Copyright status of OTR scripts?

[dustinj]

	Quote:	emruf7
	My guess -- and it's just a guess -- is that they're all in technical violation of the law but the money involved and the impact on the commercial value of the script is so tiny that nobody bothers them.

I think you're probably right about that. It's been my experience that small theater groups usually aren't dragged into court for infringement because there's simply not enough money at stake to make it worth it.

I found one group that produced the OTR version of "Three Skeleton Key" and sells a recording of their performance online. They even put up their transcription of the script. I've written to them to see if they've run into any problems.

http://www.oneact.org/oneactprodspg.html

I'll write to the groups you found as well. Basically I think I'm just looking for some precedent to figure out how best to proceed.

[emruf7]

	Quote:	dustinj
	I'll write to the groups ...

Ever hear back from anyone? What did you end up doing?

I notice Generic Radio just updated their copyright page:

http://www.genericradio.com/article.php?key=copyright

[Doug Wood]

For more on the dangers of doing productions based on Trademarked characters, even if the specific works you are presenting are public domain, see the boards for "BrokenSea Audio" here at Audio Drama Talk.

They just got a Cease & Desist letter from a law firm claiming control over the Conan character, even though BrokenSea specifically selected a piece that is p.d., and is only giving away the recordings, not selling them.

Broken Sea is responding, but the plot may develop further.

(Note: BrokenSea is doing new work, not exactly OTR, but these issues can apply to new or old productions. Being "right" is not always a guarantee that you won't get sued these days.)

[dustinj]

	Quote:	emruf7
	Ever hear back from anyone? What did you end up doing?

Well, this question is months old now, but since I'm just seeing it now for the first time...nope, I never heard back from anyone regarding that audio production of "Three Skeleton Key."

Thanks for posting the news about the update to the Generic Radio Workshop's page. It's sort of interesting that they now think the scripts on their site are under copyright, but have chosen to leave them up anyway.

I agree with their statement that the scripts are probably "orphaned works"--technically still under copyright protection, but the owners have for whatever reason abandoned the works entirely. The fact that recordings of OTR have been freely and openly given away for years and there's not been a legal action by an author (or his/her estate) regarding the underlying rights of the script would seem to support that.

What further muddies the waters with the copyright ownership of OTR scripts is that many of them were created as works-for-hire for sponsors.