RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS

Preamble

SDC is an independent National Labor Union representing directors and choreographers, securing our artistic and economic rights and ensuring that our interests are protected and respected in the collaborative process of the theatre.

The following are our basic rights and responsibilities as directors and choreographers and as Members of SDC:

I. Rights

We have the right to minimum employment terms and conditions established under the applicable SDC agreement, and the right to negotiate above-minimum fees, royalties, and other terms, and such terms are entitled to full Union protection.

We have the right to safe and ethical workplaces free of discrimination, harassment, and violence.

We have the right to appeal to our Union to take action to remedy or relieve unfair dealings, abuses, and other conditions that are detrimental to its Members or the Union.

We have the right to vote in elections or referendums, and to attend and participate in Union meetings, subject to rules in our By-laws, and to stand in solidarity with the Union: its Membership and representatives.

We have the right to own our direction and choreography, and the right to appeal to our Union to pursue legal action if we feel our work has been plagiarized or replicated without our permission. We have the right to license our work, to consent to and receive compensation for all future uses.

We have the right to negotiate agreements with collaborators and producers for future economic participation in the ongoing life of work to which we have contributed or which we have created.

II. Responsibilities

We have the responsibility to secure written agreements and to file them with our Union prior to first rehearsal.

We have the responsibility to conduct ourselves in our professional activities in an ethical and legal manner at all times, upholding principles and practices that are free of discrimination, harassment, and violence.

We have the responsibility to inform our Union of issues, concerns, and activities that are detrimental to the Membership or to the Union.

We have the responsibility to vote in elections or referendums, to attend and participate in Union meetings, subject to rules in our By-laws, and to stand in solidarity with the Union: its Membership and representatives.

We have the responsibility to create original direction and choreography or to secure permission to replicate the direction and choreography of others.

We have the responsibility to honor the creative and economic rights of fellow collaborative artists.

Adopted by the Executive Board on October 7, 2013; revision adopted by the Executive Board on November 13, 2017; Revision adopted by the Executive Board on September 14, 2020. Revised proposal adopted by the Executive Board on May 23, 2022.