You would think that after you paid all that cash to have your daughter (or son) study the ancient art of tap dance, you would at least be able to take video of the recital at the Lincoln Theatre.

You would be wrong:

Robert sez, “My daughter had her tap dance recital at the Lincoln theater in DC on sunday (6/3). Despite the fact that I paid for the lessons, paid for the costume, paid for the tickets to the show, and am the father of the child I could NOT videotape my daughters performance because of ‘copyright issues’ with the background music. The issue magically went away apparently if I purchased the DVD they making of the show for $25. There were ushers constantly moving up and down the aisle making sure video equipment wasn’t used. At least this year they allowed still camera, last year they banned even those.”

Hat tip to the Boing Boing folks for sending this one our way. I spoke with the Lincoln Theatre’s Star Brown today, and their policy is that videotaping of events is prohibited by audience members per the regulations drawn up by the Board of the Theatre company.

A non-profit company can request the right to film the concert/event for archival purposes at a cost of $2500, and a for-profit company can pay $5000 for the privilege. Non-profits can use one camera, For-profits can use many cameras.

If you’d like to ask for clarification about the policy, their phone number is 202.328.6000. Also, Lisa Jones is the Board Chair for the Lincoln Theatre, and her address for letters is:

Lisa Jones
Board of Directors
Lincoln Theatre
1215 U St. NW
Washington, DC 20009

Feel free to let her know how that policy makes you feel.

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This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs