Did I do wrong at Hamilton? filming

Lin is upset about filming at Hamilton performances. I certainly didn't do that but.... I was there the night of the Prince tribute. I recorded their onstage tribute which of course was after the curtain call. I must admit that it didn't occur to me that it might be inappropriate. (and of course, the old line applies, "lots of others did it.").

Do you think that Lin would object to recording those after show tributes?

Color me - "in need of absolution"

Updated On: 5/13/16 at 08:26 PM

Isn't the rule like anything after the curtain calls like these tributes and BC/EFA speeches aren't officially apart of the show so they don't fall under the equity rules prohibiting photography?

If social media has taught us anything, it's that it's never ok to film or take pictures inside a theater, unless you do and post it online so the cast can retweet it and like it and then talk about how that should never be done.

JM226 said: "what are you even talking about. everything on the stage, from sets to costumes, is copyright protected for the designers. dramatic presentations have nothing to do with that"

That is correct; from the strictest standpoint, all elements of a show are protected under intellectual property laws. There are different degrees, so to speak, of copyright violation and penalties (based on factors such as quantity relative to the whole, whether it is used in an act of criticism/education/etc.) but in general, if it's been created by someone, the intellectual property rights belong to the creator and/or an entity with whom the creator has a contract specifying ownership of said creation.

That said, there are some times when photography/recording in a show is okay. The first being when the show itself has the policy that it's okay! I'm not talking about a Smash flashback here, but rather the fact that some companies (I can personally attest that the If/Then and Bridges tours have or had this policy) have a policy of not asking house staff to stop pictures of the pre-show curtain and set, but rather encourage such actions and suggest social media hashtags. Granted, this makes a MASSIVE headache for staff who have to explain to patrons why pictures in house are okay one month but not the next, but still, such actions are not a problem and may be encouraged.

The other time is more a matter of practice, and that's in situations like what the OP described, and there is no way to gauge whether or not such a recording would be problematic. Technically, it is still violating copyright, yes. But there's a reason you don't see a lot of curtain call videos getting taken down, and that relates to 1) situations like this where the "special" nature of the event being filmed makes people less likely to care about enforcing it, and 2) quantity related to the whole. During a curtain call for many shows, the only copyrighted material visible/audible is usually some small part of the set/design/backdrops/etc., one set of costumes, and a small portion of the score. The vast majority of the material is not present in these recordings or pictures, and thus it is a much more minor violation that most (again, not all- never assume!) companies won't really care about, viewing it more as "all in good fun" than wanting the hassle of pursuing it.

Updated On: 5/13/16 at 09:27 PM

MinervaMoon said: "I just wanted to say that if you're now assured that this instance was okay by them, you should share your video."

Well, I'm mostly reassured. Hope it's ok with you Lin.

http://youtu.be/rkP0DDGyNBw

Jordan Catalano said: "If social media has taught us anything, it's that it's never ok to film or take pictures inside a theater, unless you do and post it online so the cast can retweet it and like it and then talk about how that should never be done. "

And there you have it. In a nutshell. Well put.

I've often wondered about this. I'm big on not filming etc. during a show, but I'm usually guilty of a pre-show Instagram photo.

Some theater/shows are definitely very strict about this. At Beautiful I wasn't even allowed to take a photo of the playbill laying on my lap (not even holding it up against the curtain/set), which I thought was pretty ridiculous. I was going to tweet is, and thereby helping them promote the show!

I've also been stopped taking pictures of the theater itself, even no part of the stage or curtain was in the shot.



I'm pretty sure though that this all comes down to the producers and/or ushers not being explained any exceptions of the "no pictures rules". I don't blame them, they just do what they're told...



I was at She Loves Me when Hal Price showed up unexpectedly at Curtain Call after the Easter Bonnet Collection speech. I pulled my camera out and snapped a couple pictures of him with the cast. Of course an usher stormed up to me immediately and told me "no photos". I got lucky though, "my" usher only told me to put it away, I saw other people being told to the delete the photos in front of their eyes (all while Hal Price was still on stage). I tweeted one of the photos later because I had captured this beautiful moment of the cast being so excited and surprised by Hal Price (including Jane's understudy who had been on that day), they all liked the tweet, so I don't think they minded!



I've also had it happen that an usher came up to me and told me pretend like I was deleting the photo I had just taken of the theater (no stage) because she had to tell me, but realized it was silly and I wasn't doing any harm to anyone...



Overall, I think at least curtain photos should just be allowed. If you look on social media, there are a million photos of each show curtain out there anyway because there is no way the ushers can see everybody who's taking a photos, esp. when it's close to the start time and it's already quite full, and if you're taking it with a phone instead of a camera. And it's giving the show free promotion. It's pretty common knowledge tweets/FB posts with photo will be seen by more people vs just a post that says "seeing show xyz tonight". And that's not even talking about people who only use instagram and need a photo in order to post at all... So producers and/or Equity just need to relax there!

If he has not yet had you smited, it would appear you have gotten away with this.

@z5 said: "You're going STRAIGHT to hell...wow, can't believe you filmed during the performance in the Hamilton theatre. What a terrible thing to do.



"

Well, it was after the performance.

Yes, I hear myself, -defensive much?

MinervaMoon said: "I believe/hope that was sarcasm. Don't worry about it, anyway. Lin definitely retweeted several videos of it from the night so he obviously didn't mind. The concern about filming/photograph more has to do when all the lights are down and they're supposed to be concentrating on the show at hand instead of people doing distracting things in the audience.

Hamilton seems to be all right with people taking photos of the stage pre- and post-show. Every time I went to Matilda, though, the pre-show time was filled with ushers yelling at people to put their cameras away, which is a shame because it's a stunning set."



yes, that's why I pointed out how defensive I was being - nit picking about a post that was essentially supporting me.



and your mention of matilda is a perfect example of the differences in policies. and how are we to know from show to show?

I was struck by Lin's comment about wanting to see faces instead of phones in the audience. until that point I felt I had done ok. and as you all have said, I still probably did ok.