NYT: New York Performing Arts Library Gets $60 Million Gift for Preservation
Posted: 9/17/26 at 8:50pm
What an incredible act of generosity for an incredibly worthy institution!
Posted: 9/17/26 at 9:23pm
This made my day.
Posted: 9/17/26 at 9:29pm
Of note, the TOFT archive will not be included in these efforts - the rights issues can get complicated.
Posted: 9/18/26 at 12:16pm
Silly question re: TOFT - have they been digitizing old recordings in their archive?
I’m also intrigued at the rights of it all. Obviously they can’t be made for a wide release or anything, but how would digitizing cause rights issues if kept within the archive and barriers currently in place?
Posted: 9/18/26 at 12:35pm
GiantsInTheSky2 said: "Silly question re: TOFT - have they been digitizing old recordings in their archive?
I’m also intrigued at the rights of it all. Obviously they can’t be made for a wide release or anything, but how would digitizing cause rights issues if kept within the archive and barriers currently in place?"
Per the NYTimes article: "The library’s popular Theater on Film and Tape Archive will not be included in the digitization effort, [Roberta Pereira, the research library’s executive director] added, as that would require a “very complex rights conversation.”
Basically, when there is an agreement to record something, the terms are usually very specific as to how it will be recorded, for what purpose, how the recording will be stored and how it will be made accessible. So it can be very hard to go back and revise those terms after the fact. So, for example, if an agreement was made in 1970 to record the original production of Company for the library, those terms would have reflected the technology and usage of 1970 and not included something like digitization, which would not have even been a concept at the time. So to digitize it, you would have to get a new agreement and get permission from the holders of the production's rights or their estates.
Updated On: 9/18/26 at 12:35 PM
Posted: 9/22/26 at 6:14am
Kad said: "GiantsInTheSky2 said: "Silly question re: TOFT - have they been digitizing old recordings in their archive?
I’m also intrigued at the rights of it all. Obviously they can’t be made for a wide release or anything, but how would digitizing cause rights issues if kept within the archive and barriers currently in place?"
Per the NYTimes article: "The library’s popular Theater on Film and Tape Archive will not be included in the digitization effort, [Roberta Pereira, the research library’s executive director]added, as that would require a “very complex rights conversation.”
Basically, when there is an agreement to record something, the terms are usually very specific as to how it will be recorded, for what purpose, how the recording will be stored and how it will be made accessible. So it can be very hard to go back and revise those terms after the fact. So, for example, if an agreement was made in 1970 to record the original production of Company for the library, those terms would have reflected the technology and usage of 1970 and not included something like digitization, which would not have even been a concept at the time. So to digitize it, you would have to get a new agreement and get permission from the holders of the production's rights or their estates."
I work at the Performing Arts Library. We are indeed digitzing older TOFT videos. The contracts from the 1970s do not preclude preserving our material with whatever technological tools are available.
Posted: 9/22/26 at 8:47am
The thing that just dawned on me about TOFT is that once the 95 year mark of the recording date passes, those could become public domain (unless there’s something in the contract that says otherwise?)
By then most of us will be elderly or dead, but what a gift to future generations that those recordings might be able to become more widely seen.
Posted: 9/22/26 at 8:56am
cmorrow said: "I work at the Performing Arts Library. We are indeed digitzing older TOFT videos. The contracts from the 1970s do not preclude preserving our material with whatever technological tools are available."
As a fellow library worker, and theatre lover...I have never been so jealous of a random person on the Internet as I am with you right now. Know that you have my dream job.
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