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Media & Entertainment Law

Entertainment Law Update

Law Firm website/blog devoted to entertainment law. Contains information of interest to lawyers and others in the entertainment industry. Covers film, television, music, theatre, new media, internet, etc.
By Gordon Firemark

Post Frequency: 1.6/day

Last Entry: March 24, 2011 at 16:46:53

Tribal Leadership: David Logan?s TED talk

Posted on March 23, 2010
Here’s an informative, inspriring and entertaining TED talk about leadership from my friend, Dave Logan. The information here is useful for everyone. Worth the 16 minutes. If you like what you hear from David, get his books: Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization and The Three Laws of Performance: Rewriting the Future of Your [...

Asked & Answered: True Story or Hoax? What to do?

Posted on March 21, 2010
Q: Last summer I read a book by a local author, the true life story about her survival as a 7-yr.-old Ukrainian girl in various work camps during World War II, culminating in internment at Dachau 5 months before it was liberated. I and members of my production crew loved the story, all were [...

Backlog at the Copyright office grows to two (2) years

Posted on March 08, 2010
According to Anthony Verna, who blogs at Trademark, Copyright, and Entertainment Law Forum, the Copyright office now reports that its backlog for registration of copyrights is now as long as two years. Given that copyright registration is a prerequisite to pursuing a copyright infringement lawsuit, it is very important that copyrights be registered as [...

Asked & Answered: How to avoid being sued when basing characters on real people

Posted on March 02, 2010
Q: My current screenwriting project is taken from the old adage to “write what you know”. As such, it is a story from my perspective, working in a medical office. Many of the characters are either an amalgamation of patients, or possesses the characteristics of a single patient, that I have encountered over the [...

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Asked & Answered: Should writer?s groups allow development execs as members?

Posted on February 23, 2010
Q: I belong to a script development group in Hollywood. The group recently let a developmement executive in as a member and are talking about letting in other producers and development executives. I think this is a bad idea because even though they sign a non-disclosure agreement, there is no paper trail for individual projects and the script ideas can not be protected...

Asked & Answered: Co-authors, who owns what?

Posted on February 16, 2010
Q: I have written a multi-award-winning screenplay and feel, after many rewrites, it’s getting close to being pretty good. My question is about ownership: The screenplay was based on my novel, partly coauthored by a friend, who did about 10% of the work and storyline creation...

Asked & Answered: WGA vs Copyright registration and protection of scripts

Posted on February 11, 2010
Q: I’m sure this is the question that haunts all types of writers. Being a screenplay writer and having my idea and even some exact dialog stolen from me in the past, and working so diligently to create my very best work, I fear the obvious. My question is three-fold: 1) Exactly what is protected [...

3 Reasons why copyright registration is important for all kinds of documents

Posted on February 08, 2010
Copyright registration is increasingly important for all types of businesses and all types of documents. it’s not just about media content. Companies and individuals should consider registering their copyrights in all kinds of documents they may consider valuable...

Asked & Answered: Contests and the risk of idea theft.

Posted on February 04, 2010
Q: I often think that when I submit my screenplays for viewing or to a contest, “What would keep someone from taking the idea?” Let me clairfy what I mean. I send in a screeplay for a contest or for someone (producer, whoever) to read. They like the idea but dont purchase my screenplay but [...

Asked & Answered: Can a Public Domain Book be a Trademark?

Posted on January 26, 2010
Q: I have a letter from the Copyright office that a book, written in 1880, was in public domain. I wrote an adaptation of that book into a screenplay. I then found that someone had taken the authors works (28 books) and trademarked them on the Internet...

Entertainment Law Update Podcast ? Episode 8 is now available.

Posted on January 25, 2010
Download audio file (EntertainmentLawUpdateEpisode008.mp3) Download Episode (right click) Approximate Running Time: 01:06 Episode #8 of my Entertainment Law Update Podcast is now available. For more information, see the show notes at http://entertainmentlawupdate...

Asked & Answered: protection of work against foreign infringement

Posted on January 22, 2010
Q: As most writer’s work is filed with either the WGA or copyrighted through the USPTO, how does one protect their work from an overseas company asking to see your screenplay? As the United States’ market seems to be tightening, it seems like producers and prodcos from other countries are much more receptive and open [...

Speaking at Institute for International Film Financing (link updated)

Posted on January 14, 2010
CORRECTION: the link to the event has been revised. Thursday, January 14, 2010, from 7- 10pm, I’ll be speaking at the Institute for International Film Financing. I’ll be giving an abbreviated version of my presentation entitled “6 Ways to Finance A Feature Film”, and joining a panel of other film financing experts to take questions from attendees...

I?ve been elected President of the Academy of New Musical Theatre

Posted on January 14, 2010
I'm proud to announce that I've been elected to a two-year term as President of the Los Angeles based Academy of New Musical Theatre. This is a non-profit organization with which I've been involved for a number of years. ANMT is dedicated to fostering the creation, development, and production of new musicals for the stage...

Asked & Answered: Copyright duration and the public domain.

Posted on January 14, 2010
Q: If 1977 is the dividing line for copyright laws, is it possible to, say, erase all challenging doubts by merging two pre-1977 stories and create an entirely new work? Such as, say, LITTLE WOMEN (1800s) meets the rogue PAL JOEY (1940). Or must one check to see if Louisa Mae Olcott’s estate still has [...

4 ways do-it-yourself-ers mess up trademark applications

Posted on January 12, 2010
I'm frequently asked by clients to help them "fix" defective applications for trademark registration, after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's examiners have rejected them. As often as not, the rejections are the result of simple mistakes, but once they're made, the damage can be difficult (and costly) to repair...

Who owns a play that?s partly improvised?

Posted on December 29, 2009
Last week, a colleague asked me the following question: If an actor improvises lines in a play, and the “author”/director of the play later wishes to write a screenplay which incorporates the actor’s improvised dialogue, does he have to obtain rights to that dialogue? What is the written (or unwritten) rule regarding the incorporation of improvised [...

Asked and Answered: Protecting your material when submitting to actors

Posted on December 15, 2009
Q: I recently met someone who connects writers to various well-known actors. He is neither an agent or a literary manager, but has worked on several fims in various producing capacities. What steps should I take to protect my script before giving it to this person to pass on to an actor? Should I ask [...

L.A. To get a film commission? Didn?t we already have one?

Posted on December 15, 2009
I’ve just read that L.A. city council member Richard Alarcon has asked city officials to report on the steps needed to create a film commission to persuade production companies to shoot in L.A. I’m stunned that the city, historically home to the TV and Movie industries, hadn’t already had such a commission...

Smoking Bans and the First Amendment?free speech goes up in smoke in Colorado.

Posted on December 15, 2009
The Colorado Supreme Court has dealt another blow to the First Amendment, holding that public health concerns trump the First Amendment in cases involving bans on smoking. Curious Theatre v. Colorado Department of Health and Public Environment The Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act (which went into effect in 2006) prohibits indoor smoking of tobacco and other products [...

The year is ending. How?s your Corporation or LLC?

Posted on December 14, 2009
As year’s end approaches, it’s a good time to consider dissolving and winding-up the affairs of unused corporations and Limited Liability Companies, thereby avoiding taxation for 2010. Similarly, if you’re considering starting a new corporation or LLC, you may wish to realize the expenses associated with corporate start up in 2009 by getting [...

Asked and Answered: How to acquire underlying rights

Posted on December 11, 2009
Q: IF I was willing to write a spec script based on a novel and say to the producer, “Yeah, I’ve got the right to this”, how would I go about getting those rights? What if it’s a John Grishom vs. an unknown writer whose book had some cinematic possibilities? Also, what constitutes being [...

Student Athletes and Rights of Publicity: Ed O-Bannon v. NCAA

Posted on December 11, 2009
Should athletes whose playing days are far behind them be compensated when the NCAA licenses their likeness and image for commercial use? Should those same athletes be able to negotiate their own deals with TV networks and video game makers who want to use those same images and likenesses?

Asked & Answered: Can a screenwriter retain control?

Posted on December 08, 2009
Q: Is it possible through an entertainment attorney, for the screenwriter to have control of rewriting, changing, adding or eliminating scenes, etc.? Related posts:Asked & Answered: I don’t have a formal contract. How do I make sure I get my credit?Asked and Answered: Idea Theft and Submission Releases/Waivers...

ALERT: Don?t use work email to communicate with your personal attorney. You may waive Attorney-Client privilege.

Posted on December 02, 2009
I‘ve just read a case out of the Federal Court in Idaho (Alamar Ranch, LLC v. City of Boise, 2009 WL 3669741 (D. Idaho Nov. 2, 2009)) which held that emails sent by a non-party to her attorney using a work computer were NOT protected by the attorney-client privilege...

Asked & Answered: Can co-writers exclude music rights from screenplay rights?

Posted on December 01, 2009
Yes, it is possible, in a collaboration agreement, to separate rights in certain components of the work, so that a composer retains all rights in the songs, while the parties share equally (or according to some other formula) in the other components. Unfortunately, each situation is different, so there's no set 'form' or 'standard' way to handle this wording...

Asked and Answered: Idea Theft and Submission Releases/Waivers.

Posted on November 24, 2009
Q: Can a writer give a waiver not to sue to a producer to steal their property, since theft is a crime and would be prosecuted in the criminal courts? Is their any civil remedy to the writer for theft? A: Yes, a writer CAN sign a waiver promising not to sue a producer who misappropriates [...

Asked and Answered: My script is based on real people. What rights do I need?

Posted on November 19, 2009
Q: I’m writing a modern spec screenplay based on a true story I discovered through Internet research, and based on interviews with two participants int eh events depicted in the story. The interviewees both eagerly agreed to participate, and have not asked for anything in exchange...

Entertainment Law Update Podcast: Episode 006: Britney worships the man downstairs?

Posted on November 16, 2009
Episode 6 of my Entertainment Law Update podcast is now available. Please visit the site to subscribe using iTunes or your favorite RSS Reader. Attorneys can get California MCLE (Continuing Legal Eduction) credit, too! Download audio file (EntertainmentLawUpdateEpisode006...

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