Hamilton Stolen in Texas — Page 2

Disney paid tens of millions for the exclusive rights to stream Hamilton. Not only have they pissed off LMM and his producers, they pissed off the mouse. I'd be very afraid.

Updated On: 8/8/22 at 01:50 PM

Lying, stealing, bigotry… par for the course. We really need to start taxing these churches.

Alzarian said: "Please help me understand why this is a problem. A school recently decided to infringe copyright to do a stage production of Alien, and not only were they not called out for it but in fact, they received significant positive coverage in the media.



So explain to me why anyone is surprised that by celebrating the unauthorized production of Alien, it has led to other groups deciding that copyright law isn't really serious after all."

The school production of Alien wasn't damaging to the original material. It was just a very small scale adaption of the play with the movie script, I'm sure Ridley Scott could have come down on them like a tonne of bricks if he wanted to, but what good would that have done? It's just a group of kids finding their love for drama. I'm certain the school were reminded about copyright law and told the positive reception would be a one time thing.

The Hamilton production actively damages the original product by rewriting the lyrics to fit another narrative, they use the show to promote inequality, intolerance and homophobia - something the original writer is hugely against.

I'm sure there's more to it regarding the use of music, the fact that Alien is a movie and wasn't written for the stage, etc, but that's my two cents.

Hamilton releases a statement.

Hamilton Statement

Jordan Catalano said: "Why in the hell would they allow them to perform it again?"

Probably because the Church begged and said how hard the kids had worked and they wouldn't be able to get the word out. The statement says the permission came after a response to the cease and desist letter. Remember the unlicensed Chicago iat a high school in Manhattan a few years ago that got a cease and desist and then a one-performance special license to do the one show .

It is unclear whether the person(s) who wrote the Cease and Desist letter knew of the alterations to the script. The Pastor's Sunday words, I guess, are partly true and he will defend himself by saying he just didn't understand because he's not a lawyer. I personally doubt he didn't understand the permission to go ahead on Saturday night.

Indeed, I still think that the cease and desist letter was aimed more at the streaming and youtube which says "DIsney" lawyers and not the lawyers who handle the stage license. Even though the statement says no licenses are issued.

The Church got what it wanted - people in the pews whom they could prosleytize and "save"

And now, all sorts of groups will feel like they have the green light to put on Hamilton without getting a license in advance - groups that don't need to avoid being put on a "do not give a license to" list. So, local community theatres and high schools are still out of luck. But the First Street Pentecostal Evangelical Church of Christ is free to go ahead.

Updated On: 8/8/22 at 11:37 AM

HogansHero said: "Fosse76 said: "Tapping23 said: "The Door Christian Fellowship McAllen Church stole the entire show..."

You mean they *infringed* the copyright. Unless they loaded the physical production out of the Richard Rodgers, they didn't *steal* anything."

Actually, you can steal intellectual property so yes they did. One of the reasons people think they would never "steal" but think nothing of stealing copyrights, patents, trademarks, is because they don't think it is the same. But it is. (It also takes a lot less energy than stealing the physical production. Especially in this heat.)"

That's not accurate. For it to be considered theft, the IP must be taken (by someone other than the owner) with the intent to permanently deprive the rightful owner of its use. This was infringement.

Fosse76 said: "That's not accurate. For it to be considered theft,the IP must be taken (by someone other than the owner) with the intent to permanently deprive the rightful owner of its use. This was infringement."

Theft and infringement are two words that mean the same thing in copyright law. It is a distinction without a difference. Sorry, but you are wrong, but believe whatever you want.

https://twitter.com/dramatistsguild/status/1557120593128034305

https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/1557369846396080128

"The Dramatists Guild condemns the Door McAllen Church for its unauthorized production of @Lin_Manuel’s groundbreaking musical @HamiltonMusical performed on August 5 and August 6, 2022, in McAllen, Texas."

"Grateful to all of you who reached out about this illegal, unauthorized production. Now lawyers do their work. And always grateful to the @dramatistsguild, who have the backs of writers everywhere, be it your first play or your fiftieth."