New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-10
PIRATES OF THE STAGE
rrr EFFORT TO DRIVE THEM FROM
THE DRAMATIC SEAS.

THE EFFORT TO DRIVE THEM FROM
THE DRAMATIC SEAS.
NOV, r,,r-v No THEIR UNLAWFUL WORK. AND
WHY IT HAS HITHERTO BEEN so HARD
TO STOP THEM-THE NEW LAW
AND IT'S EFFECT.
vbsn Gilbert and Sullivan wrote 1.-THE Pirates OF
Pcnxance" long years ago they were .'''."s
somewhat Of other pirates than the se"'e 80
that haunted the Lands End refuseo " no.
nrrhans and honored the name OF the queen i"e
souls OF the writer and the composer "a" g.,
oed with sorrow at the career OF III. NJ o. .'"
fore, IN this country. No stage performance 'ei
or since ever monopolzed the attention Oh '"oa
roers Of this country as that operetta o,u' ~ "a
suny In every city Of the land IN from '"o " on
theatres at q time in each. according 10 'he S.1' %
the city and Its capacity for supporting pe'.o."
ances Of .Pinafore" And yet the poor aa'hor anu
oounoser got nothing out OF 1t. IL 'hey hau &c
cs,ved a fair royalty for every performance Vi 80
~ 6 p,nafore" that was ever given IN America
thsv could have built theatre out OF so''u so'' "
oroduce their subsequent opereUas III.
put no, having any theatre OF gold for their mex.
~ork they decided to do the next best tnne an"
produce II in America They were ue'e'",'e. . 49,,
Sine 10 protect their rights 1hey heP' ~"
orchestral score TO themselves lhe paris VIZ
given TO the musicians Just when rehearsa' VI
c.rsorn,ance was about TO begin. and were sna'che"
away from them nervously as soon as IL was over.
The deplorable thing was that the musicians nau :.
he allowed to see the music at all On 'he "s".
1rhen tina operetta was heard for the hrst ume at
che Fifth Avenue Theatre II was heard also IN So"c
Obscure place IN England This was what Is c,i'e'
!. "coovr,sht performance over there. and II is
thing that Is not known here. The purpose anu
affect Of II were that the rights or MessrS. "''
and Sullivan wcre thereby estabshed III r-'e."'u
and protection for their property was assured 10
them.
Tho piracy Of PLAYS was not new then. and IL mas
not diminished since In either OF the great Eng
disappearing countries. though the fhaio'o was
the last ship that Messrs Gilbert and sullivan ever
sent out without heavy armor plates Down 10
the present time II has been the custom OF many
rersons both IN America and In England. to help
themselves to such plays belonging 10 other peop'e
as they thought ft. provided the necessary esa
precautions were not taken for their pro'ec'oh
md often indeed, TO defy tho law Itself bill
has now been passed by Congress and signed by
@he President making the law In regard TO inc
n,racy OF plays much more stringent than Formerly
and the dramatic writers OF America are hiied VIII"
q hope
THE BoLDNEss OF THE THIEVES
7, will. perhaps. surprise many persons who
Thought that the world was indifferent honest 10
how shamelessy the trade OF piracy Is carried
on The question Is not one OF infringing copy
Itch. hecause II Is seldom nowadays that play is
copyrighted at all. The question Is simply one
Of stealing the property OF another person or
the last twenty years the copyrightng OF plays
IN This country has been rare. The mere prop
.r,r rich, "a thought TO be easier 10 defend.
As long as q play Is not published IL peiohgs 10
&he author or tho person 10 whom ne conveys H.
Nobody has the right TO play 1t without 'Ne
permission OF the owner. The theory Is ',a' II
1ha owner OF the play hears that anybody else Is
ahout 70 produce II he can go into court ana get
an Injunction restraining him from doing 80. In
practice IL costs labor and money 10 get 'hese
injunctions than they are worth
For instance some little time ago Charles Froh-
man heard that a performance OF "Chareys Aunt
60. N he given in some Western town He sent an
agent out there 10 stop It. The agent went armed
with all the proper authority. documents PROOFS
afidavits etc He applied 10 the local court for an
Injunction restrain the local company from pro-
ducinr the play and he succeeded In getting H.
rs,,, when all tho expenses were counted up-legal
costs counsel fees drawing of papers, travelling
and living expenses OF ;he agent, e'c-'he!
amounted TO 500 When the authorized company
reached that town. where only one performance
was given the receipts less than that amount
60 that there was loss on the whole transaction
Moreover the decision which came so high was OF
no value. excep, for stopping that one tnreatehci
performance If another piratical performance was
announced in jurisdiction of another court the
whole thing would have to DO gone through with
again.
This was one OF the greatest troubles OF the old
law The decision of court in a matter OF this
kind was binding only within the jurisdiction OF tho
court, In order stop piratcal performances al
together the owner OF play must have information
from all the country. SO as TO know In ao-
vance when and where proposed to produce
his play and then he must get to each place In ad-
vance and obtain injunction. If he was too late
and the play had already been done, he had no
remedy There was no penalty for giving pratt
cal performance OF play. All that the law could
do was TO enton the performance beforehand, u the
owner was In time.
ANOTHER DIFFICULTY OF INJUNCTIONS.
7, IL needless 20 say that It extremely diff
oc,lt probablv impossible. for anybody 10 keep IN
formed of all the instances In the remote parts OF
the country in which II was proposed to give I'M
authorized performances Of his play. But there
were other difficulties. The piratical performance
was usually given in a small town the owner or
.ha MAY was a stranger and had no friends and no
.vmna.bizers there The persons who were TO give
the MAY on the other hand. were probably the
members Of an amateur dramatic ciuo which III
cuded persons IN the best social circles or the place
They had bought .he manuscript OF the play from
sor,ebodv who advertised ii for sale. and they may
$50 dono 50 in perfect innocence. supposing that
the nrice they paid for the stolen manuscript:
carried with It the right to play H. lheh' again
+ha Judge was more than likely to be the personal
friend or ACQUAINTANCE OF some OF them. and might
he thinking of running for Congress before long,
ora no might be consequently. unwilling to make
,oca, enemies while one or two implacaDle oppo-
nents in New-York would not make much diher-
ence 10 him. He was therefore. ready to take al.
vantage of any technical point In favor OF the local
dramatic company that might occur TO MIN.
IN one occasion q New-York manager VINO was
irving 10 cnioin a piratical performance thought
tba, he had won his case when the judge suddenly
bethought him and said: But how do Know
,bat so-and-so wrote this play at all? 1t would
be no trouble at all for the manager 10 get an
aa1dav,r from the author of the play that he was
,ho o,,hor hut Il would take the time necessary
for the affidavit 10 come from England where the
author lived. and by that time the performances
that was objected TO would he all over. and there
would be no further remedy. Experience Is hard'