Licensing question

[missthemountains]

Posted: 10/23/21 at 10:10pm

This is specific, I know -- but I'm wondering, as a playwright, if I license my play out to Concord Theatricals (aka Samuel French), are those licensing agreements binding or do they expire? Part of the reason I ask this is that I notice some titles that I swear to god SF used to license are no longer available to license at all -- not to be confused with restricted, but straight up not on the company's website. Would love to hear this from any playwrights with current licensing agreements with them -- also when SF became Concord, were new contracts written?

[broadwayfan4ever]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 5:51am

As a Samuel French playwright, now represented by Concord and a DPS playwright now represented by Broadway Licensing, I can tell you that generally speaking, modern play licensing contracts are for perpetuity and don’t expire, unless the licensing house chooses to cancel the agreement at some point (when they find it no longer marketable—this rarely happens—it doesn’t cost them anything to keep it in their catalogue, and scripts are now published On Demand only, for the most part).  This wasn’t always the case, there used to be specific periods of time such as 15 or 20 years for certain titles, which is why there are shows that have bounced from one house to another (perhaps SF or wherever didn’t want to renew the contract, or perhaps the writer(s) got a better offer from a rival house). Thus it makes sense licensing houses want perpetuity nowadays. When Concord took over Samuel French, contracts were not rewritten, but Concord only acquired whatever rights were in the original Samuel French contracts (I.e. if the Samuel French contract was for North America only, then Concord had no rights to license the show overseas, etc.). There may be cases where Concord wanted additional rights and created a new contract or rider for certain titles.   Similar situation when DPS was acquired by Broadway Licensing.  When both of these mergers/take-overs occurred writer’s contracts were still considered valid, due to various legalese.    Btw, working with SF, Concord, DPS and Broadway Licensing have all been very positive experiences for me, and I hope other playwrights feel the same—but everyone has a different story.  Hope that helps! And good luck!

Updated On: 10/24/21 at 05:51 AM

[andpeggy3]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 9:46am

Echoing Broadwayfan4ever's response! I'm an agent for writers - yes those agreements are in perpetuity, and are mostly the same, though at the beginning of the pandemic, many authors at all of the licensing houses were contacted to allow for limited, password-protected streaming rights, and the new contracts have for the most part been updated to define that. 

The only licensing house that has a limit is Theatrical Rights Worldwide/TRW Plays, which is 17 years I believe. Would also like to add that not only is the agreement the same at Concord, the day to day staff is mostly the same. (Huge staff turnover at DPS though). DPS agreement is the same under Broadway Licensing (which also owns Playscripts). 

It's possible that titles that have disappeared on the site are dealing with some issues with underlying rights, as that does happen from time to time. 

 

 

 

[R. GreenFinch]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 12:22pm

Yeah, mergers are hard. It seems like Concord did better by their employees though, based on what I've seen. The DPS-Broadway Licensing thing sounds sad by all accounts.

Be kind to your licensing rep. They've probably seen some things. 

[broadwayfan4ever]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 12:57pm

This is true.  However, no authors were required to allow Streaming productions, or grant the right to license streaming rights to any of the licensing houses.  In my case, I said no to streaming via licensing houses, but was more than happy to have my agents negotiate directly with theatre companies who requested such rights.   Licensing house contracts are (were?) clearly for live theatre performances only.  Once the door is opened to allowing them to license anything else, a separate contract (or rider) would be required, along with an advance payment for these additional rights.  That’s my opinion and two cents, for what it’s worth.   The mergers indeed seemed difficult for all companies and jobs were lost.   But my experience with the new teams at both Concord and Broadway Licensing have been overwhelmingly positive—everyone is working hard, and seem to want all their clients (playwrights) to succeed.

Updated On: 10/25/21 at 12:57 PM

[R. GreenFinch]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 1:24pm

Based on what producer friends are telling me, it sounds like the licensing houses are more than equipped to change with the times and work with streaming. But you're the author, and what you say goes! 

[broadwayfan4ever]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 1:39pm

Exactly!  Thank you. My agent has been more than happy to discuss streaming licenses with theatre companies.   Some have been granted, some haven’t.  But, in my opinion, licensing houses should not attempt to acquire these rights from authors (owners) without paying an advance, similar to the advance they paid to acquire stage rights.  Stage rights and streaming rights aren’t the same.   I personally can’t fathom an author giving streaming rights to a licensing house for free.  But even so, a new contract or rider would be required—free or not.