Entertainment law, also referred to as media law, is legal services provided to the entertainment industry. These services in entertainment law overlap with intellectual property law. Intellectual property has many moving parts that include trademarks, copyright, and the "right of publicity". However, the practice of entertainment law often involves questions of employment law, contract law, torts, labor law, bankruptcy law, immigration, securities law, security interests, agency, right of privacy, defamation, advertising, criminal law, tax law, International law (especially private international law), and insurance law.
Much of the work of an entertainment law practice is transaction based, i.e., drafting contracts, negotiation and mediation. Some situations may lead to litigation or arbitration.
Entertainment law covers an area of law that involves media of all different types (e.g. TV, film, music, publishing, advertising, Internet & news media, etc.) and stretches over various legal fields, which include corporate, finance, intellectual property, publicity and privacy, and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution in the US.
For film, entertainment attorneys work with the actor's agent to finalize the actor's contracts for upcoming projects. After an agent lines up work for a star, the entertainment attorney negotiates with the agent and buyer of the actor's talent for compensation and profit participation. Entertainment attorneys are under strict confidentiality agreements, so the specifics of their job are kept top secret. But, some entertainment attorney's job descriptions have become comparable to those of a star's agent, manager or publicist. Most entertainment attorneys have many other roles as well such as assisting in building a client's career. [1]
As the popularity of media became widespread, the field of media law became more popular and needed leaving certain corporate professionals wanting to participate more in media. As a result, many young lawyers fledged into media law for the opportunity to build more connections in media, become a media presenter, or even land an acting role. As technology continues to make huge advancements, many lawsuits have begun to arise, which makes the demand for lawyers extremely necessary.
Entertainment law is generally sub-divided into the following areas related to the types of activities that have their own specific trade unions, production techniques, rules, customs, case law, and negotiation strategies:
Defamation (libel and slander), personality rights and privacy rights issues also arise in entertainment law.
Media law is a legal field that refers to the following:
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives the creator of an original work, or another right holder, the exclusive and legally secured right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself. A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States.
Commercial law – body of law that governs business and commercial transactions. It is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals with issues of both private law and public law. It is also called business law.
Ronald Kirk is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Trade Representative from 2009 to 2013, as the 97th Secretary of State of Texas, and as the 56th Mayor of Dallas from 1995 to 2002. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) is a coalition of seven trade associations representing American companies that produce copyright-protected material, including computer software, films, television programs, music, books, and journals. Formed in 1984, it seeks to strengthen international copyright protection and enforcement by working with the U.S. government, foreign governments, and private-sector representatives.
Intellectual property rights (IPRs) have been acknowledged and protected in China since 1980. China has acceded to the major international conventions on protection of rights to intellectual property. Domestically, protection of intellectual property law has also been established by government legislation, administrative regulations, and decrees in the areas of trademark, copyright, and patent.
Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. is a landmark 1948 New York Supreme Court decision that was the first case in United States copyright law to recognize moral rights in authorship. The Shostakovich case was brought following the United States premiere of The Iron Curtain, a 1948 spy film and the first anti-Soviet Hollywood film of the Cold War era. The film featured the music of several Soviet composers: Dmitri Shostakovich, Aram Khachaturian, Sergei Prokofiev, and Nikolai Myaskovsky.
Crowell & Moring is an international law firm headquartered in Washington, DC, with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, Chicago, Denver, London, Brussels, Doha, and Shanghai. With approximately 600 lawyers, the firm advises multinational corporations on regulatory, litigation, corporate, and investigations matters. As of 2022, Crowell & Moring is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States in The American Lawyer's "AmLaw 100" list, based on gross revenue.
The intellectual property rights on photographs are protected in different jurisdictions by the laws governing copyright and moral rights. In some cases photography may be restricted by civil or criminal law. Publishing certain photographs can be restricted by privacy or other laws. Photography can be generally restricted in the interests of public morality and the protection of children.
The copyright law of Australia defines the legally enforceable rights of creators of creative and artistic works under Australian law. The scope of copyright in Australia is defined in the Copyright Act 1968, which applies the national law throughout Australia. Designs may be covered by the Copyright Act as well as by the Design Act. Since 2007, performers have moral rights in recordings of their work.
Information technology law, also known as information, communication and technology law or cyberlaw, concerns the juridical regulation of information technology, its possibilities and the consequences of its use, including computing, software coding, artificial intelligence, the internet and virtual worlds. The ICT field of law comprises elements of various branches of law, originating under various acts or statutes of parliaments, the common and continental law and international law. Some important areas it covers are information and data, communication, and information technology, both software and hardware and technical communications technology, including coding and protocols.
Limitations and exceptions to copyright are provisions, in local copyright law or the Berne Convention, which allow for copyrighted works to be used without a license from the copyright owner.
Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to produce derivative works. The copyright holder is usually the work's creator, or a publisher or other business to whom copyright has been assigned. Copyright holders routinely invoke legal and technological measures to prevent and penalize copyright infringement.
Music Law refers to legal aspects of the music industry, and certain legal aspects in other sectors of the entertainment industry. The music industry includes record labels, music publishers, merchandisers, the live events sector and of course performers and artists.
This collection of lists of law topics collects the names of topics related to law. Everything related to law, even quite remotely, should be included on the alphabetical list, and on the appropriate topic lists. All links on topical lists should also appear in the main alphabetical listing. The process of creating lists is ongoing – these lists are neither complete nor up-to-date – if you see an article that should be listed but is not, please update the lists accordingly. You may also want to include Wikiproject Law talk page banners on the relevant pages.
Mark Alan Fischer was a Boston-based intellectual property and copyright lawyer, speaker, and co-author of the fourth edition of Perle, Williams & Fischer on Publishing Law with E. Gabriel Perle and John Taylor Williams. He was a partner at Duane Morris LLP. Fischer represented corporate and private clients with interests in entertainment law, copyright litigation, and social media law. He helped draft the Biobricks Foundation Public Agreement, which allows scientists to make their biotechnology tools available to the public.
TMT Law Practice (TMT) is India’s first Technology, Media, and Telecommunications law firm with offices in New Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Mysuru, and Bhubaneswar, with an associate network office in Mumbai.
Kesha v. Dr. Luke refers to a series of lawsuits and countersuits between the singer Kesha Rose Sebert (Kesha) and the music producer Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald. Sebert filed a civil suit against Gottwald in October 2014 for infliction of emotional distress, sex-based hate crimes and employment discrimination. Gottwald filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court in which he sued Sebert and her mother, Rosemary Patricia "Pebe" Sebert, for defamation and breach of contract.
Bagdasarian Productions is an American production company founded by Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (1919-1972) on February 20, 1961. The company holds the rights to Alvin and the Chipmunks and related intellectual property assets. The company is currently owned and operated in by Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and Janice Karman. The company has co-produced many television series, specials, and films and initiated multiple lawsuits to protect the characters.
Jeffrey D. Goldman is an American former entertainment lawyer, best known for his music litigation practice and for his involvement in two influential internet law cases: A&M Records v. Napster and Perfect 10 v. Google. His cases dramatically impacted the development of Internet law and on the music industry's transformation from physical sales to digital distribution of music. He was also part of the litigation team that represented the plaintiff victims in the O. J. Simpson civil case.