Not Everything Creative is Copyrightable?!

http://www.tamlin-online.com/tamlin-online/

史坦尼斯拉夫斯基出現前，劇場世界可謂由劇作家一手遮天，流傳下來的亦只有劇本，所以今天我們認識莎士比亞、莫里哀、易卜生，但導演的名字被遺忘了。荷里活的商業明星式製作，推翻了整個權力系統，以導演、演員的名聲為號召，編劇幾乎閃到地下去了。現在劇場可以說是編劇與導演並駕齊驅，但法律上，編劇的文字知識產權受到保障，而導演的形體、視像創作卻難以具體界定及注冊為知識產權。最近在美國百老滙揭起官司直接指向這一問題的利弊。04年十月， Tam Lin一劇之前導演Edward Einhorn執導該劇兩個月後，因和編劇Nancy McClernan意見不合而遭解約，一亳子也沒有入袋。演出如期舉行，隨即Einhorn向該劇團提出司法訴訟，指該團侵犯他的知識產權。Einhorn指他為該劇作的導演創作果為他個人擁有的知識版權，該團需就過往多次重演的每一場支付版權費，最高合共美元三百萬。官司成為了劇場界的一大爭議，編劇認為此舉是「綁架」了他們的劇本，部份導演擔心會影響現時的資訊流動和參考，隨時踩線亦恾然不知。如果某導演導了一個新編本後即註冊版權，以後就沒有人再敢改導同一劇本。雖然案件排期至今年四月正式審訊，但其影響已出現，例如美國Dramatists Play Service發出的許可證，只有劇本而不再包括導演筆記，Theater on Film and Tape Archive亦表示，越來越多的導演和編舞為其作品錄像訂下觀看限制。

At the tech rehearsal of the Off Off Broadway production of Tam Lin, a play about a clash between mortal and immortal worlds, a fight between the playwright, Nancy McClernan, and the former director, Edward Einhorn, took the stage. Two days later, the director was fired after two months of unpaid work. The playwright then supervised the remaining rehearsals, either largely restaging the play or retaining most of Mr. Einhorn's contributions, depending on whose side you believe. Soon, Einhorn filed a lawsuit claiming that his staging contributions to Tam Lin constitute a copyrighted work of intellectual property, owned by him, and that the defendants, McClernan and her colleagues, must therefore pay for infringing the copyright which is calculated at the maximum of US$3M. The issue at stake is if a director should be able to copyright his ideas about how to stage a play. Many playwrights who against this feel the danger of the kidnapping of their plays, others saying that if each director's staging of a relatively new play had copyright protection, very soon there would be no staging options left. However, the consequence is already here, e.g. the Dramatists Play Service no longer includes detailed stage directions and other helpful annotations in the scripts they provide to licensees; the Theater on Film and Tape Archive said more directors and choreographers now request restrictions on viewings of their work. The trial of the Einhorn's case is scheduled in April.

Image 1: Tam Lin's publicity Post (image from Theatre Five)

Image 2: Edward Einhorn, Artistic Director of Untitled Theater Company
(Image from http://www.untitledtheater.com/Edwardbio.htm)