Entertainment Law

Entertainment law is a specialized subset of business law.

For example, the practice of entertainment law often involves questions of intellectual property, insurance, contract, agency, labour, and securities law—fields which all enter into play in many other business environments.

The field of entertainment law has grown exponentially in the last few years as the internet has grown as a popular forum for the exchange of ideas—many of which are now presented in ways that previously were the exclusive domain of film, theatre, and radio. One of the results of the internet explosion is that areas of the law which typically would have been of concern only to entertainment industry professionals is now of concern to every business looking to publish on the internet.

Our entertainment clients range from motion picture and post-production companies to the individual artists who express their ideas in various forms of media. We offer support in a number of areas that relate to protecting and distributing the intellectual property that makes up a motion picture or live theatre event. Some of our entertainment law-related services include:

• Drafting and negotiating:
  • producer, director and crew contracts;
  • performer services and personal appearance contracts;
  • production contracts;
  • composer, music licensing, and synchronization and master use contracts;
  • distribution and licensing contracts;
  • option contracts;
  • agency contracts;
  • venue contracts
  • publishing, writing services, advertising, consignment, and exhibition contracts
• Advising on and setting up joint ventures and co-productions
• Helping productions navigate the waters of debt financing
• Performing the film clearance process before theatrical release

Every client dealing with an entertainment-related property will have slightly different interests and needs.