Copyright and the value of performance, 1770-1911 Derek Miller, Harvard University

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Miller, Derek, 1982- author.

Series:

Theatre and performance theory

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Copyright--Drama--United States--History.

Copyright--Drama--Great Britain--History.

Performing arts--Economic aspects--United States--History.

Performing arts--Economic aspects--Great Britain--History.

Physical Description:

viii, 283 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Summary:

In the nineteenth century, copyright law expanded to include performances of theatrical and musical works. These laws transformed how people made and consumed performances. Exploring precedent-setting litigation on both sides of the Atlantic, this book traces how courts developed definitions of theater and music to suit new performance rights laws. From Gilbert and Sullivan battling to protect The Mikado to Augustin Daly petitioning to control his spectacular 'railroad scene', artists worked with courts to refine vague legal language into clear, functional theories of drama, music, and performance. Through cases that ensnared figures including Lord Byron, Laura Keene, and Dion Boucicault, this book discovers how the law theorized central aspects of performance including embodiment, affect, audience response, and the relationship between scripts and performances. This history reveals how the advent of performance rights reshaped how we value performance both as an artistic medium and as property.

Contents:

Introduction: Copyright, Commodification, and Performance

Performance's Valuable Propriety, 1770-1833

Ontologies of the Performance-Commodity, 1833-1886

Audiences, Actors, and Value, 1852-1911

The Performance-Commodity at Work, 1833-1911

Epilogue: Valuing Performance Today

Appendix: Timeline of Major Legislation and Litigation Affecting Performance Rights.

Notes:

Based on the author's thesis (doctoral - Stanford University, 2013) issued under title: Judicial criticism : performance and aesthetics in Anglo-American copyright law, 1770-1911.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-267) and index.

Local Notes:

Forrest Performing Arts Complimentary Collection

Other Format:

Ebook version :

ISBN:

9781108425889

1108425887

9781108441698

1108441696

OCLC:

1022077141