Need help from a lawyer: Is it possible to own a theatrical exercise? How can you find out who owns it?

Question

I'm currently working on a book that utilizes numerous theater and improvisation games.

I've done improv for years and taken many, many classes and the games seem to be used universally--whether I'm studying in San Francisco or New York. A lot of the games have been around for decades and are taught with slight variations in numerous books and classes. Some do have distinct creators who are sometimes credited (or people who claim credit for creating them), but I've never seen anything about a game being "owned," in the copyright sense, before.

Is it possible to own a theater or improv game or exercise? Or, is the game an idea and you can only own the particular description of it that you wrote? In other words, you can't steal the text a person used to describe a game they invented, but so long as you describe it in your own words you can use the game idea itself. All of my descriptions are in my own words and most are variations of the original game (anywhere from 10 to 50% different).

I'd hate to write a book not knowing if games could be owned, or who owned them, and suddenly find myself with a lawsuit for copyright infringement.

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Answer 1

Copyright protects expressions of ideas, but not the ideas themselves.  Thus, to the extent that the game or exercise includes copyrightable elements, you would be infringing on those copyrights if you use those elements.  Also, to the extent you use copyrightable elements to create new elements, you are creating derivative works and also infringing on copyright.  The copyright owner has rights not only to the original work, but also to derivative works.

Also, copyright protects only original expressions of ideas.  Thus, to the extent that these games or exercises have been done for years, as you suggest, the copyright may be weakened by that fact.  Further, the dichotomy between expressions and ideas can become difficult to ascertain at times.

This all being said, copyright infringement is a fact specific determination.  While I can give you general rules like I have above, these general rules do not replace a fact based analysis that really can't be provided here.  You will need to see a lawyer for that.

As far as finding out who owns a copyright, one way is to search for registrations at the Copyright Office.  However, keep in mind that registration is NOT required to obtain a copyright.  It may take some detective work on your part to find the copyright owner, but that is the nature of dealing with copyrights.