Dramatists Guild Copyright Management (DGCM), the estate planning and copyright management consultancy for dramatists, has announced a week of free programming for playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists.The online conference will be held Oct. 16-20 and coincides with National Estate Planning Awareness Week.
Throughout the week, attendees will have the opportunity to hear from industry experts and lawyers on estate planning. “Playwrights have something screenwriters and television writers regrettably don't; we own the copyright on all of our original works,” Tony Award-winning playwright Doug Wright and president of DGCM’s board shared in a statement. “But with that comes a responsibility: to curate it and ensure that your work is always produced in accordance with your wishes and intent. Estate Planning is crucial to the careful preservation of your oeuvre.”
On Oct. 16, there will be a panel called “Protecting Artistry: Estate Planning with Copyright,” featuring attorney Paul Gordon Hoffman.
Also on that date, two-time Tony Award winner Lisa Kron will speak on a panel entitled “Breaking Boundaries: Exploring the Enduring Legacy of the Five Lesbian Brothers,” along with fellow writers Maureen Angelos, Babs Davy, Dominique Dibbell and Peg Healey.
On Oct. 17, the conference will feature a session called “The 10 Things to Do Before You Die: Estate Planning and Music Copyright” with lawyer Marc Ostrow.
The next day, on Oct. 18, “The Nuts and Bolts of Estate Administration” with attorney Tatia Barnes will take place as well as “Estate Stories: Alice Childress,” featuring agent Sarah Douglas and heir to the Childress estate Suzanne Woodard.
“Estate planning is an essential part of being a dramatist,” said DGCM executive director Deborah Murad in a statement. “It is the mechanism by which you can secure your copyrights and ensure that your creative work lives on, leaving a lasting legacy.”
DGCM is an estate planning consultancy and intellectual property management program that manages works that are passed on to the Dramatists Guild or to one of its non-profit sister organizations including the Dramatists Guild Foundation, the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund and the Lillys.
