The Artful Jurist

If you’re a playwright, there are probably at least two things of which you’re aware: (1) You can’t earn a living as a playwright; and (2) There’s always someone who wants a piece of what little you do earn as a playwright.

The second of those often has to do with what’s known as “subsidiary rights.” Those are the rights that a theater company or publisher will claim on a play’s future performances and earnings. It’s a fairly standard part of production contracts that involve world premieres in which the company has contributed in some significant way toward the ultimate finished product. The justification that’s put forth is that, without that contribution, the play might never have achieved its later financial success.

But, while there might be merit to that argument, playwrights have been squawking over what many of them have seen as exorbitant claims in those subsidiary rights — as much as 40 percent of future earnings on the play. That’s digging down pretty deep into the pocket of a writer who, on average, probably earns less than $40,000 a year. As Shakespeare might have put it…Ouch-eth!

Well, according to a New York Times article, at least some New York theater companies are rethinking their subsidiary rights percentages, if only to give playwrights the incentive to keep writing plays and not jump ship to film or TV. The Times cites Public Theater Company and Roundabout Theater Company as two entities that have reduced their subsidiary rights claims

Will more follow in Act Two?