The Green Room - Copyright laws Vs. Censorship in local theatres.

Reply #50 - Sep 22^nd, 2008 at 9:17pm

Wc365 Offline
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The Random Element
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Hedgehog wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2008 at 8:59pm:

Even God gets annoyed with it.

Quote:

Revelations 22:18-19 If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Of course, HE wasn't represented by Samuel French.

Hmmm... "Revelation! The Musical"

It's got a ring to it...

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Reply #51 - Sep 22^nd, 2008 at 9:40pm

Batman Offline
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Redbeard wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2008 at 8:41pm:

Once there was a young woman at BYU who was a playwright and had a few of her plays produced there at the BYU. �Some pretty fun stuff. �And clean. �Kinda squeaky clean even. �Some other university off in another state was producing one of her plays. �When they flew her out for a week to see the show, she was appalled to discover that they had added a bunch of swearing to the play because her script just didn't feel realistic to them.

Everyone thinks they have the right. �Everyone...everywhere.

And this is a perfect example of why we have to realize one person's values may be entirely different from anothers. Either change is equally upsetting, and equally wrong. And if one can be done, so can the other.

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Reply #52 - Sep 23^rd, 2008 at 6:45am

Tshep Offline
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It made me feel sad, and
just a little bit dirty.
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Batman wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2008 at 9:40pm:

Redbeard wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2008 at 8:41pm:

Once there was a young woman at BYU who was a playwright and had a few of her plays produced there at the BYU. �Some pretty fun stuff. �And clean. �Kinda squeaky clean even. �Some other university off in another state was producing one of her plays. �When they flew her out for a week to see the show, she was appalled to discover that they had added a bunch of swearing to the play because her script just didn't feel realistic to them.

Everyone thinks they have the right. �Everyone...everywhere.

And this is a perfect example of why we have to realize one person's values may be entirely different from anothers. Either change is equally upsetting, and equally wrong. And if one can be done, so can the other.

Its not a case of quid pro quo.... both instances are ethically wrong. But, and this is an important but, did the BYU playwright secure her work with copyright? If not, then you can piss and moan about ethics all day and folks can still transform her squeaky cleanliness into dirty debauchery.

Of course this can still happen, even with copyright in place. But, Polly Pureheart can then sue the crap out of whomever screws with her work.

They say, best men are moulded out of faults; &&And, for the most, become much more the better &&For being a little bad.

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Reply #53 - Sep 23^rd, 2008 at 7:30am

Batman Offline
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Tshep wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2008 at 6:45am:

Batman wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2008 at 9:40pm:

Redbeard wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2008 at 8:41pm:

Once there was a young woman at BYU who was a playwright and had a few of her plays produced there at the BYU. �Some pretty fun stuff. �And clean. �Kinda squeaky clean even. �Some other university off in another state was producing one of her plays. �When they flew her out for a week to see the show, she was appalled to discover that they had added a bunch of swearing to the play because her script just didn't feel realistic to them.

Everyone thinks they have the right. �Everyone...everywhere.

And this is a perfect example of why we have to realize one person's values may be entirely different from anothers. Either change is equally upsetting, and equally wrong. And if one can be done, so can the other.

Its not a case of quid pro quo.... both instances are ethically wrong. But, and this is an important but, did the BYU playwright secure her work with copyright? If not, then you can piss and moan about ethics all day and folks can still transform her squeaky cleanliness into dirty debauchery.

Of course this can still happen, even with copyright in place. But, Polly Pureheart can then sue the crap out of whomever screws with her work.

Oh, I didn't mean to suggest quid pr quo. I'm savoring the irony, and trying to encourage those who find cutting offensive words to be no big deal to see things from a different point of view. I'm saying that if we open up a can of worms that says "it's okay to change a play into what fits community standards", it can just as easily work AGAINST the squeaky-clean as for them. I've used examples like this for years, arguing that those who thought "Clean Flicks" was perfectly okay would be outraged if someone were cutting religious works to omit all references to religion. The person whose show is santized can be having their beliefs defiled just as much as the person having their show debauched. Of course it all comes back to the legality of copyrights, but you yourself stated quite correctly that those who censor works are often following a personal moral law rather than a universal civil law. �I just think it's food for thought that this could done in reverse, and that's yet another reason to respect the copyright in the first place. "DO unto others" is another reason the "hgiher law" mentality is, at best, specious reasoning even from it's own point of view.

And you hit on the important point that copyright is a legal process that must be followed, you cannot simply rely on ethics to save you. I can't begin to speculate whether the BYU playwright copyrighted her work, but I know that perfor I give a play to a producer, I copyright it with the Library of Congress, and so should anyone who cares about having their work protected.

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