Scene4 Magazine | letters to the editor

As a librarian (theatre is an avocation for me), I am constantly aware of the issues that occur when copyright becomes the topic of conversation. I don't think one can simply dismiss it, however. It does protect David Mamet from having his work sanitized--imagine American Buffalo with a lot of "goshdarnits" and "fooeys"! Or contemporary novels rewritten to suit a younger or more sensitive audience. Would we allow that? The purported rights of the descendants can get out of hand, but the original author has some control over that. The bigger question is just how far can we deconstruct a work before it challenges the credibility and artistic merit of the original work? At which point do you remove the author or call it an adaptation by Joe Blow? And what impact does that have on the reputation of the original author? read the column

Christine Godin