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glossary
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annual report
glossary
'CLEAN' COPY: a copy of your script on which your name, your agent's name and no other identifying features appear; used for the purposes of anonymous judging
COPYRIGHT: Copyright is a type of legal protection for people who produce things like writing, images, music and films. It is a legal right to prevent others from doing certain things (such as copying and making available online) without permission. Copyright protects the form or way an idea or information is expressed, not the idea or information itself. Who owns copyright when something is first created will depend on a number of factors including what type of material, and whether the material was made under an agreement. Certain forms of expression – such as text, photographs, music, computer programs and films – are automatically protected by copyright under the Copyright Act. You do not need to do anything to get copyright: if your work meets the requirements for protection in the Copyright Act, it is protected as soon as it is made. The work must be: (1) the type of thing that copyright applies to (e.g. an artistic work or a musical work), (2) the result of some skill and effort (and not merely copied from someone else), and (3) recorded or "fixed" (for example on paper, a computer disk or a CD). The copyright notice consists of the symbol ©, followed by the name of the copyright owner and the year of first publication: for example, “© Gus O’Donnell 1968”. The “copyright notice” does not need to be on something to ensure that it is protected by copyright in Australia or in most other countries, but it does remind people that the work may be protected. It also lets people know who is claiming copyright. Copyright owners can put the notice on their work themselves; there is no formal procedure.
(courtesy Australian Copyright Council)
FULL-LENGTH: a full-length work is one that is suitable for presenting as a stand-alone piece of theatre; as a guide, PlayWriting Australia suggests that full-length works should be a minimum of approximately 55 pages in length or one hour's playing time
PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTION: unless specified otherwise, for the purposes of PlayWriting Australia's programmes, professional productions are those which feature paid actors and are presented to a paying audience including members of the general public; staged readings may constitute a professional production if presented as part of a public programme
SCRIPT FORMAT: PlayWriting Australia's preferred format for scripts is left-justified, 11 or 12pt type, with stage directions in italics, presented on consecutively numbered, single-sided, white A4 paper with a title page and a separate character list on page 1; for an example of how to layout a standard theatrical script, download this useful guide (courtesy the Australian Script Centre); for the purposes of submitting your work to PlayWriting Australia, scripts should generally be unbound and held together only with a bulldog or foldback clip for easy photocopying and distribution
SELECTION PROCESS: read a detailed description of the selection process for PlayWriting Australia's major programmes here
UNPRODUCED: unless specified otherwise, for the purposes of PlayWriting Australia's programmes, unproduced works are those which have not received a fully realised professional production featuring paid actors, presented to a paying audience including members of the general public; workshops and readings are generally not considered to constitute full professional production (see PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTION)
positions vacant
There are currently no positions vacant.
Internships
Read about our internships programme here
annual report
PlayWriting Australia annual report 2007
