Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
This is also the situation in the UK, as I gave a reference to in post #247 on the previous page.
Let me give you a real-world example of such a situation. A few years a local school was prosecuted for staging a performance of "Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" without the permission of the rights holder. No fee was being charged, but still the school was found guilty of copyright infringement. I see no fundamental difference between that and a public reading of a book in a library.
There is very little question that "rights apply"; the law makes it clear that public performance is an activity which is the exclusive right of the copyright holder. The question (as you rightly point out) is what constitutes a public performance, and a court will make a decision on this based on the specific circumstances of the case in question. In the case of the school I mentioned above, the court decided that even though this was a school play to which no admission was charged and only pupils, teachers and parents were in attendance, it was nonetheless a public performance. Can you honestly say that it's "dreaming" to say that a public reading in a library might well be viewed in the same way?
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You seem to be ignoring my allusions to casualness, such as my "what are pretty informal and unpaid performances in "public" places" and extrapolating into formal performances and readings in order to make your case.
Here, providing the audience comprises the students, teachers and others associated with the establishment (e.g. parents are excluded) then such a performance is not a "public performance" for the purposes of copyright. As far as I know that applies even if an entry charge is made (but I have not checked on that), but in any event one assumes that any charge to view the performance in these circumstances would likely be just to cover costs such as for costumes, sets, etc.
Of course, if the performance is open to the general public as I suspect is likely in the case you mention (and so not having the informality I mentioned), no matter who they may be, then obviously the situation is quite different. In the case of a library an informal reading to a small group (even if a few other listeners casually hung in the background) would be casual but an advertised reading to which members of the public are invited, say, is not.
So, Yes, I stand by my original comments.