Performance Royalties are paid to the Copyright owner (usually the Writer) for the use of their Works. These royalty fees must be paid for each and every public performance of the copyrighted stage play. Legally… You must pay these fees BEFORE your first performance. Stage-Write Plays also pays royalties to its Writers for each and every script and illustrative material that is sold. Illustrative materials are items such as music scores, backing tracks, sound FX, etc.
In addition to the above two types of royalties paid to our writers… Stage-Write Plays also pays royalties to our writers on copy fees and archival video fees.
Any stage play you browse on our website will advise the purchase price for that play’s performance package (I.e. script & materials) – as well as the cost per public performance of the play. This means you can estimate your total costs BEFORE you even get to the checkout. As you cannot have a performance without a Performance Licence; you will need to apply for one through Stage-Write Plays. Please note that pre-filled Performance Licence applications will be included for download upon checkout.
Please remember that EVERYONE must pay performance royalties to the Copyright owner. This is their livelihood. A performance licence is the only legal way in which to perform any of the plays, or copy any of the scripts, that are published on the Stage-Write Plays website.
The only recognised exemption for the public performance of a dramatic play is “Face-to-Face Teaching Activities”. These are teaching activities that take place in a non-profit educational institution, in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction. Sorry, but this does not include school assembly halls 🙂
