At my
theatre, we copy them in their entirety and place them in a black
binder. Then, we take a label maker and put the title, author, publisher, and a number on the spine and use this
binder as needed. When the show is over, the crew is required to check in their
binder with their number on it. I place them on a bookcase and that's where they sit. We have never had a copyright problem with the scripts because they are so strictly controlled. I don't believe that the publisher will have a problem with it because its not being distributed. As for music, in the band where I
play 1st Trumpet, we copy to our hearts content. When you
purchase music you also
purchase the right to copy it for purposes that are within band. Also, I know that our director exchanges scores with other schools. I don't see a problem with copying a script as long as it does not get distributed and after the show is destroyed or kept in the
theatre for educational/informational purposes. DO NOT SELL THE SCRIPTS. There was a
community theatre in the region that had a yardsale to get rid of some old
props and costumes, they sold old tech scripts for .50 per script and they got into a lot of trouble over it. If the scripts are in the way box them up or
throw them away. By the way, I wouldn't flaunt the fact that I had the script. There is always going to be some butthole out there that is just trying to find something to do, and that something might be turn you in for copying scripts. In my opinion, the publisher knows that crews will copy it. So, make your own decision, but I don't think too much of copying a script for tech purposes. Some companies offer the script in a
binder, but this is usually rental and you have to
return it erased. I know that MTI offers this on some shows. Depending on the show, and your budget, that might be the easist way to go about getting what you need without violating copyright laws.