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What Does Entertainment Law Cover?

In the second installment of the series, we are going to talk about what entertainment law covers. As we learned in the last post, entertainment law deals with legal areas such as transactional law, intellectual property law, and employment/labor law for people and companies in industries such as radio, film, television, theatre, digital media, and publishing. This branch of law generally falls into one of two categories – transactional or litigation. An entertainment lawyer in Charlotte can provide both services to any client.

Entertainment Law | Entertainment Lawyer in Charlotte

Transactional law refers to the contracts a lawyer drafts, reviews and negotiates on behalf of his client. He will ensure that the contract meets industry standards for whichever area of entertainment the client works in so that the client is protected. A lawyer who works in litigation represents clients who have lawsuits against them, or who want to pursue a lawsuit against someone else.
An entertainment lawyer can practice both transactional law and litigation, or focus on one. Some lawyers choose to work solely on drafting and negotiating contracts or business deals, while others may prefer to take cases that involve lawsuits that will need to go to court. Both types of attorneys will need knowledge of the industry and an understanding of the legal issues relating to it.
Entertainment law is sometimes subdivided into categories based on the type of entertainment.
Here is a breakdown of the categories and a few of the issues they can cover.

  • Film: Optioning, production, distribution, copyright/trademarks, trade union issues
  • Multimedia: Software licensing, video game production, IT law
  • Music: Producer and talent agreements, copyright, licensing
  • Publishing: Media, advertising, author agreements, copyright
  • TV and Radio: Broadcast licensing, regulatory issues, copyright
  • Theatre: Co-production agreements, rental agreements
  • Visual Arts/Design: Consignment issues for artwork, copyrights, trademarks

As you can see, the areas of law often overlap within the categories. Copyrights, trademarks and licensing fall under intellectual property law. It is not limited to the area listed above. Entertainment law can also overlap with other legal fields such as the right of privacy, bankruptcy law, media law, international law, insurance law, and securities law.
Defamation is another area that is covered under entertainment law. The communication of harmful or untrue information about someone through slander or libel is a common issue for people in the entertainment industry. Slander is a statement in speech, and libel is a statement made in print. Actors, musicians and other people in the spotlight are subject to defamation.
Companies who publish videos or print media can be in danger of producing a false statement against someone that could result in a libel or slander lawsuit. An entertainment lawyer in Charlotte can offer counsel on any questionable material in order to prevent a lawsuit.
At Eldreth Law Firm, our entertainment lawyer in Charlotte also has experience working as a producer in the industry. The knowledge he has gained from working in entertainment can help him understand your issues more thoroughly. Call our office today to learn how we can help you with your entertainment law needs.

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