enter sandman, stage left

Ever since James Hetfield and Metallica started middling in Napster's music-sharing business a few short years ago, the lawsuits and debates over copyright infringement on the Internet have been rampant.  And although I disagree with the rhetoric posed by Hetfield et al, I can certainly understand the rage involved in the multi-billion dollar industry.

"Me and my stupid mustache is comin' for ya, YouTube!" -->

But imagine my confusion over this week's Backstage article, "Equity Nixes Pirated Plays on YouTube."  Apparently, the illegal recording of Broadway and other Equity productions has become an "epidemic," according to Nicole Kristal.  Epidemic?

Seems to me that the performance community should take the opposing side, that of the smaller guys who see this technically "illegal" activity as beneficial, spreading the reputation of a relatively small industry and exposing Web-goers who ordinarily can't go to a professional production to the wild, wonderful world of live performance.

Equity, in its typical "You kids get off my lawn!" idiom, is wielding an iron fist over a kitten of an issue.  Not only does its stance create debates over this illicit Internet business, but it also harms performers as well; according to Barbara Hauptman, executive director of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers,

"many directors and choreographers would like to have their work professionally videotaped for their reels but cannot do so because of Rule 69 in Equity's Production Contract, which states, 'There shall be no televising, visual and/or sound recording, motion picture filming, or videotaping, in whole or in part … without the express permission of Equity.'"

Perhaps the issue needs to be reconsidered, particularly when theatre is becoming less and less accessible to a general audience.  But if Equity's track record and the antiquated idealism of theatre professionals are any indication, this is another pointless spitting contest that exists only in the minds of a misguided and ironically greedy industry.
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Comments

[wild wumpus]

Right on, Tweed and Sharkskin. We can only hope that Equity will change its curmudgeonly ways before it becomes completely obsolete, dying out like a Shaker village with the last artists willing to sacrifice the right to preserve and spread their work for a few small benefits.

[sharkskin girl]

Tweedster,
Very important post. I think also at stake here is the significance of documentation of these performances. Not meaning to gush, I adore You Tube for its amazing archive of performance art pieces that are almost impossible to find otherwise -- even if you are affiliated with an academic institution. Yves Klein, Yoko Ono, Ethyl Eichelberger, Carmelita Tropicana, Diamanda Galas... I used You Tube videos in my class last semester to expose my students to works that were otherwise unfindable, and my students in turn searched You Tube for other performances. It was a brilliant pedagogic tool.

Though you know my preference for the live, the fact that so many historic performances only live on in text and the occasional image makes the significance of a more democratic archive all the more important and necessary. In this sense, it's not a kitten of an issue at all -- more like a full on mountain lion in performance studies, and theatre, history.

xo,
sharkskin