Plays, Performances and Power Struggles – Examining Copyright's ‘Integrity’ in the Field of Theatre
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12078 |
| Date | 01 July 2014 |
| Published date | 01 July 2014 |
THE
MODERN LAW REVIEW
Volume 77 July 2014 No 4
Plays, Performances and Power Struggles – Examining
Copyright’s ‘Integrity’ in the Field of Theatre
Luke McDonagh*
This article explores the notion of ‘integrity’ under copyright law by analysing examples of
’integrity-based objections’ in the field of theatre. These objections typically involve playwrights
objecting to changes being made to their copyright works by other parties, such as directors and
actors. This analysis is deepened by the use of two concepts from the field of art theory – ‘aura’,
as put forward by Walter Benjamin, and ‘trajectory’, as outlined by Bruno Latour and Adam
Lowe. Finally, to shed further light on the issues raised, the work of Pierre Bourdieu is used to
present new empirical research recently undertaken by the author in the field of UK theatre. This
research demonstrates that ‘power struggles’ are a common feature of theatrical collaboration; that
copyright is deeply implicated in the way such power struggles are conceived; and moreover, that
resolving these power struggles successfully – including taking account of ‘integrity-based objec-
tions’ – is crucial to theatrical practice.
INTRODUCTION
The aim of this article is to explore the notion of ‘integrity’ under copyright law
in the field of theatre. In this context, the concept of integrity refers to the fact
that the author of the play, as the owner of the copyright, can object to changes
being made to the play by other parties.1It is argued here that this type of
objection can be broadly described as an ‘integrity-based objection’ because the
author-playwright’s primary concern is with the integrity of his or her work as
it is proposed to be performed.2Although under UK law there is a specific moral
*Lecturer in Law, Cardiff University. While working on this article I benefited from comments made
by members of the LSE Law faculty during a staff seminar presentation in March 2013. I would further
like to thank the participants of an LSE workshop which took place during May 2013, organised by
Alain Pottage, on the subject of ‘the copy’ in the cultural realm–Iamparticularly grateful to Simon
Schaffer and Mario Biagioli whose presentations helped to shape my approach to this article. Finally,
I wish to thank the following people for their comments – the anonymous MLR reviewers, Rothna
Begum, Giulia Liberatore, Kenneth Madden, and Martha Poon.
minimum standards, and to which the UK is a party, is the Berne Convention for the Protection
of Literary and Artistic Works (9 September 1886; revised 24 July 1971 and amended 1979) at
http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/trtdocs_wo001.html (all URLs were last accessed on
27 February 2014).
2 The ‘author-playwright’ is used here to denote the author of the script of the play, and to
distinguish the playwright from other potential authors and rights-holders in the context of
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© 2014 The Author. The Modern Law Review © 2014 The Modern Law Review Limited. (2014) 77(4) MLR 533–562
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
right of integrity by which such an objection can be put forward, in practice the
author-playwright can make an integrity-based objection by either exercising
this moral right to integrity or by asserting his or her economic rights (or both).3
Regardless of which right is used to enforce the objection, it is the fact that the
objection is founded upon the notion of integrity that is of primary importance
to this article.
The theatre world represents an interesting setting for exploring this aspect of
copyright because from the author-playwright’s perspective what is protected by
the law – the script of the play, known under UK copyright as the dramatic work
– is effectively a performative work ie a work which is intended to be performed,
typically by people other than the author-playwright.4This is of significance
because those creative participants who are involved in theatrical performance,
such as directors, actors and producers, commonly seek the utmost freedom to
perform the dramatic work. It almost goes without saying that this necessarily
includes reimagining it, sometimes quite radically.
In order to evaluate the meaning of integrity in this context, it is necessary to
outline in the first part of this article what is protected under copyright (the
dramatic work), who gets the rights (the author-playwright), what the rights are
(economic and moral) and how long these rights last (duration of copyright).
This article then goes on to outline the concept of the integrity-based objection
in the theatrical context, and further proceeds to give examples of cases where
author-playwrights, such as Samuel Beckett, David Williamson and Clive
Norris, have made integrity-based objections.
In addition, over the course of this article the issue of integrity is further
developed by focusing on two theoretical concepts – ‘aura’ and ‘trajectory’.
Walter Benjamin’s famous notion of the aura of the work of art is clearly
relevant in this context.5Analysis of the aura concept helps to explain why
author-playwrights often show anxiety regarding maintaining the integrity of
the dramatic work – put simply, they fear the audience will fail to perceive the
intended meaning of the play. Furthermore, recent research by Bruno Latour
and Adam Lowe concerning the trajectory or ‘career’ of objects of art is
explored here with respect to dramatic works, which even though they
can be presented in material form remain to some extent intangible and
ephemeral.6Moreover, this concept resonates in the theatrical context because
dramatic works are intended to have a life beyond their first performance –
theatre, such as the performers, who have rights in their performances, and set designers, who have
rights over the sets used in the performance.
3 CDPA, ss 16–76 and 77–89.
507.
5 W. Benjamin, ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’ in H. Arendt (ed),
Illuminations (New York: Schocken Books, H. Zohn trans, 1968) 217.
6 B. Latour and A. Lowe, ‘The Migration of the Aura, or How to Explore the Original Through
its Facsimiles’ in T. Bartscherer (ed), Switching Codes: Thinking Through Digital Technology in the
Humanities and the Arts (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010) 275. With regard to the life
and ‘trajectory’ of instruments, see also B. Latour, We Have Never Been Modern (Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1993) 17 and I. Hacking, ‘Artificial Phenomena’ (1991) 24 The British
Journal for the History of Science 235, 235–236.
Plays, Performances and Power Struggles
© 2014 The Author. The Modern Law Review © 2014 The Modern Law Review Limited.
534 (2014) 77(4) MLR 533–562
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