Entertainment and Sports Law

Mash-Up of Dr. Seuss/Star Trek Components Is a Fair Use

Foreign rights presales, which since the 1970s have been used by independent Hollywood producers to raise funds to get their movies shot, are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Credit Netflix for giving them a big shove out the door. So what does that mean for Hollywood's deal lawyers? Bigger rights deals — but fewer of them to go around.

While copyright registration normally constitutes prima facie evidence of copyright ownership, the court noted that the estate had registered the song copyright 31 years after it was originally published and only in response to the defendants' sampling of the song on Drake's album.

Uncertainty and the drumbeat of a possible trade war are ominous clouds currently hanging over relations with Chinese investors, several of Hollywood's top deal-making attorneys say.

First the copyright infringement case over the use of Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First" routine in a Broadway play was dismissed by a New York federal judge. Then it rounded the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, but was tagged out again. Now, in its third at bat, the lawsuit struck out with the U.S. Supreme Court declining to review the case.

Much can be learned about the entertainment industry by comparing how those who perform services or license rights in their works are compensated under agreements to which they are a party. Some compensation in those agreements is fixed and essentially guaranteed, such as advances and flat fees. Other types, which are the subjects of this article, are contingent.

A Miami company's decision to defend a small-potatoes copyright case all the way to trial paid off when the case was dismissed after a few hours — by an angry federal judge.

A jury has handed down a mixed verdict in the trial of a Broadway press agent accused of scaring off an angel investor who stood ready to save the ill-fated production Rebecca — The Musical.