Media and Society Lecture:
Art Isn't Easy: Protecting the American Playwright
John Weidman, Esq., President of the Dramatists Guild of America

Wednesday, October 25, 2006
12:30-2:00 p.m.
Subotnick Center

Should a director be able to copyright his ideas about how to stage a play? This was the central issue in the case of Edward Einhorn v. Mergatroyd Productions, a recent federal case in New York that challenged a playwright's ability to control her own work. In his lecture on October 25, 2006, John Weidman, President of the Dramatists Guild of America, will discuss details of the Einhorn case to illustrate the challenges facing playwrights and the future of the American theatre.

The Einhorn case arose from a 2004 off-off-Broadway production of the play "Tam Lin." Edward Einhorn, the director of the play, was fired, without pay, from his position prior to the show's opening night. Nancy McClernan, the playwright, took over and continued with the production, supervising the remaining rehearsals. While McClernan restaged many of the scenes, she also retained most of Einhorn's contributions. The play opened and ran for its scheduled number of performances, but it wasn't until the curtains came down and the show closed that the real drama began.

Einhorn created what he termed a "blocking and choreography script of Tam Lin," which detailed the stage directions and dance and fight choreography that he claimed to have contributed to the production of the play. He then registered the script for copyright protection, and when "Tam Lin" closed, sued McClernan and the producers for infringing his blocking and choreography copyright. Einhorn sought to recover the maximum allowable statutory damage of $150,000 per infringement.

The suit was heard and decided in the Federal District Court in the Southern District of New York in April 2006 with the presiding judge awarding Einhorn only $800, the amount he was due for his work as director prior to his dismissal from the production. Einhorn also agreed to cancel his copyright registration. The judge based his decision on the fact that it was difficult to discern from Einhorn's blocking and choreography script exactly what the actors' movements were and how his script differed from McClernan's original stage directions. The judge never directly addressed the issue of whether a director may copyright his ideas.

The Dramatists Guild of America has always stood firmly on the side of playwrights and against the idea of a director's copyright. In its amicus brief in support of McClernan, the Guild argued that "if directors are able to copyright their ideas, the consequences for the theatre are both far-reaching and disturbing.... If a director had to ensure that his version did not in some way employ ideas to those in another put up by a director years earlier, it would stifle and ultimately strangle the ability to direct any play."

Read The New York Times story on the Einhorn case.

Read Nancy McClernan's account of the April 2006 trial and outcome.

Read Edward Einhorn's article on the need for a director's copyright.

Read more about John Weidman.