Play Distribution Program

Are you a Canadian playwright who has written a script that has not been published? Are you interested in having digital copies available for sale to the public?

Playwrights Guild of Canada operates an online bookstore, the Canadian Play Outlet. The Canadian Play Outlet (CPO) has customers around the world and attracts producers, educators, librarians, actors, directors, and theatre lovers. The CPO also offers buyers the ability to purchase digital and physical copies of plays and theatre books of other publishers.

If you would like to have your unpublished work available for sale in the Canadian Play Outlet in digital PDF versions, you must apply through the Play Distribution Program. Submissions to the Play Distribution Program are accepted from current PGC members, including estates.

Copyright is automatically bestowed as soon as a creator fixes their work in a tangible form (meaning it is saved on a hard drive, etc. which provides proof of date of creation).

ISBN: Scripts submitted to the Play Distribution Program which have had a professional production, will be registered by PGC for an ISBN, providing an additional registration of the work in a tangible form.

Registration: For those seeking absolute proof of copyright, you may register your work with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) for a fee. A certificate of ownership is issued, and it can be used in a court of law to prove copyright. Visit: http://https://www.cipo.gc.ca.

PGC has several types of scripts available through our distribution program:

Copyscripts: plays that have already had a professional production.
Stage Ready Scripts: plays that have not yet had a professional production.
Sample Scripts: perusal copy of a short segment of the play. Sample Scripts are only available to educators and producers considering a production of the work.
Consignment: A digitization of a previously published but out of print or self-published works (digital or physical).

PGC Play Distribution Program Policies

The program operates with the following overall policies and procedures:

General:

Scripts must be submitted through the Play Distribution Program submission forms on the PGC website. Scripts will not be accepted by email.
PGC will only accept unpublished works or consignment (in specific cases).
Scripts accepted through the Distribution Program will become part of the sales inventory of the Canadian Play Outlet in digital PDF format.
Playwright/executor retains the right to remove the work from the Distribution Program.
Participation in the Distribution Program does not have to include a playwright’s entire catalogue of plays.
PGC sets standard pricing for all Copyscripts and Stage Ready Scripts for sale in the CPO.
When a title is first submitted, PGC will feature it on the homepage of the CPO and in the monthly “New Scripts Promotion” in our newsletters.
At its discretion, PGC includes select plays in curated collections on the CPO website for customers to search by themes.
Scripts on the CPO can be searchable by cast size, run time, genre, etc.
At its discretion, PGC will adapt descriptions and review quotes to best suit the overall layout of the CPO.
PGC will accept updated scripts only if there have been significant changes to the work (minimum 20% of the material is different).
PGC will remove prior scripts and replace resubmitted scripts twice per year, at a schedule that best suits our operations.
PGC will calculate script royalties annually, based on the organization’s fiscal year of April 1 to March 31 .
Processing of royalties may take 90 days after the fiscal year end.
A sales summary report will be issued to the playwright/executor upon request.
Playwright/executor will not have access to information about CPO customers.

To join or renew, go to Membership

Submissions form available in our Member Dashboard

Still have questions? Please contact the Program Manager at orders@playwrightsguild.ca.