Chapter XIII: Appendix: I

COPYRIGHT AND ROYALTY

The following statement regarding royalties on amateur plays was prepared by Mr. Allen J. Carter, an attorney of Chicago, for one of the Drama League pamphlets listing amateur plays:

"The copyright law of the United States requires that every
play, whether published or unpublished, for which copyright
protection is claimed, must be registered in the copyright
office at Washington, D.C. Until such registration, no action
for infringement of copyright can be maintained. The register of
copyrights keeps a complete record and index of all copyright
entries and publishes a catalogue of such entries at regular
intervals. Dramatic works are entered under Class D and are
found indexed under that heading in Part I, Group II of the
catalogues. Copies of these catalogues are on file in most of
the larger public libraries, and sets or parts of sets may be
purchased from the Superintendent of Public Documents at
Washington, D.C. Anyone wishing to learn whether a particular
play has been properly entered for copyright need only consult a
set of these catalogues. If such a set is not available, the
information will be promptly furnished by the register of
copyrights, Washington, D.C, upon request.

"Whenever a play has been published, examination of a copy of an
authorized printed edition will disclose whether such play has
been properly copyrighted. The law requires that a notice of
copyright must be placed either upon the title page, or upon the
page immediately following, of each copy published or offered
for sale in the United States. Such notice must consist either
of the word 'Copyright' or the abbreviation 'Copr.', accompanied
by the name of the copyright proprietor and the year in which
copyright was secured by publication. If published prior to
March 4, 1909, the notice may also be in the following form:
'Entered according to Act of Congress in the year ----, by A. B.
in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.'
Whenever the author of a play or anyone to whom he has assigned
his rights publishes such play without proper notice of
copyright in some one of the three authorized forms above
mentioned, the play then and forever after becomes the property
of the public and may be performed and printed at will by
anyone. No subsequent attempt to copyright such play would be
valid, and any valid copyright previously secured would be
vitiated.

"A play which has never been published nor offered for sale, and
which exists only in manuscript form, may be copyrighted upon
proper entry being made at the copyright office in Washington,
D.C. Should such play be later published, however, the
publication must comply with all the requirements of the law as
to notice of copyright.

"Any person who infringes the copyright in any play shall be
liable: (a) To an injunction restraining said infringement; (b)
to pay actual damages to the copyright proprietor, or in place
of actual damages $100.00 for the first infringing performance
and $50.00 for each succeeding one; (c) to imprisonment not to
exceed one year, or to a fine not to exceed $1,000.00, or both,
wherever such person has infringed such copyright wilfully and
for profit.

"It follows, therefore, that if any group of amateurs perform a
copyrighted play without having obtained the consent of the
author or copyright proprietor, they are collectively liable to
damages of at least $100.00 under whatever conditions the
performance is given. If they do it wilfully and for profit,
they are in addition each individually liable to fine and
imprisonment under the criminal provision of the act."