GIFTING OPTIONS
The DG©M is not your attorney and cannot offer you legal advice with regard to your estate planning, but we can offer certain services and resources regarding the process for enrolling your work in our program. The manner of the DG©M’s involvement with your estate planning process will often depend upon how your structure your bequest of copyright through your will or trust, or both. In order to enroll with the DG©M, you have several gifting options:
Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.
Option 1: a gift of copyright to the Dramatists Guild.
Through your estate plan, you can gift all, or parts of, your copyrights to the Dramatists Guild, which is a non-profit 501(c)(6) trade association formed under New York law. Since you are reading this, you are likely already familiar with the Dramatists Guild and its goals and purpose. However, if you wish to learn more about the Guild, you can click here.
Through your estate plan, you can gift all, or parts of, your copyrights to the Dramatists Guild, which is a non-profit 501(c)(6) trade association formed under New York law. The Dramatists Guild will maintain an annual estate membership in your name and exercise authorial approvals over your work, as needed. By choosing this option, you guarantee that your fellow authors will act as your proxy in perpetuity and that your works will provide a source of ongoing revenues to support the Dramatists Guild’s mission. Thus, this is the preferred option. If you should pursue Option 1, then the Dramatist Guild will retain the DG©M to manage the properties in exchange for a basic commission of 10%.
FOR SAMPLE MODEL LANGUAGE CLICK HERE
Dramatists Guild of America PLUS
Option 2 - A gift of copyright to the Dramatists Guild PLUS BENEFICIARY
Under this option, you would gift all or some of your copyrights to the Dramatists Guild and designate that a share of the Guild’s net revenues earned from the copyrights (up to 49%) be paid to up to four designated beneficiaries.
Under this option, you would gift all, or parts of, your copyrights to the Dramatists Guild, which is a non-profit 501(c)(6) trade association formed under New York law. The Dramatists Guild will maintain an annual estate membership in your name and exercise authorial approvals over your work, as needed. By choosing this option, you guarantee that your fellow authors will act as your proxy in perpetuity and that your works will provide a source of ongoing revenues to support the Dramatists Guild’s mission. If you should pursue Option 1, then the Dramatist Guild will retain the DG©M to manage the properties in exchange for a basic commission of 10%.
Dramatists Guild related non-profits
Option 3: gift of copyright to a Dramatists Guild related, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit.
Under this option, you would gift all, or parts of, your copyrights to a DG-related, non-profit such as the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, Dramatists Guild Foundation, or The Lillys.
Under this option, your estate plan would need to incorporate language that requires that the non-profit maintain an annual Dramatists Guild estate membership in your name and that it retain the DG©M to manage all, or certain specific, copyrights on your behalf. It would further condition the bequest on having the related non-profit pay annual dues to the Dramatists Guild for the estate membership so as to ensure that the non-profit continues to receive estate member services on your behalf. Under this option, the DG©M will retain an enhanced commission of 20% from the managed works to provide its management services, including authorial proxy approvals, and in order to also support the mission of the Dramatists Guild. The balance of the copyright revenues will be distributed to your chosen related non-profit to support programs consistent with both the chosen non-profit’s charitable purpose and the Dramatists Guild’s mission. While these non-profits are related to the Dramatists Guild, it is important for you to understand that neither the Dramatists Guild nor the DG©M has any control over any of these organizations. Thus, if you have any questions or concerns regarding sharing a lower percentage of the balance of your copyright revenue with any of these related non-profits, you should contact that particular non-profit.
If you should gift your copyright (or a majority financial interest in such copyright) to a beneficiary other than the Dramatists Guild, such beneficiary may eventually terminate the DG©M’s services or otherwise seek to challenge the DG©M’s practice of prioritizing the protection of your authorial legacy over maximizing profits payable to such beneficiaries. You may also have inadvertently left your copyright termination rights beyond the DG©M’s control, limiting our ability to manage your work. Thus, under those scenarios, you are not guaranteed the DG©M’s perpetual protection of your authorial intent.
FOR SAMPLE BEQUEST LANGUAGE CLICK HERE