What rights do you need before staging a paid theatre production?

You've found the play, the director has an idea for it, and the venue has dates available. Before anyone starts announcing the show, you need to know whether you can actually stage that version, in that place, on those dates. Buying the script doesn't answer that question.

For a copyrighted play or musical, start by securing the live performance rights from the person or organisation authorised to grant them. Then check the other uses your production needs. Changing the text, playing additional music, filming rehearsals, streaming the performance and using official artwork can involve separate permissions. The agreement for your particular production needs to cover what you're planning to do.

The commercial part deserves attention just as early. A royalty might be a fixed payment, a percentage, or a minimum payment with more due if sales rise. Until you understand that calculation, you don't know how much ticket income will be available for everything else.

Here's how to work through theatre performance rights before committing to a production, with a practical enquiry, a worked budget and a way to keep the permissions clear for your team. The sources below include US copyright guidance and named licensors' regional terms. Use them to understand the questions; obtain the answers for your title and location in writing.

Start with the exact work you want to perform

Write down the title, author and version before looking for a licence. For an adaptation, identify the adapter. For a translation, identify the translator and language. A familiar title can refer to several different scripts, and permission for one doesn't establish permission for the others.

The US Copyright Office's explanation of copyright distinguishes rights including public performance, reproduction and adaptation. That's why possessing a copy of a play and having permission to stage it are different things. For your production, identify which work you're using and who can authorise that use.

Start with the rights information in the current script and the official licensing page. Concord Theatricals' UK licensing FAQ explains that the author, an agent or a performance rights agent may handle permission. Its representation can differ by territory and type of rights. Finding a title on a foreign catalogue is therefore a reason to enquire, rather than confirmation that your production is available.

If you're receiving a visiting production, establish who holds the licence and what it covers. Ask the company for confirmation that your venue and dates are included, and agree who handles royalties and reporting. A contract to hire the company doesn't itself tell you whether those arrangements are complete. Make that responsibility explicit before either party starts selling.

An original commission needs a written agreement too. Agree what the writer is granting you, for which performances, and whether later runs, touring or recordings require another discussion. Identify any material supplied by others. Paying someone to write a show should not leave either of you guessing about what the payment buys.

For an older work, check the specific text rather than relying on its age. The Copyright Office's guidance on derivative works explains that a translation or adaptation can contain protected new material even when the underlying work is in the public domain. If you intend to use an old original, document that choice and check its status where you'll perform. A modern edition found online may be a different proposition.

Describe the production before requesting a quote

The useful first enquiry describes a real proposal. You don't need every costume decision, but the licensor needs enough information to assess the production you might commit to. Sending only a title and asking for the price creates another round of questions before you can make a decision.

Prepare the producing organisation's name, your contact details, the venue and its location, proposed dates and performance count. Include the auditorium arrangement, audience capacity and ticket prices requested by the application. Describe your organisation accurately and ask the licensor which licensing category applies. A small paid production shouldn't choose a category simply because its name sounds cheaper.

Include every performance you're proposing. If you want a public preview, a relaxed performance, a school matinee or an invited dress rehearsal, explain what will happen and who will attend. Ask which require authorisation and how they will be charged. Free admission doesn't give you a reliable answer about performance rights.

Separate firm plans from possible additions. You might be proposing an initial run and considering an extension if demand supports it. Ask how an extension would be requested, whether availability can be confirmed in advance, and what could prevent it. Keep those potential performances out of the public sales offer until permission is confirmed.

State essential creative requirements now. If the production depends on a translation, a shortened text or an added song, the answer could determine whether you can use the work at all. Describing those requests as minor details doesn't make them less important to the decision.

Also explain any intended recording or online distribution. You can ask about those uses alongside the live production without assuming they will be available. Give the licensor a clear picture of what you want to capture, who would see it, where it would be published and whether anyone would pay.

The first reply should let you distinguish availability, an indicative estimate and a formal offer. If the reply doesn't make that clear, ask. Record any expiry date and outstanding conditions. You need an offer for the production you've described before deciding whether to proceed.

A restricted title may need further clearance or be unavailable for your proposed dates and location. Ask whether a different date, venue or authorised edition would change the answer. Those are options to investigate, not permission to proceed with a slightly different application. If the licensor cannot confirm availability before your decision deadline, choose another workable proposal rather than relying on an expected exception.

Secure permission before the production gathers commitments

The first thing you want to do is put the rights decision ahead of the spending and announcements that depend on it. Once you've publicly promised a title, booked specialists and asked a cast to reserve evenings, changing course becomes harder even if the licence hasn't arrived.

Concord's UK advice on when to apply says a licence must be in place before auditions, advertising or rehearsals. Its advice is to apply before making time or financial commitments. That's a specific licensor's requirement, and it gives you a practical reason to check timing before building your schedule.

Ask what makes your own licence effective. An application, an offer, a signed document and a completed payment may represent different stages. Concord's US introduction to licensing states that its agreement isn't executed until full licensing fees have been received. Read the requirements in your actual offer and get confirmation when you've met them.

Work backwards from the first activity requiring permission. If auditions come before the ticket launch, organising everything around the launch date is too late. Allow time for questions, approval of essential changes, payment and delivery of the authorised materials. Obtain an expected response time from the licensor rather than inventing a universal number of weeks.

You can discuss conditional venue dates while checking availability, provided everyone understands the conditions. Ask the venue what a hold means, when it expires and what triggers a charge. That is a separate agreement from the performance licence. Both need to work before you announce a confirmed production.

Choose a date by which unresolved rights would force a different decision. You might select another available title, move the production or stop the project before further spending. Make that decision while alternatives remain practical. A fallback show needs its own rights check, so don't announce the replacement simply because the first application failed.

Get essential changes approved before building around them

A director may have a strong reason to shorten a scene, change a character or introduce material that isn't in the licensed script. The question is whether the rights holder will approve that proposal. The production team shouldn't rehearse the change first and treat permission as paperwork to finish afterwards.

Music Theatre International's licensing guidance says changes to its licensed shows require prior written permission. That includes alterations a producer might consider small. Use the process specified by your licensor and provide a precise request rather than a general description of a new interpretation.

Identify the script edition and passage, what you want to change, the proposed replacement and why it matters. If you're asking to remove text, show what would disappear. If a change affects a song, identify the musical material too. A person reviewing the request needs to understand what the audience would hear and see.

Separate essential requests from preferences. Suppose a venue's booked performance slot cannot accommodate the uncut text. If permission to shorten it is refused, you need to change the slot or choose another production. That is a scheduling decision you can make before buying a set that only suits this show.

Access planning belongs in the early discussion. Explain whether you need alternative script formats, captions, translated text, audio description or a proposed alteration to the performance. Identify which elements involve reproducing or changing protected material and ask how they should be authorised. Keep working on the audience's access requirements while those specific permissions are resolved.

Keep the written response with the exact request it answers. Approval to change one passage doesn't tell the company whether a later alteration is acceptable. If a request is refused, update the working script and tell the people affected. Someone returning to an earlier rehearsal document should be able to see which version the production is using.

When a requested change is central to your concept, be willing to choose a different work. Producing the approved version reluctantly, while hoping nobody notices another version on stage, is a poor basis for spending money and selling tickets.

Check music according to how you will use it

Music creates several different questions. You might be staging a musical using its licensed score, adding recorded music to a play, playing a foyer playlist or using a song in an advertisement. Describe each use separately so the venue and licensor can tell you what is covered.

In UK theatre licensing, PPL PRS's guidance for theatres and shows distinguishes grand rights for dramatic musical works from other music uses. It also distinguishes incidental music from music audible to characters within the drama. Its guidance says a venue licence alone doesn't authorise the latter use of musical works in theatrical presentations; specific advance clearance is needed. The classification affects whom you need to ask.

Don't try to settle that classification from a song title alone. Tell the relevant licensing body how the music functions in the scene, whether performers sing it or a recording plays, and whether characters hear it. Ask separately about the composition and the particular recording. Follow the process for the country where the production takes place.

Prepare a music list with the work, writer, recording artist where relevant, source, duration and point of use. Describe a repeat or reprise so the application reflects the actual performance. Include pre-show and interval music in the conversation with the venue, even when it handles those licences itself.

Agree who submits the information and who pays. If the venue says it covers music, ask it to confirm the uses in your list. If the producer handles music within the show and the venue handles the bar, record that division. Neither team should assume the other has dealt with a cue that falls between their usual jobs.

Keep an alternative available for any nonessential cue awaiting permission. An original sound effect, an appropriately licensed piece or silence might serve the scene, depending on the creative decision. Confirm the alternative's terms too. Replacing a familiar recording with a different commercial recording doesn't automatically resolve the underlying music rights.

For newly commissioned music, agree the intended stage uses, recordings, promotional uses and later runs in writing. Ask the composer about any pre-existing material or other contributors. You want a usable agreement that both sides understand before the sound designer builds the final playback file.

Decide about recording and streaming before promising either

An audience member may ask whether a relative can watch online. The cast may want a keepsake, and the marketing team may want rehearsal clips. Those are understandable requests. Give each a clear answer based on the relevant permission instead of allowing a camera to become the default.

MTI's video licence page describes an option for eligible shows that allows a noncommercial home-use recording for archives and copies for production participants. It also explains that the live stage licence alone doesn't include recording. A limited archive permission should therefore never be treated as permission to publish promotional clips.

MTI's streaming FAQ makes clear that streaming isn't available for every title and that applicable terms are set out in the production contract and streaming rider. Check the current offer for your particular show, including any required platform, viewing format, territory, dates and reporting. Permission to stream live shouldn't be read as permission to keep a replay online indefinitely.

Write the proposed uses in ordinary language. You want to film a rehearsal excerpt for a paid social advertisement, record the full production for participants, or sell access to a scheduled online viewing. Those descriptions are much easier to assess than a request for digital rights without an explanation.

Check agreements with performers, musicians and other contributors as well. Permission to use the underlying show doesn't settle every person's recording arrangements. Ask the producer responsible for those contracts to confirm the permitted use, including any payment or credit obligations. For a visiting company, establish who has authority to provide that confirmation.

If streaming is unavailable, remove it from the sales plan. Don't include hoped-for online sales in the budget or tell distant supporters to wait for a stream. You can still promote the live production using material you've cleared. Our guide to music rights for event livestreams explains the additional music questions when an online event is genuinely part of the offer.

Brief the camera operator and the company before recording begins. State what may be captured, where files may be stored and who can authorise publication. An archive file and a social clip can contain the same scene while having very different permitted uses.

Check publicity, artwork and merchandise separately

Your booking page is part of the production's publicity. Read the billing requirements before the copy goes into a poster, a venue listing or an advertisement. Confirm the exact title and author credits, any required wording and any restrictions on when or where promotion may appear.

Use the supplied requirements to brief the designer. If an author credit has to appear in a particular relationship to the title, the layout needs to account for that at the beginning. Ask the licensor about formats that create difficulty, such as small listing images, instead of quietly dropping the credit to make it fit.

Concord's logos and artwork guidance explains that available logo packages may be included with rental materials or offered for purchase. Check your title's package and its permitted uses. An image copied from a previous production's poster doesn't establish permission to use that artwork for your own run.

Keep a short approved publicity file for the team. Include the agreed credit wording, authorised artwork and any approved excerpt permissions. Explain which items may be used in paid advertising. If the team creates original photographs, make sure the agreement with the photographer covers the uses you need and the people pictured have been dealt with appropriately.

Merchandise needs its own decision before anyone orders stock. MTI's licensing guidance identifies merchandise as a use requiring a separate agreement. Ask about the exact item, artwork, quantities and whether it is being sold or distributed. Don't assume a shirt is permitted because the cast receives it free, or because the same logo is allowed on a poster.

If merchandise isn't essential, leave it out while permission is unresolved. Your budget should show the production working without speculative sales of goods you may never be allowed to make. The same applies to a sponsor's proposed use of show artwork. Ask before promising an association you can't authorise.

Once the rights and publicity are clear, our community theatre ticket-sales guide covers reaching buyers and promoting individual performances. That work becomes easier when the team already knows what it can publish.

Understand the royalty calculation before setting the budget

A royalty is the payment for using the work under the agreement. Ask the licensor to explain how your royalty is calculated, when it must be paid and what would change it. A rate without its calculation rules isn't enough information for the production budget.

Concord's explanation of performance fee estimates says its listed price is a per-performance minimum and that production details affect the actual fee. Don't build a run's budget from a search result or assume that another company's payment applies to your venue and prices.

Your agreement might use a fixed fee, an agreed percentage or a minimum guarantee. A minimum guarantee is an amount payable even if the specified sales calculation produces less. Confirm which upfront payments are credited against later royalties and which are separate charges. Ask whether minimums apply to each performance, a week or the whole run. Those arrangements can produce different totals from identical overall sales.

Also establish what the percentage applies to. Ask how the agreement treats taxes, buyer fees, discounts, refunds, complimentary seats, bundles and other income. A venue's share and the rights holder's royalty may use different definitions. Don't subtract one before calculating the other unless the agreement says to do so.

Materials and related payments need separate lines. MTI distinguishes royalty, rental and refundable security fees in its licensing guidance. In your own quote, identify purchased scripts, hired scores, permitted tracks, delivery, deposits and any return charges. Check which payments are costs, which may come back and what you must do to recover them.

Then put the payment dates into your event cash-flow forecast. A refundable deposit still requires money when it falls due. An advance already paid still forms part of the run's eventual royalty calculation. Keeping cost and payment timing separate helps you avoid paying for the same assumption twice in the budget.

Work through the royalty with a fictional run

Let's use an invented production to make the calculation concrete. Every amount in this example is USD, and all prices, royalty terms and costs are fictional. They are not a quote from a licensor, a normal theatre rate or Loopyah fees. Replace them with your own agreed figures.

Suppose you have four authorised performances, each with 100 places available for paid sale after the venue and production team have accounted for all other allocations. That gives you 400 paid places across the run. The paid ticket price is $30, and absorbed ticket charges plus attendance-related costs total $3 per paid ticket.

The fictional agreement charges the greater of a $900 minimum for the whole run or 10% of the run's $30 paid-ticket receipts. The $900 advance counts towards that royalty. It isn't an additional charge. For simplicity, this scenario has no refunds, discounts, sponsorship or separate tax adjustment, and its royalty calculation excludes every other income source by explicit assumption.

Other production costs total $6,000. That comprises $1,600 venue hire, $1,400 company and creative fees, $900 technical costs, $650 set and costume costs, $500 publicity, $450 producer and administration costs, $300 materials and delivery, and $200 contingency. The royalty and the $3 per-ticket costs are outside that $6,000. The contingency is a forecast allowance; replace it with actual spending when you settle the run.

At 250 paid tickets, receipts are $7,500. Ten per cent is $750, so the $900 minimum applies. The ticket-related costs are $750. Subtract those costs, the royalty and the $6,000 production budget from receipts, and the run makes a $150 loss.

At 300 paid tickets, receipts are $9,000 and the percentage royalty is $900, exactly the minimum. Ticket-related costs are $900. After the $6,000 production budget, the run has $1,200 left. At 350 tickets, receipts reach $10,500, the royalty rises to $1,050 and ticket-related costs reach $1,050. The surplus is $2,400.

Now find break-even. While the minimum applies, each $30 ticket leaves $27 after its $3 costs. The run needs to cover $6,000 plus the $900 royalty minimum, or $6,900. Dividing by $27 gives slightly more than 255 tickets, so you need 256 whole paid tickets. At 255, you're $15 short. At 256, you have $12 left.

Check that the answer belongs to the right part of the calculation. At 256 tickets, receipts are $7,680, and 10% is $768. That's below the $900 minimum, so using the minimum to find this break-even point was correct. Above 300 tickets, the percentage becomes greater than the minimum and the calculation changes.

At a full 400 paid tickets, receipts are $12,000. The royalty is $1,200, ticket-related costs are $1,200 and the other production budget remains $6,000. That leaves $3,600. If you've already paid the $900 advance, only another $300 is due for the royalty. Subtracting the advance again would understate the result.

The budget needs 256 of the 400 available paid places to break even, which is 64% across the run. That establishes the financial requirement under these assumptions. It doesn't establish demand. Compare it with credible sales for comparable productions and the particular dates you're planning, then decide whether this is a run you can afford to produce.

Test the terms that could change the decision

Start by checking how the same sales behave under different royalty terms. Suppose the fictional agreement instead sets a separate $225 minimum for each performance, with 10% calculated for each performance. It still looks like a $900 minimum across four performances, but the calculation can now produce a different answer.

Imagine paid sales of 100, 100, 50 and 50. Total sales remain 300 tickets and $9,000. The first two performances each owe $300, while the last two each owe their $225 minimum. Total royalty becomes $1,050, compared with $900 under the earlier whole-run arrangement. With the other assumptions unchanged, the surplus falls from $1,200 to $1,050.

This is why a forecast by performance is useful even before the sales campaign starts. You need to see both where buyers are likely to attend and where a minimum payment applies. Our break-even guide develops the wider ticket calculation; use the royalty rules from your own contract within it.

Then test a price change rather than treating more sales as the only solution. Under the original whole-run terms, reduce the paid price to $27 while keeping the fictional $3 ticket-related cost unchanged. Each sale now leaves $24 before royalty. Covering $6,900 needs 288 paid tickets, which leave $12. The royalty percentage at that point is $777.60, so the minimum still applies.

That cheaper price raises the requirement from 256 to 288 tickets, another 32 sales. You need a reason to expect those additional buyers. A discount chosen because the room feels quiet may make the financial target harder to reach. Where ticket charges vary with price, recalculate those too; keeping them constant here is an explicit simplifying assumption.

Check additional performances separately. Ask for permission first, then model their royalty, venue and staffing costs against plausible additional demand. Buyers moving from an existing date to the extra one don't all represent new revenue. Adding seats helps only when enough new income remains after the extra costs.

Keep the ticket offer inside the approved production

Once the licence is effective, turn the approved dates, performance count and prices into the actual sales setup. Have someone compare the booking page with the agreement before launch. Check every performance rather than assuming that a duplicated listing carries the right date and conditions.

Keep the financial forecast and inventory consistent. In the fictional example, we assumed 100 paid places per performance after other allocations. Your own paid inventory must account for the actual layout, access arrangements, production holds and other allocations, as well as any applicable licensing limits.

If you use ticket releases, make their quantities and prices reflect the offer you've cleared. Loopyah's ticket-selling tools let a ticket type have releases with their own price and quantity, with the next release opening when the previous one sells out. You still need to obtain any required approval for those prices and calculate royalties under your contract. That permission remains the producer's responsibility.

Explain conditions to anyone who can authorise a discount or complimentary seat. A box-office supervisor needs to know whether a request fits the agreed policy or needs referral. Record what actually happened so the final report can distinguish paid tickets, refunds and complimentary admissions.

Bundles need care because the buyer pays one amount for several things. If a ticket includes a programme, meal or another performance, ask how the licence treats that income before advertising the bundle. Don't assign an artificially low value to the theatre ticket just to reduce the royalty calculation.

Keep the approved credit wording on the ticket page and any connected listings where required. An external calendar or partner may shorten your supplied description. Check its published listing and request a correction when necessary. It is easier to supply clear copy and approved artwork than to fix several independently rewritten versions after launch.

Make the permissions usable for the company

Keep one current production record that the relevant people can find. It should contain the signed licence, payment confirmation, approved version of the work, changes granted in writing and the conditions affecting production and publicity. Store the original documents alongside a short explanation of what each team needs to do.

The director needs the approved script and decisions on requested changes. The musical director or sound designer needs the permitted materials and music-use information. Publicity needs billing, artwork and recording restrictions. Finance needs the royalty calculation, payment dates and reporting requirements. Give people the information affecting their work rather than expecting everyone to interpret an entire contract independently.

For each unresolved request, record the question, who can answer it, who is following up and the date you need the answer. State what the company should do while it waits. If a scene cut remains unapproved, the rehearsal plan should make that visible instead of allowing the proposed cut to become the assumed version.

Use clear status wording. Requested, offered, approved and paid tell people different things. If approval has conditions, include them in the working note and retain the full response. A document labelled approved is unhelpful when the condition that matters is buried in an email nobody else has.

Recheck that record when the production changes. Moving venue, adding a date, changing prices, introducing a camera or proposing a tour all deserve a comparison with the existing permission. Ask the licensor which changes require an amendment and wait for it where needed. Keep superseded documents clearly identified so an older approval doesn't guide a later version of the show.

Assign one producer to coordinate enquiries and circulate confirmed answers. The aim is to stop several departments making different assumptions about the same permission while still letting each person concentrate on the production.

Know what to do when plans change

If a performance has to move, check the rights agreement and venue terms before offering buyers a replacement date. Confirm that the new date and location can be licensed. Then settle the operational and buyer arrangements. A date change agreed with the venue isn't automatically a date change agreed with the rights holder.

Ask what happens to payments if a performance is cancelled, postponed or replaced. Identify the terms for royalties, hired materials, purchased scripts and other charges individually. Don't assume that cancelling before opening means every payment comes back. Record the written answer and update the budget with the amount you can actually recover.

If permission for a requested change is refused, bring the decision back to the production team promptly. Explain the approved version and the practical options. Perhaps the original scene can fit after a scheduling change, or another piece can replace an additional music cue. If the central concept is impossible within the available permission, stopping before further commitments may be the better commercial decision.

For an unexpected camera request, check the approved uses before saying yes. A sponsor wanting a performance clip may require a different answer from a photographer taking an agreed publicity image. Give the person making the request an accurate alternative when you have one, such as an authorised interview, rather than promising footage and investigating later.

During the run, someone needs authority to pause an unapproved use and contact the responsible producer. That could mean stopping an upload, removing a proposed extra performance from sale or holding a new advertisement for review. Deal with the specific use and preserve the information needed to resolve it. Then tell the affected team what has changed.

Close the run with the right records

Before opening, note the final reporting deadline and arrange who will prepare the figures. After the run, reconcile paid tickets, discounts, complimentary admissions and refunds against the relevant sales records. Retain the performance-by-performance detail when the agreement requires it. Bank deposits alone may not match the income definition used for royalties.

Recalculate the final royalty under the actual terms. Show advances already paid and the remaining amount due. If the figure differs from the forecast, identify whether the cause was sales volume, the price mix, a changed performance count or a calculation rule you misunderstood. That distinction matters when choosing the next production.

Return hired materials using the agreed method and retain proof of dispatch or receipt. Check the deposit refund and resolve deductions against the contract. Keep any ongoing recording, storage or online-viewing restrictions visible after the live run ends. The publicity team should know if an authorised online use has an expiry date.

For a revival, start with the previous record to understand what was involved, then seek permission for the new proposal. The old licence is evidence of the earlier production. It shouldn't become an assumption that new dates, venues or uses have already been granted.

Send an enquiry that can produce a usable answer

You can adapt this wording for the first conversation, alongside the licensor's required application. Replace the details with your proposal and include any essential creative requests rather than waiting for an offer that cannot accommodate them.

"We are considering producing the named edition of this play at our venue in this location, on the proposed dates listed below. Our proposal includes these performances, audience capacities and ticket prices. Please confirm whether you represent the required rights for our organisation and territory, whether they are available, and the applicable licence and materials costs.

"Please explain when permission becomes effective, what we must complete before auditions, rehearsals, announcements and ticket sales, and how royalties and final reporting work. We also need a decision on the attached creative requests and intended music uses. Please identify any uses requiring separate permission, including the recording or publicity requests described below."

When the answer arrives, check it against the production you intend to make. Resolve the missing permissions and confirm the royalty calculation before approving the commitments that depend on them. Then your director, box office and publicity team can all work towards the same authorised show, with a budget based on what you've actually agreed.