How Broadway Contributed to Its Own Cell Phone Problem

Apologies if this was posted already, but it's a great article pointing out a lot of the hypocrisy in actors/producers/etc upset about cell phones in theaters.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cara-joy-david/how-broadway-itself-contr_b_10053952.html

Updated On: 5/22/16 at 11:30 PM

She's absolutely dead-on, especially about the hypocrisy of producers. Last night I attended Kiki and Herb's show at the Public (which was excellent) with a standing room ticket. Oskar Eustis was standing right by me in the area (in the back behind the bar) and frequently checked his phone before leaving about 45 minutes in. I know that Joe's Pub is more of a cabaret, but those tickets cost $45, and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to not be distracted during a show there, especially by the artistic director of the theatre.

The Lyric has menus on the backs of their seats? Snack menus? That's ridiculous.

Updated On: 5/22/16 at 12:59 AM

That's not what she's saying. She's saying there's a time and a place for smartphone use, and during the show/curtain call is not it -- and she's pointing out the hypocrisy that lies in shows social media accounts basically endorsing such use by retweeting/liking these photos and videos.

the problem is not people using their phones before and after shows. the problem is people too stupid or egocentric to turn off their phone during the show. there is no prohibition on phones/photos during curtain call. never has been. the fact is, this article, like much of the nonsense posted here, diminishes the strength of the important concern by trivializing it with other silly notions and in the process undercuts the focus on what we legitimately care about. And that's not feeling special. People do not want to have to feel special to go to the theatre, and it is unhealthy to suggest otherwise.

She's right. But it doesn't change the fact that people should turn off their goddamn phone

LizzieCurry said: "What shows have you been seeing?"

Not sure why you are asking but most all of them.

Brilliant. I just tweeted this to Miss Benanti. I think she'd quite enjoy this.

yankeefan7 said: ""the problem is people too stupid or egocentric to turn off their phone during the show"

Cmon, you can't think anybody today is that dumb that they don't know how to silence their phone. You are asked to keep your phone quiet at the movies, on an airplane, in church etc so requesting this at a Broadway show should not be a tough task. How egocentric are you when you can't wait a little over an hour and turn it on during intermission.



"

^^This is giving me serious de ja vu to another (looong) thread



She was spot on.. especially about producers/ major websites retweeting/ using illegal footage...

I mean Paul Wontorek mention viewing bootlegs of his guests in interviews all the time.. I can recall several articles on major websites using stills and clips from bootlegs. Productions retweeting pictures taken during the show (not curtain call) for publicity... actors (ironicly those who tweet about how rude/ awful it is that people film them) favouriting gifs/ stills/ YT video of bootlegs with the in it and so on and so on

Updated On: 5/22/16 at 07:25 AM

Okay so now what?

It is not a copyright violation any more than taking a picture of the Empire State Building is. The prohibition that currently exists is rooted in the performance protections in the AEA contract, not the curtain call or any designer's contract. On opening night and other special occasions, there are always a bunch of photographers who run in to capture the curtain call. If you think your job includes stopping curtain call pics, it doesn't really matter as it is, as you acknowledge, impractical. Here again, cameras and phones during curtain calls is not the problem and to suggest it is is to misapprehend the truly heinous conduct that is.

@yankeefan7 yes, the people whose phones ring during shows either do not know how to silence it, or else are too forgetful to. No one wants their phone to ring during a show. Vibrate? yes. Noisy vibrate? yes. But not ring. And if you ever watch the people whose phones ring, most don't know how to stop it from ringing either.

I pointed out to a friend recently (while we were both on the wifi before a show) how easy it would've been from our seats to Periscope the entire show considering where we were in relation to the walls, proximity to ushers (barely any) and that the wifi was probably going to stay on during the performance. I wonder if this has already been done.



@z5 said: "This article is a load of crap....similar to everything else put out by Huffington. There's a tremendous difference between using the phone before the show starts and during."



HuffPo is generally a mess, but I've been following Cara Joy David's stuff for years and she's great.

Using a phone to photo/video before the show is such a slippery slope...

Updated On: 5/22/16 at 12:28 PM

Sets, costumes, etc. are all protected under copyright. Anything that can be fixed in a tangible medium is. Buildings are different. First, there was no copyright protection over buildings until 1990. (So any building built before that isn't protected.) Second, there is a photographers' exception where structures may be photographed so long as visible from any public place. If artwork adjacent to or integrated with the structure is in the photograph, that is generally protected under fair use if it's tangential to the photo, but if becomes the primary focus of the work, you technically need to get the copyright owner's permission. (For works in public view, as a practical matter that isn't often enforced because of logistical difficulties, but it is sometimes enforced if people try to sell those photographs. Public view does not mean public domain in terms of copyright protection.)



So yes, the owners of the copyrights of sets and costumes (and the determination of ownership is not necessarily straightforward depending on the employment relationship, although I'd imagine it's probably spelled out by contract as it is for most artistic businesses) can absolutely prohibit photographing them. I have been at shows where that's not enforced, and I don't know whose decision that is, but the copyright owner can legally stop you from taking pictures inside the theater. In fact, some theaters themselves may have protected aspects of their interiors and they therefore may prohibit any photography inside the theater at all. (The theaters are private property so nothing in the interior is viewable from a public space.). This means copyright owners could also request that these photos/videos be removed from YouTube/twitter/etc. but realistically, enforcement is expensive and labor intensive with the number of photos and videos out there.



Of course, this is all based on US copyright law. I'm sure laws may be different elsewhere.



(Nerdy but requisite Disclaimer: this is not legal advice and does not create an attorney client relationship)

Updated On: 5/22/16 at 01:14 PM