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Texas Bar 18th Annual Entertainment Law Institute: Legal and Business Aspects of Film, Music, Sports and Digital Media, Austin, Oct. 2-3. For further information: 800-204-2222 Ext. 1574 or 512-427-1574; www.TexasBarCLE.com. American Bar Association Annual Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries 2008 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, Oct. 16-18. For further information: 312-988-5658; www.abanet.org/forums/entsports.…
Features
Previous installments of this article discussed errors and omissions insurance coverage and clearance guidelines for vetting dramatic works. This final segment will wrap up the clearance guidelines discussion, including music and film clips.
Features
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued proposed and temporary regulations specifying the time and manner for electing to treat the sale or exchange of "self-created" musical compositions or copyrights as the sale or the exchange of a capital asset resulting in a potential capital gain.
In yet another example of the lunacy of the tax laws as they apply to compensation for personal services, it is possible that the advance payment made to talent might be subject to a 40% penalty ' 20% under Sec. 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (IRC), and 20% under the laws of those states, such as California, that have conformed to Sec. 409A. This could push the effective marginal tax rate on the advance to over 80%. Needless to say, this result is disastrous, and extreme care must be taken not to run afoul of the rules.
Features
Attorneys representing property owners are often requested to document arrangements for very short-term and temporary usage of property. "I don't want a lease; just a license agreement will be fine," is the frequent form of the request. Assuming that the client's request is not merely an attempt to keep the legal fees down, is such a request one that makes sense from an owner's point of view? More important, can a careful attorney respond positively?
Features
National rulings of interest to you and your practice.
The federal government has wielded the money laundering statutes, 18 U.S.C. '' 1956 and 1957, to great effect in various cases due to their breathtaking sweep, jury appeal, and severe sentencing enhancement under the federal Sentencing Guidelines. The Supreme Court's recent ruling in <i>United States v. Santos</i> may undermine the feds' use of this weapon.
Features
Harsh sentences can be generated by a rote application of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines in mortgage fraud cases. Challenging the scope of "relevant conduct" should be defense counsel's first line of attack in many cases, because victims' losses may not have resulted from a convicted client's activities or the reasonably foreseeable acts of others in furtherance of jointly undertaken criminal activity under ' 1B1.3.
With the meltdown of the U.S. housing market, many players in mortgage lending now face the triple threat of criminal, civil, and administrative legal action. But the scope of federal action against questionable lending practices will depend on the answer to a key question: What funding will be made available to law enforcement agencies?
