The Law And Business Of The Entertainment Industry

"The Law and Business of the Entertainment Industry is designed to give the reader an inside understanding of the range of factors that come into play in entertainment industry transactions. The book examines major areas of entertainment industry endeavor such as books, film, music, television, and theater from the transactional side, while also looking at some of their other aspects, such as copyright, right of publicity, and negotiation. Each chapter of the book opens with a dialogue between the course professor and three representative students: an artist student, a business student, and a law student, in order to frame the issues dealt with in the chapter for the diverse perspectives that these students may sometimes bring to the subject matter. After having read these dialogue openings, the reader is then exposed to an informational article and several legal disputes which have been resolved in the courts in each of the subject areas. To stimulate interest in the readers, they will find that these legal disputes often involve well known entities in the entertainment industry, from rock stars and movie stars to television networks and Hollywood Studio and films. To enhance the learning experience for the reader, each chapter closes with a simulated negotiation scenario in the subject area. After having become familiar with both the overt and covert issues in each of these industries, readers can then stage negotiations in class where they role-play characters in the negotiation scenario. This exercise serves as a tool to entrench their knowledge and understanding of the entertainment industry discipline. The author has spent over forty years working in many areas of the entertainment industry. Professor Greene has worked in the television industry, the music industry, the motion picture industry, theater and books. As an artist he has performed all over the world. As an entertainment executive, he has been a Hollywood studio vice-president, run a record label, and been a producer of theater and film. The range of his experiences from having performed at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, to graduating from Columbia, Harvard, and Yale Universities infuses this book with a range of unique perspectives and experiences that makes it stand out from every other book of its type in the marketplace. Professor Frederick Dennis Greene was born in and raised in Harlem and the Bronx in New York City. He graduated from the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville and then went to Columbia University, where he was a founding member of the rock group, ShaNaNa. He performed with the group for fifteen years, touring internationally and appearing on 100 episodes of their internationally syndicated TV series, ShaNaNa. Greene went on to earn a Masters in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a law degree from Yale Law School. After law school, Greene was a vice-president of production at Columbia Pictures and then a producer at the studio. He then went into law teaching at schools such as the University of Oregon School of Law and Florida A & M University College of Law. He is presently a Professor of Law at the University of Dayton School of Law, where he teaches Constitutional Law and Entertainment Law. He also teaches a film course, Politics, Race and Gender in the Hollywood Film, in the University of Dayton College of Arts and Sciences."

Entertainment Law and Business is a handy resource for both the experienced and novice practitioner. It provides a broad survey of the entire industry and creative rights laws. It includes incisive summaries of all of the important areas of creative rights law: copyrights, the protection of ideas, trademark, publicity and privacy, and the major international treaties. It also provides an overview of all the major fields of entertainment (and related field of interest for entertainment practitioners) along with illustrative agreements. This is not an esoteric academic treatise. The book aims to aid the practitioner in the practical aspects of entertainment. Hence, the authors have attempted to highlight the key features of the major agreements in each field. They provide insights not only into what the individual provisions of the agreement attempts to regulate, but also the concerns that lie behind those provisions. They point to the types of negotiating strategies important in each agreement, passing on their experience to the practitioner. All of the accompanying sample forms and documents are conveniently included on CD-ROM in RTF (Rich Text Format). RTF allows the user to open each sample clause for use/editing in either Microsoft Word or Corel Wordperfect. Value Package

Understanding the Business of Entertainment: The Legal and Business Essentials All Filmmakers Should Know is an indispensable guide to the business aspects of the entertainment industry, providing the legal expertise you need to break in and to succeed. Written in a clear and engaging tone, this book covers the essential topics in a thorough but reader-friendly manner and includes plenty of real-world examples that bring business and legal concepts to life. Whether you want to direct, produce, write, edit, photograph or act in movies, this book covers how to find work in your chosen field and examines the key provisions in employment agreements for creative personnel. If you want to make films independently, you’ll find advice on where to look for financing, what kinds of deals might be made in the course of production, and important information on insurance, releases, and licenses. Other topics covered include: Hollywood’s growth and the current conglomerates that own most of the media How specific entertainment companies operate, including facts about particular studios and employee tasks. How studios develop projects, manage production, seek out independent films, and engage in marketing and distribution The kinds of revenues studios earn and how they account for these revenues How television networks and new media-delivery companies like Netflix operate and where the digital revolution might take those who will one day work in the film and TV business As an award- winning screenwriter and entertainment attorney, Gregory Bernstein give us an inside look at the business of entertainment. He proves that knowing what is behind filmmaking is just as important as the film itself.

This revised edition of Understanding the Business of Media Entertainment is an indispensable guide to the business aspects of the entertainment industry, providing the information you need to break in and to succeed. Written in a clear and engaging tone, the second edition of this book covers the essential topics in a thorough but reader-friendly manner and includes plenty of real-world examples that bring business and legal concepts to life, such as the growing clout of digital companies and the rise of streaming providers like Netflix and Amazon, the transformation of independent film development and distribution, and changes to the media ownership landscape. Award-winning screenwriter and entertainment attorney Gregory Bernstein gives an insider's look at the filmmaking business, from copyright law and government media regulation to development, distribution, revenue, the role of agents, managers, and unions, entertainment contracts, and more. Other topics covered include: Hollywood's growth and the current conglomerates that own most of the traditional media. How specific entertainment companies operate, including facts about particular studios and employee tasks. How studios develop projects and engage in marketing and distribution. The kinds of revenues studios earn and how they account for these revenues.

The entertainment industries continue to experience a tremendous amount of change in business practices and litigation. These changes make this second edition of a highly successful text/reference work a vital resource for lawyers and industry professionals who need to know how each unique entertainment field applies common concerns and legal concepts. The book is thoroughly revised and updated--incorporating the significant changes which have, in recent years, altered the nature of the several entertainment industries. These changes have occurred in four areas: innovation, consolidation, internationalization, and inflation. Each of these four is analyzed in detail and the legal and business implications for the future are discussed. In addition to examining such key elements as the role of agents, managers, and promoters, personal rights, and contracts, this edition again considers each of the major entertainment segments: literary publishing, music publishing, sound recordings, film, television, and theatre. It cites the principal points of controversy in each of the segments. This balanced and comprehensive book, particularly well-received in its first edition, will be an essential resource for those active in the legal and business areas of the challenging and volatile entertainment industries.

The entertainment industries continue to experience a tremendous amount of change in business practices and litigation. These changes make this second edition of a highly successful text/reference work a vital resource for lawyers and industry professionals who need to know how each unique entertainment field applies common concerns and legal concepts. The book is thoroughly revised and updated—incorporating the significant changes which have, in recent years, altered the nature of the several entertainment industries. These changes have occurred in four areas: innovation, consolidation, internationalization, and inflation. Each of these four is analyzed in detail and the legal and business implications for the future are discussed. In addition to examining such key elements as the role of agents, managers, and promoters, personal rights, and contracts, this edition again considers each of the major entertainment segments: literary publishing, music publishing, sound recordings, film, television, and theatre. It cites the principal points of controversy in each of the segments. This balanced and comprehensive book, particularly well-received in its first edition, will be an essential resource for those active in the legal and business areas of the challenging and volatile entertainment industries.

This book examines the contractual relationships of creative artists within a number of areas of the entertainment industry. Whilst it focuses specifically on football, cricket, boxing and music, developments within other parts of the entertainment business are observed. The book also charts the concessions (artistic, professional and personal) that are often made by such artists in an attempt to achieve success and the consequent legal problems that may arise from their working relationships. Embracing historical materials and current legal practices, Contract and Control in the Entertainment Industry will be of interest to academics and students in the fields of law, sociology and cultural studies. It will also appeal to anyone who is interested in seeing how many areas of the entertainment industry have placed very restrictive contractual controls on the raw materials of the industry - the creative artists.