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Theatre companies made their money by performing live too, and people would go to the rehearsals, copy the script, and rip them off by premiering the act before
by euyyn 9y ago
Theatre companies made their money by performing live too, and people would go to the rehearsals, copy the script, and rip them off by premiering the act before them. Hence the introduction of copyright law, which predates automatic recording by a couple centuries.
- sethrin 9y agoAh, what? I don't know what you've been reading, but the Statute of Anne is commonly held to be the first "copyright" law, and it covers the monopoly rights of printing press operators. Copyright in the US today still does not cover performances, only fixed works.
- majewsky 9y agoThat doesn't contradict the previous statement, if copyright is understood to apply to the script rather than the performance.
- eikenberry 9y agoIt contradicts that it was done to protect the authors of these plays. The motivation behind the Statute of Anne had nothing to due with playwrights.