JOLSON
by Michael B. Druxman on 09/18/11
September 19, 2011
This past weekend, I spent much of my time preparing an acting edition my one-person play (Al) JOLSON for publication via CreateSpace. It will be the 7th entry in my The Hollywood Legends series, which is available on both Amazon.com and Kindle. In fact, you will also be able to order the paperback through your local bookstore.
I'd held off publishing this with the other six plays because JOLSON is a musical that incorporates many of the famous Jolson songs. Some of the songs are in the public domain, but many are not. I have the right to use the copyrighted songs in a live performance of the play, but I do not have the right to publish the lyrics.
So, how do I publish my play without infringing on copyrights?
After talking to a lawyer at The Dramatists Guild and a couple of other people, I decided to publish the play without any lyrics. Instead, at the point in the script when Jolson sings, I just say something like, "He sings 'April Showers'."
After all, the truth is that almost anybody who reads my play will be well familiar with the Jolson song catalog, and if an individual or a theatre group wants to produce it, I will then furnish them with a manuscript copy of the play that includes all the lyrics.
There is still some work to do, so it will be a few weeks before the published version is available for purchase. I will let you know when.
"You ain't heard nuthin' yet!"
Have a creative day.
Michael
