Creative outputs as the result of a shared cooperative process and why the property right institution may not be adequate. The case of theatre productions.

The present contribution takes theatrical productions as a case study to highlight the elements that define the nature of the interaction between its different and complementary stakeholders on the one hand, and the effects on their capability to use their own creativeness and hence – following a humanistic approach – their wellbeing (Sacchetti, 2023a; Sacchetti and Tortia 2023). This take on wellbeing follows needs theory and its more recent applications by self-determination theory, which emphasises the relation between intrinsic motivation, autonomy, relatedness and competence with self-actualisation on the one hand (Deci and Ryan, 2000), and the overlap between the latter and the possibility for individuals to use their own genuine creativeness (Maslow, 1963; Sacchetti, 2023a) We first present an analysis of the cooperative production process, which involves the participation of multiple stakeholders (playwrights, producers, directors, actors, scenographers, etc) in the realization of a creative output (i.e. the performance). Other than showing the complexities that organizing a theatrical production would demand, the contribution also aims at highlighting those elements that differentiate creative arts from other organizational structures. The work on stage, in fact, is expected to be developed in an environment that accentuates humanistic values (amplified attention to human dignity, mutual respect, collaboration among peers, increase of self-awareness, enhanced use of creativity and imagination, etc…) and which is mainly structured on collaborations among artists and other professionals. Since the team-based structure of the work favours the development of a “creative space” (Sacchetti, 2023a) that allows all participant stakeholders to make their own creative contributions to the final performance (McDonagh, 2021), the contribution will further emphasize the peculiarities of the theatrical production process through a discussion on the challenges presented by the need to legally protect a collective form of art through Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). Our argument proceeds as follows: (i) We will start with a discussion on the theatrical production process and its form of governance. This will be compared with other forms of organising, to say that its organizational structure has evolved into a structure like any other operating on the market. Within this discussion, there will be the opportunity to present all stakeholders involved, the way they cooperate with each other, and how, within this type of work, their artistic creativity can emerge. (ii) Within this framework, we analyse the creative process that gives rise to the realization of the theatrical performance. We use literature on organizational creativity, theory of the firm and self-actualization theory. This then allows us to make a series of considerations on creative teamwork and on the effects that governance choices produce in terms of creative capabilities. (iii) The last part will be dedicated to discussing the legal protection of theatrical artistic creativity highlighting the difficulties at using the traditional copyright law provisions with reference to a field in which creativity springs from a collective process. It will be questioned whether IPR are actually able of safeguarding the creative output, or if they would rather create restrictions to the free development of artistic creativity and stakeholder wellbeing. (iv) Ultimately, conclusions will be drawn on the fact that, if we consider the organizational structure of theatre productions as a firm, an analysis such as the one carried out in this discussion may contribute to unveil how economic organizing can be more humanistic by delving into ideas of wellbeing and advancing them through the concepts of creativity.