# Primary Sources on Copyright - Record Viewer
Dramatic Act (1780)

Source: Archives nationales, 01/844 (document conservé aux Archives nationales, Paris)

Citation:
Dramatic Act (1780), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org

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            Chapter 1 Page 3 of 9 total




Art. 6

      If the author consents to surrender his turn [in the repertoire] to another – something
that may only be done once – he is obliged to take the order of performance of him to
whom he has surrendered his, but such a substitution may only be done for plays that
belong to the same genre, and, moreover, it will not be allowed if other plays are found
[in the repertory] which have been accepted at an earlier point and whose theme is the
same as that of the play which would be leaving its original order.

Art. 7

      The distribution of the Roles and even the choice of substitutes will be decided
not by the principal actors, but by the author alone or by the person who has presented
the play to the Comédie in his name; and the actors originally entrusted with the
Roles may not pass them on to their substitutes except with the consent of the
author or of his representative, unless, that is, they should be absent; all the same,
authors may not force the Comédiens to take on any Roles other than those which
fall within their genre and their normal emploi.

Art. 8

      No actor or actress of the Comédie may refuse, without valid reasons – the
cognizance of which is to be left to the First Gentlemen of His Majesty’s
Bedchamber – a Role of his or her emploi which the author has selected for
him or her, on pain of a fine of one hundred livres the first time round, and of
forfeiting, if it should happen again, his or her participation in the staging of the
play in which he or she had refused to play the part chosen by the author.

Art. 9

      The Comédiens may not, except for serious reasons – the cognizance of
which is reserved to the First Gentlemen of His Majesty’s Bedchamber –
refuse to perform an accepted play on its scheduled days, or delay its
performances, without the consent of the author, and if the performance
has been delayed because of any member of the Comédie’s troupe, he will
have to pay a fine of three hundred livres for the benefit of the poor, amongst
whom preference will be given

    



Art. 6.

      Si l'auteur consent à céder son tour à un autre, ce qui ne pourra avoir
lieu qu'une seule fois, il sera tenu de prendre le rang de celui auquel il
aura cédé le sien; mais ce remplacement ne pourra se faire que par des pièces
du même genre, et même ne pourra avoir lieu, s'il se trouve d'autres pièces
reçues antérieurement dont le sujet soit le même que celui de la pièce qui sortirait
de son rang.

Art. 7.

      La distribution des Rôles et même le choix des doubles, au défaut
des acteurs en chef, appartiendront à l'auteur seul ou à celui qui aura présenté
la pièce en son nom à la Comédie et les acteurs originairement chargés des
Rôles ne pourront les faire passer à leurs doubles que du consentement de
l'auteur ou de son représentant, à moins qu'ils ne soient absents; ne pourront
néanmois les Auteurs obliger les Comédiens à se charger d'autres Rôles
que ceux de leur genre et emploi ordinaire.

Art. 8.

      Aucun Comédien ni Comédienne ne pourra, sans des raisons valables,
dont la connoissance appartiendra aux premiers Gentilshommes de la chambre
de Sa Majesté, refuser un Rôle de son emploi que l'auteur lui aura
destiné, à peine de cent livres d'amende pour la premiere fois, et d’être privé
en cas de recidive, de sa part dans la représentation de la pièce ou il aura
refusé de jouer.

Art. 9.

      Les Comédiens ne pourront, si non pour des causes graves dont la
connoissance sera réservée aux prémiers Gentilshommes de la chambre de Sa
Majesté, refuser de jouer, à son tour, une pièce ni en retarder les
représentations, sans le consentement de l'auteur; et si la représentation était
retardée par la faute de quelqu'un des Comédiens, il payera trois cents
livres d'amende applicable aux pauvres parmi lesquels seront préférés

    

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Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900) is co-published by Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, 10 West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DZ, UK and CREATe, School of Law, University of Glasgow, 10 The Square, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK