As with any performance with an audience, rights and royalties are involved in a "Pay What You Will” performance (including a preview performance), but this is a muddy area for many of us in community theatre.  Author Michael Cochran reached out to licensing representatives at two royalty houses, and presents responses from Dramatic Publishing and Music Theatre International.
  

The advantage to commissioning a play is that you are involved from the beginning in shaping and structuring the piece according to your own vision and needs. You are not restricted by the demands or the form of a script that has already been written.

Devised theatre is a collaborative system in which a group of artists work together to create a work.  

It sounds simple, but in practice—as with other creative endeavors—it can get complicated if the created work may be performed again in the future. 

Occasionally, a play may require the use of material created and owned by persons or entities other than the playwright. This material --including music or trademarked props--may be under copyright or protected by trademark. In such cases, the producer must obtain permission from its owner before using it. This article, by entertainment lawyer and playwright Charles Grippo, explores and explains how to navigate the legal issues.

Since rights, royalties and contracts are legal issues, it's important to understand the terminology that explains and governs your options. As with most contractual matters, ignorance is no defense, so here's an annotated list of important terms you need to know.

If the play is protected by copyright, changes are not allowed without prior written permission from the author or the author's representative (usually the publisher or licensing organization). This article explains the issue and the process for making changes legally.

Whether you want to ask for a lower royalty, cut a four-letter word, or something else, here's what you need to know.

Videotaping a licensed production is illegal 99.9% of the time. Here's why.

Putting together a concert or revue, using numbers you select from Broadway shows or other copyrighted sources, can be a complex process. This article gives you the steps to follow to make sure your revue is legal.

Photocopying scripts is sometimes a violation of copyright law. Find out when and why.