no right to tell him what to do. He threatened to go and see 'management' the next day but we haven't seen him since
After this and one or two other similar incidents we decided to increase signage and place a notice in the programme for next year.

[Footer]

What age group are you dealing with here? Is it a dance studio with a bunch of kids from age 3-19 or is it a professional company? In other words... are the dancers being paid or are mom and dad doping 2k a year on dance lessons for their darling daughter who is going to be the next headliner for the NY Ballet?

It its the 2nd one... your going to be hard pressed to stop it. Dance moms and dads are going to be taking pictures to the day the die. You can protect against flash photography, but you are not going to stop the pictures from being taken. I have seen studios hire a professional photographer and videographer and forbid people from video taping and taking pictures and people still took picture (the studio also got a cut from the two companys.... so they had some incentive to stop the pictures). No studio is going to back you dragging a PAYING parent of one of their students out of the theatre due to the risk of losing that student.

Now... if your working for a professional company who has payed dancers, not dancers paying, then you are well within your rights. However, I don't know of anyone who would fight to take pictures of a professional show.