Entertainment Law in a Nutshell
Author:
Burr, Sherri L.
Edition:
4th
Copyright Date:
2017
20 chapters
have results for Entertainment Law
Chapter 7 Representing Entertainers 30 results (showing 5 best matches)
- An individual trained in the law and who passes the bar possesses advantages if he or she seeks employment in the entertainment industry because they can work as agents, managers, or lawyers. To work in the entertainment industry, it is helpful if the lawyer acquires knowledge about corporate and business law, tax law, labor law, criminal law, family law, contracts, immigration and intellectual property law.
- Among the challenges that lawyers, like Davis, face in representing clients in the entertainment industry is dealing with strong egos. Frank Davis advises young attorneys to seek entertainment law for its career aspects, not its glamorous aspects. He says, “The glamour is superficial. It’s not substantive. And you can’t rely on it for a career.”
- Lawyers specializing in entertainment law can be found around the globe, working in large law firms, small firms, and government offices. Because entertainment law has mostly been created in the United States, these attorneys must also master U.S. intellectual property and contract law. They represent foreign companies seeking to do business with U.S. companies or U.S. talent visiting their country.
- Klaus Beucher, a German attorney who received an LL.M from the University of Wisconsin, works for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, a large German firm with offices throughout Asia and the United States. Beucher represents cable television conglomerates. He reports that because most agreements are based on U.S. law, this makes it easier for someone who has mastered U.S. entertainment law to practice internationally. He reports that “Americans don’t like to litigate in Europe and Europeans don’t like to litigate in America.” Beucher describes his job as “fun.” He says, “I haven’t been to the office for a day when I’d say I’d rather not go. . . . It’s really cutting edge.” [Author Interview with Beucher
- musical artists, musical organizations, directors of legitimate stage, motion picture and radio productions, musical directors, writers, cinematographers, composers, lyricists, arrangers, models, and other artists and persons rendering professional services in motion picture, theatrical, radio, television and other entertainment enterprises.
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Table of Authorities 18 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Weiler, Paul, “Entertainment Media and the Law” 511 (2d. Ed. 2002) (herein referenced as “Weiler, Entertainment Media and the Law, at ___.”)
- Author Interview with Bloom, Diane, printed in Burr and Henslee, Entertainment Law 48–49
- Author Interview with Brooker, Greg, printed in Burr and Henslee, Entertainment Law 165–166
- Author Interview with Eyre, Chris, printed in Burr and Henslee, Entertainment Law 243–245, 562–565
- Author Interview with Frey, John Carlos, printed in Burr and Henslee, Entertainment Law 243–245, 279–280……………………………………………………...16, 127
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Introduction 9 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The many players within the entertainment business rely on the law and lawyers to look after their interests. Lawyers who do not understand how the entertainment business works are at a disadvantage when it comes to protecting their clients. It is not enough for a lawyer to read a contract and advise clients on its context if he does not understand the intricacies of the agreement’s special meanings. Clients come to lawyers seeking advice on seemingly incomprehensible legal language. Many smart lawyers make assumptions about entertainment related issues that are wrong.
- Because of this necessity to understand how the entertainment business works in order to comprehend the law that applies to it, this book’s first four chapters provide an overview of the film, television, music, and video game industries. Chapters 1–4 discuss the process of creating film, television, music, and video game products, as well as the major players who have different interests. These chapters also converse about particularized components of the four businesses.
- Hollywood is a place, but more importantly an industry based in Los Angeles with national offshoots in New York and Nashville, and global components around the world. The entertainment business is central to the lives of most Americans and to the United States economy. According to a Variety Magazine article, entertainment supplanted food as this country’s greatest export in 2004. [Crabtree,
- Because of the globalization of the United States entertainment industry, other countries are routinely exposed to U.S. culture. Their citizens often seek to emulate what they read, see on big and small screens, hear on the radio or their smart devices, or play on video game consoles.
- Chapter 5 scrutinizes the efforts of entertainers to protect their products from censorship. During the McCarthy era, entertainers had their free speech rights curtailed for political reasons. Other entertainment products have been accused of touting obscenity, which does not enjoy the protection of the First Amendment. Still other creative output has been labeled excessively violent and charged as contributing to the tortious and violent behavior of third parties.
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Chapter 5 Censorship 21 results (showing 5 best matches)
- While ratings might be considered a form of voluntary censorship, they provide important information to parents. The ultimate goal is to guide parents in making decisions about the content of the entertainment their children experience. The entertainment industry is putting the onus on parents to be the final determinant of what entertainment forms their children see, listen to, surf, and play.
- Entertainment Software Ass’n v. Foti, 451 F.Supp.2d 823 (M.D.La. 2006)
- These obscenity tests have been applied to numerous entertainment materials as individuals or groups have sought to ban books, films, music, video games, and television programs as obscene. The film, music, television, Internet, and video game industries have responded with self-regulation. They have all enacted voluntary ratings that alert potential purchasers or viewers that the certain material may give offense.
- Although a newer form of entertainment than films, television, and music, interactive video games are equally protected by the First Amendment. Cities are finding their ordinances restricting the sale of video games to minors are running afoul of the First Amendment. Parents experience difficulty
- United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, 529 U.S. 803, 806 (2000)
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Chapter 11 Globalization of Entertainment 18 results (showing 5 best matches)
- This internationalization of entertainment is not without detractors, as in some venues, foreign films, television, and other entertainment products have overwhelmed the domestic market. In doing so, they leave little room for local entertainment.
- Globalization has affected other forms of entertainment as well. The London theater district sends plays to Broadway and vice versa. Russian and African dance troops are as likely to tour the United States as the Alvin Ailey troop is to perform in Paris. United States’ citizens enhance the culture of others and are similarly enriched.
- This chapter addresses issues associated with the ongoing internationalization of the entertainment business and the legal consequences that flow there from. As companies expand their production venues and markets, other countries are feeling the pressure of declining control over local culture. Piracy continues to be a problem, as nations in the early stages of economic development have an incentive to encourage the pilfering of intellectual property creations like films, television shows, and music. Their citizens are enlightened without having to pay the full price, yet these events are not without legal consequences. This chapter concludes with a discussion of attempts to settle disputes between foreign nations over copyrights and other entertainment related issues.
- This section discusses the globalization of film and television production, as foreign companies buy U.S. companies and companies like Viacom seek to expand venues for creating entertainment products. As producers seek to trim costs, they are generating films and television shows in places far beyond the traditional venues of California and New York. Several Hollywood producers and studios have shot films in countries like Australia, Canada, India, Japan, and on the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.
- Several other countries have followed Canada’s lead by forming film commissions to solicit international entertainment dollars. Countries benefit from the direct investment, the multiplier effects that aids their economies, and from increased tourism. As mentioned in Chapter 1, over 300 film commissions belong to the Association of Film Commissions International (AFCI). These commissions actively promote their membership on their business cards and websites.
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Chapter 6 Intellectual Property 50 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The entertainment industry depends on the law of intellectual property to shield its ideas, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and patents from theft. This chapter focuses on the legal protection of ideas and fully realized products like films, books, video games, television shows, and albums or compact disks. Talent may capitalize on their intellectual property rights in a myriad of ways.
- Patent protection was used initially in the entertainment industry to protect camera, film, music, and television equipment and other innovations in merchandising. Companies obtain patents on the machines they create to display or perform the entertainment products. The general requirements to obtain a patent will be discussed below.
- This chapter discusses the various components of intellectual property law and how they apply to the entertainment business.
- Turner Entertainment fought for the right to colorize the film, claiming that as the copyright holder, it was “the author” of the film. The French court separated the economic rights in the film, which were held by Turner Entertainment, from the moral rights, which were held by Huston. The French court enjoined the showing of the film on French television. The court also ordered Turner Entertainment to pay 200,000 French francs in damages and costs.
- Once theft has occurred, individuals and companies can seek injunctions, damages and attorneys’ fees in civil courts. Some states permit criminal sanctions. For federal law, global entertainment companies may rely on The Economic Espionage Act of 1996, which Congress adopted to discourage theft of trade secrets in foreign commerce. This act permits criminal sanctions.
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Chapter 1 The Film Industry 6 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Tinseltown amazes and excites as it attracts talented people from countries around the world to Los Angeles to pursue their dreams. The goal of entertainment law practitioners is to keep aspirations from turning into nightmares.
- states have sought to pull away some of this entertainment production revenue by adopting incentives to encourage filming in their locales.
- The film business comprises a vibrant component of the entertainment industry. On a weekly, monthly and yearly basis, millions of individuals in the United States and abroad flock to view the products produced in Hollywood. The top 2009 film,
- After casting a child actor in a major role, Frey familiarized himself with child labor laws, which limit the hours that a child can work, and labor union laws that regulate adult hours. He even needed to secure gun permits for the fake guns in the film in case police officers drove by. When he needed to blow up a building, he contacted the San Diego Film Commission, which ran interference between him and the fire department. For all this trouble, Frey made a story close to his heart, which won numerous awards at independent film festivals. [
- Independent directors of small-budget films often get involved in producer-like activities, such as raising money, luring talent, securing gun permits, enforcing child labor laws, and negotiating with film commissions. John Carlos Frey, the director of
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Table of Cases 17 results (showing 5 best matches)
Chapter 4 The Video Game Industry 9 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Once out in the market, video games encounter the same challenges as other entertainment media. They can be censored, have their copyrights infringed, their brand names used inappropriately, and their contracts broken. Indeed, infringing video game activities can be expensive. A federal judge awarded Blizzard Entertainment $3,052,339 in disgorged profits, $85,478,600 in statutory damages, and $63,600 in attorneys’ fees after evidence established that 427,393 users downloaded
- Entertainment Software Rating Board but are awaiting a final rating.
- Video games are the newest form of entertainment to become a multi-billion dollar industry. Indeed, video game sales have become so popular that they sometimes exceed film sales. As mentioned in Chapter 1, the 2011
- Sophisticated games begin with the pitching of a concept. Ideas for video games often come from other forms of entertainment, such as popular movies, sequels to existing games, or are drawn from current events. For example, as mentioned above, several “single-shooter” video games are based on the U.S. military’s war in Iraq. Once developed, these video games are sometimes used in U.S. military training for simulated combat.
- During the later testing phase, a copy of the game is sent to the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), which assigns one of six ratings as depicted in Table 4–3: Video Game Ratings. The ESRB describes the content of these ratings on its website,
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Chapter 10 Celebrity Status 17 results (showing 5 best matches)
- When singer Debra Laws claimed that Sony misappropriated her name and voice for commercial purposes, the Ninth Circuit held in
- Some individuals who achieve wealth through the entertainment industry give away their money. According to lawyer turned television mogul Jim Rogers, “Once you’ve passed the buying and accumulating stage and you’re not interested in pursuing contests of adding more commas and zeroes to your financial statement, all that’s left is to give it away.” Rogers says there “is no greater feeling than the joy that flows from giving.”
- at 936.] The court found that Rush’s artwork was “entitled to the full protection of the First Amendment. . . . Through their pervasive presence in the media, sports and entertainment celebrities have come to symbolize certain ideas and values in our society and have
- be paid for it as entertainment. In this instance, the television had broadcast a film of Zacchini’s entire 15 second- act. The Supreme Court found this broadcast infringed Zacchini’s right of publicity, and was not immunized by the First Amendment.
- Rogers donated $115 million to the University of Arizona in 1998, making national headlines as the largest gift ever to a law school. To express its gratitude, the institution renamed itself the James E. Rogers College of Law. Dean Toni Massaro said that Rogers’ gift brought “hope, excitement, and a renewed commitment to acting on our better ideas.”
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Chapter 8 Credits and Compensation 7 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Credit and compensation issues intertwine in the entertainment industry. Credit accords recognition to the talent who contributes to the final product. Talent is then compensated according to the value of his or her work. This chapter discusses the importance of credit and the intricacies of the compensation system in the film, television, and music industries.
- In short, the different components of the entertainment industry compensate their members in a variety of ways.
- This phenomenon happens throughout the entertainment industry. An entertainer who performs well creates demand for his or her services. Television actor Kelsey Grammer began performing the Frasier character on
- Credits roll or blink in and out on screen at the beginning and end of films. Credit refers to the listing of a person’s name next to the function he or she performed in the entertainment project. The “story by” credit indicates the person who developed the story but did not write the screenplay. That credit is denoted as “written by” and may go to one or more people. An ampersand (&) indicates two or more writers who worked together to create a joint work. The word “and” designates two or more authors who contributed to the script after the first author finished the original script. The “script supervisor” took detailed notes (scene number, take number, camera position, and dialogue running time) during the filming, which aids the director
- at 604.] While the judge scheduled the dispute for trial, he made clear how he was leaning in the opening paragraph of his opinion when he used words such as “egocentricity” and “vanity” to refer to Miss. Loren. He indicated that such vanity was “due in measurable part to the adulation which the public showers on the denizens of the entertainment world in a profusion wholly disproportionate to the intrinsic contribution which they make to the scheme of things when seen in correct perspective. For that matter often in disproportionate to any true talent, latent or apparent.” [
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Chapter 3 The Music Industry 10 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The assignment clause in contracts, for example, can lead to bands ending with a different recording company if a merger takes place. With the consolidation of the entertainment industry, executives who nurtured a particular band’s career may depart, abandoning them to the mercy of new personnel who may lack interest in their success and want to develop their own discoveries.
- producer 19 Entertainment and its affiliated companies “manipulated” him into accepting jobs, forced him to perform for free for one of sponsors and did not tell him the title of an album before it was announced publicly. Phillips sought to void his agreements with 19 Entertainment. It took Kelly Clarkson, the Season 1 American Idol winner, thirteen years to be free from her contract in 2015. The show wrapped in 2016.
- The music business encompasses a lucrative, although ever-changing, component of the entertainment industry. According to Billboard.com, manufacturers shipped 549,400,000 album units of music in 2015. By contrast, the industry shipped 305.72 million units during just the first half of 2004. [Gallo, Music Sales Sing.] Steaming skyrocketed from 154.5 billion songs streamed in 2014 to 317.2 billion in 2015. Billboard.com also reported that consumers purchased 964.8 million digital tracks in 2015. Between physical units, streaming, and digital sales, the music business is booming.
- For centuries, prominent musicians ranging from Mozart to Michael Jackson have experienced money troubles. Sometimes the musician’s indebtedness arises from poor management of substantial resources. At other times, the musicians overestimate their anticipated revenues from their recording, tour, and music publishing contracts. The result is that musicians, more than other entertainers, seem more likely to have confrontations with creditors and the IRS. Attorneys and law students who seek to create a music law practice should study bankruptcy and tax law.
- Publishers also license other uses of their artists’ works. Under the copyright laws, which will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 6, any performer can make an exact cut of a song and pay
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Chapter 9 Entertainment Contracts 7 results (showing 5 best matches)
- William Shakespeare’s plays are in the public domain, which means any film, television, or theater company may reproduce or perform them without acquiring a contract, paying fees, or seeking permission. If, however, an entertainment company wants to perform a play that is protected by copyright or hire an actor, author, director, or other personnel, the company must seek permission, which is manifested in a contract.
- All contracts in the entertainment industry should contain answers to the classic questions of who, what, when, where, and how much. Contracts may be oral or written, implied or expressed. The contractual terms should serve to guide the parties in their business interactions.
- Major conglomerates with movie, television, music, game, and other entertainment divisions have swallowed up many independent publishers. Highly connected publishers may seek film and television rights that they can shop to one of their divisions. Authors who consent may obtain a quicker sale, but perhaps with less revenue than if their agents sell these rights separately. Several New York literary agents, for example, maintain connections with Hollywood agents to service their author clients in this manner.
- When POD publishers sell books through an Internet reseller, like Amazon.com, authors receive a reduced royalty. Amazon.com has become a billion-dollar corporation by reselling new and used books, and other entertainment products, at discounts through its website. Jonathan Miller, the author of
- Band agent agreements may similarly be voided if the agent fails to perform his or her duties in a customary fashion. Country singer Loretta Lynn’s contract with the Wil-helm Agency required it to represent and advise her in the “radio, television, recording and personal appearances field” of the entertainment industry “throughout the world and in outer space for a period of [t]wenty years.” The agency was obliged to procure employment, negotiate advertising and commercial tie-ups for using her name and likeness, and to counsel her on matters of professional interest. [
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Chapter 2 The Television Industry 7 results (showing 5 best matches)
- .] Programming was limited at a time when radio was the most popular form of entertainment. It wasn’t until the 1950s that television came into its own, helped along by the popularity of
- At any given time, four major television networks—ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC—may have a program schedule comprised of dramas, game shows, news, reality TV shows, situation comedies, sports, and talk shows. Some cable channels focus all their programming on one type of show, such as sports on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN News. Cable networks may seek to appeal to a particular gender, such as Spike TV for men or Lifetime, whose slogan is “television for women,” or a particular race, such as BET, Black Entertainment Television, or Univision, a popular Spanish network.
- Wright v. Sony Pictures Entertainment, 394 F.Supp.2d 27 (Dis. D.C. 2005)
- Campoverde v. Sony Pictures Entertainment, 2002 WL 31163804 (S.D.N.Y. 2002)
- financial and academic success, leadership, and intelligence with White characters, and negative qualities such as law breaking, financial hardship, laziness, and goofy behavior with minority characters.” [Burr, Conversely, 47% reported seeing minority characters break the law but only six percent reported seeing Caucasians break the law. The children also observed how often they saw their own race depicted: 71% of Caucasian children saw their race portrayed very often compared with only 42% of African-Americans and 22% of Hispanic-Americans. [
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Acknowledgments 3 results
- Entertainment Law in a Nutshell
- In addition to those who were interviewed for previous editions, the author thanks research assistant Lundyn Garrett for her helpful comments toward making this edition’s examples salient for contemporary law students. The author also thanks Cheryl Burbank for updating the pages in the Index.
- The author thanks the University of New Mexico, Dean Kevin Washburn, Attorney Robert St. John for the Dickason Professorship that enabled her to travel to conduct research for this book. The author expresses gratitude to UNM Law School students Caroline Seigel and Shelby Carlson for their research assistance, and to Kelli Grady and Lawrence Kemp for proofreading the manuscript.
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WEST ACADEMIC PUBLISHING’S LAW SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD 10 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Distinguished University Professor, Frank R. Strong Chair in LawMichael E. Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University
- Professor of Law Emeritus, University of San Diego Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Michigan
- Professor of Law, Chancellor and Dean Emeritus, University of California, Hastings College of the Law
- Professor of Law, Yale Law School
- Professor of Law, Pepperdine University Professor of Law Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles
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Index 2 results
- Publication Date: March 24th, 2017
- ISBN: 9781683285045
- Subject: Entertainment Law
- Series: Nutshells
- Type: Overviews
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Description:
This compact reference gives a big picture overview of the intellectual property, contract, publicity, estate planning, and First Amendment issues that contribute to the field of entertainment law. Professor Burr also addresses specific legal issues that arise in the film, music, and television industries, including discussion of the rise of “reality” television. This Nutshell is ideal as a secondary text to accompany any entertainment law casebook, as the primary text for a seminar, or as background information for someone requiring an overview.
Winner! Best Business Book - 2017 New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards
