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A Production Lawyer's Guide to Obtaining E&O Insurance and Preventing Litigation

By Debra Hodgson
June 26, 2008

Errors-and-omissions insurance (also known as 'E&O' or producers liability insurance) is an inevitable part of every film and TV producer's life. It is required for the sale and distribution of virtually all film productions and television shows in North America ' and the requirement is becoming global. Expensive copyright, defamation and related claims involving film productions and television shows make E&O insurance protection important to producers, distributors and exhibitors. This is because litigation costs can be astronomical even when a claim is not valid. Obtaining E&O insurance, therefore, has become a crucial part of the film and television production process.

This article discusses what is, and is not, covered by E&O insurance. It also examines clearance procedures developed over many years of expensive mistakes by producers. Each of these clearance procedures has developed because it prevents claims and litigation. The goal of the article is to allow production counsel to spot the issues and to develop a sense of what is risky or not in the course of bringing a film or television production to fruition.

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