Entertainment Law

The entertainment industry's primary product is intellectual property, protected by copyrights, TRADEMARKS, and the right of publicity. A majority of the terms in entertainment contracts concern the ownership and use of this property.

Songs, plays, films, works of fine art, books, and even some choreographed works are copyrightable. The contractual terms that define the ownership and use of these works are often negotiated for months, with both the artist and the entertainment company vying for as much control of the intellectual property as possible.

U.S. copyright law contains provisions that are specifically directed at the entertainment industry. For example, the songwriter—or the copyright holder, if the songwriter has transferred the song's copyright or created the song as a work for hire—decides who can first record a song for publication. However, once the song has been recorded and published, the copyright holder may no longer limit who may record the song. If a song's copyright owner has previously granted permission to someone to record a song, or if the songwriter has recorded and commercially released a recording of the song, the copyright holder is required by copyright law to grant a license to anyone else who wants to record that song. This is called a compulsory license. A licensee who records a song under a compulsory license is required to follow strict statutory guidelines for notification of its use and reporting sales and royalties to the copyright holder. The fee for a compulsory license is set by Congress at a few cents per recording manufactured and is adjusted for inflation every few years.

A separate copyright exists in each legally recorded version of a song. Therefore, when a musician records a song after receiving the appropriate license from the owner of the song's copyright, that musician owns a separate copyright in the recorded version of the song.

Copyright law also directly addresses the unique needs of dance, theater, and other performing arts. A creator of choreography may claim a copyright for that choreography once it has been fixed in a tangible form, such as on a video recording. The choreography then may be used only with the permission of the copyright holder.

One key aspect of copyright law as applied to the entertainment industry is that of derivative works. A copyright holder initially controls who may create a work based on the artist's original work. For instance, a film studio generally may create a screenplay based on a novel only with the novelist's, or other copyright holder's, written permission. This control is critical to authors and screenwriters, whose works can be adapted to several other media—films and sequels, television series and movies, audiotapes, toys, games, T-shirts, and other products derived from the work. An author can forgo millions of dollars of potential income simply by allowing a publisher to own and control the rights to create and license any such derivative works based on the author's work.

Entertainment company names, band names, performers' pseudonyms, and, more rarely, performers' legal names, can be protected under U.S. TRADEMARK LAWS. Like other businesses, entertainment entities have an interest in preventing others from using names that are so similar to theirs as to cause confusion among consumers as to exactly who is delivering certain products or services. Therefore, many entertainment entities register their names with the U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE and claim the exclusive right to use their names. In most cases, such names will be registered as service marks, rather than as trademarks. For instance, bands who register their band name as a TRADEMARK typically will register for performance of entertainment services. Once an entity receives a registration from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, no other entity may use the name, or a confusingly similar name, to provide services similar to those provided by the registrant.

Use and ownership of trademarks by members of a band or other entertainment company can be a source of great controversy when the entity dissolves. If, prior to dissolution, the owners or members of the entity have not agreed as to who may use the trademark after dissolution, lengthy legal battles can result as different members or factions try to use, and prevent the other members from using, the trademark.