Copyright of a DT workshop

[Adam Blatner]

Responding to Prof. Onoe's question about copyrights:
    Adam Blatner: This is an interesting question. I am a psychiatrist (physician--- M. 
D. ) and psychodramatist living in Texas, USA, so I don't presume to make statements for 
other fields. However, in the field of medicine for the last several hundred years, the 
general credit goes to the person who first wrote up and published a certain treatment in 
a professional journal. The lack of doing this has at times led to distressing 
controversy, such as in the history of who first introduced anesthesia.
     In general, though, the idea of writing up a paper and getting it published, even on 
a website, seems good on two counts: First, it establishes the priority of a given bit of 
creativity, as Professor Onoe notes. Second, and to my mind more important, it shares the 
idea.
       Another tradition in medicine that is largely followed, though, alas, not always, 
is to generously credit others with whatever contributions they made to earlier attempts. 
We all build on what Moreno called the cultural conserve, or at least that is an ideal. 
However, noticing that someone has done good work before does not negate revisions, 
critiques, elaborations, or extensions of that work, and this, too, is creative.
      I write this to encourage people in drama therapy and psychodrama to continue to 
write up their ideas. It would be nice if they would do a bit of research, too, and that 
is becoming easier with the internet. (For example, there is an international bibliography 
of psychodrama literature   (  www.pdbib.org   )  and there should be one for drama 
therapy some day. Many works on drama therapy could be mader more scholarly if they would 
acknowledge psychodrama articles relevant to that work, and vice versa. (I also encourage 
psychodrama writers to see what drama therapists have done in various ways, or expressive 
arts therapists.)

     There have been a few psychodramatists who have trademarked their own modified 
approach. Most don't, but just write it up. Some don't even write it up, which makes it 
harder to determine who in fact originated a given approach.

   I hope this is helpful. Thanks for bringing the subject up. Sincerely, Adam Blatner
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <angels at AMBER.PLALA.OR.JP>
To: <DRAMATHERAPYLST at LISTSERV.KSU.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, March 22, 2009 6:49 AM
Subject: Copyright of a DT workshop


> Hello, DT Community,
>
> I am a Japanese drama therapist working in Japan.
>
> A graduate student of mine asked me what and how we should care about the
> copyright of DT workshop and DT work created by a particular drama
> therapist/facilitator.
> This is something I have been wondering too, and I'd like to hear your
> thoughts on this.
>
> If one particular work/game is created by a DTst or some drama work
> facilitator with her/his original idea, then s/he should be, and, would want
> to be credited for such originality. S/he, then, may announce to the
> participants in that work that it's her/his originality and need be credied
> for it; or, may assert its copyright by her/him. In reality, though, it's
> rare that participants get a prior consent of the originator to use such
> ideas, or to give credit to the originator when they use such
> ideas/work/games of some other DTst in their own workshop.
>
> Getting credit for your original ideas alone is a difficult issue; then,
> claiming the ownership, or copyright, of a whole workshop is by far
> difficult.
>
> I sometimes create an original series of DT workshops to meet the theme and
> objectives of a particular groups which request me a series of sessions for
> some special purposes.
> For instance, I compose the whole series, using some new games/works I
> created, old games/works (that I learned from books, DT classes at KSU and
> so on), some old games/works that I modified for the particular members, and
> some other activities from totally different areas.
> In such a case, though I use old games that were created by other people, my
> selection of the right games/works in the right and particular order can
> probably be considered as an original workshop format created by me, as this
> itself requires much professional knowledge/experience of one DTst.
>
> Some such workshops include instructors of certain seminars and workshops of
> their own, who come not for their own healing, but to copy the whole
> procedures, taking notes all the time. It is easy to suspect that they are
> planning to do the same work, or use some ideas in their work. They will
> usually do not ask for a prior consent for using the whole work or some
> ideas in it, but present them as their own work, not showing any credit to
> anybody, and charge fees for that. On encountering such a scene, I can not
> help feeling that all my hard work and efforts to create the series using
> lots of my time and energy are being plagierized.
>
> In such a situation, I do not know what I should (not) do, or how I should
> (not) react to it, to them...
> I'm not saying I want money or don't want others to use my creative ideas
> for a very effective workshop; these people take it for granted that they
> can just use somebody's workshop and its ideas without any permission, which
> it is very unprofessional, and rude.
>
> Am I not being generous enough?
>
> In Japan, the idea of copyright or giving credit is not so well established,
> especially when it comes to these ideas of workshop, group work; very
> intangible assets. Especially, "workshop" is difficult as it is not a
> written thesis or book. And it's very difficult to prevent people from using
> others' ideas without giving credit to the originator, unless you create a
> very special and particular way/process and it becomes very well known. The
> Playback Theatre may be one example of such a case.
>
> I remember, when Prof. Sally Bailey wanted to use the work I presented at
> the NADT Conference some years ago, she kindly asked me if she can use it
> for some workshop, I thought it was very professional, and nice, that she
> let me know.
>
> Showing credit for quotations, ideas, methods, etc, which already appeared
> in others' writings/achievement in academic writings is well established as
> something most ethical. Sharing ideas, developing others achievement is also
> what we need to promote in our areas, too.
>
> How is it possible in this area of academics, DT workshop, which is more
> action and performance oriented, need to be discussed, I feel.
>
> Please give me any feedback/ideas on how we should consider/deal with this
> issue.
>
> Thank you!
>
> Akeyo Onoe, RDT
> Representative for Drama Therapy Education and Research Center in Japan
> Professor: Ritsumeikan Univ. Graduate School