LJN Newsletters

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided that illustrations and introductions for two Tarzan books made by artist Burne Hogarth at the "instance and expense" of the estate of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs (ERB) were works for hire. The Estate of Hogarth v. Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. (ERB), 02-7312. Thus, Burroughs' estate retained the original and renewal copyrights in the books.

Recent cases in entertainment law.

An unfortunate fact in the recording industry is that successful records result in audits by royalty participants. This is partly due to the entrenched distrust that artists have for record companies and partly to simple prudent business practices. If an artist sells hundreds of thousands or millions of units around the world, it would be the rare company that could move that many pieces of product without making a mistake. Sometimes the mistakes are just mistakes, and sometimes an audit holds up a mirror that reveals what happens under the record company hood - warts and all. And the "all" category can be very interesting.

I've edited a treatise on what to do when negotiating contracts in the entertainment industry. This article is about what not to do. What started me thinking about this was when an attorney insisted that an option contract between my producer client and his playwright client contain a provision that the playwright be invited to the opening night party. Then I started thinking about the other things that almost drive me over the edge when I am negotiating with other attorneys in our business.

Celebrities and entertainment entities may enter into joint venture agreements for projects with other parties to obtain funding and/or administrative support. The joint venture may begin with an initial letter agreement between the parties, though there are specific elements that must be included to make the letter agreement binding.

How does a law firm transition leadership from the founders or the current set of leaders to the next generation of leaders? There are three models of transition: King to Prince, CEO with credibility to COO with credibility and accepted founder/leader to people who should become leaders. Obviously the last model is the most difficult to execute. The approach for this transition model is also applicable to the first two. The King to Prince will probably not make the transition because benevolent despotisms crash if the Prince has not gone through a credibility building process. The CEO to the COO assumes the COO has gone through the process outlined below.

Any personnel professional will remind us that finding the right person for a niche position is difficult at best. Carefully weighing the dictates of a job, the necessary skills and salary limitations can be a daunting task, especially in the legal field. As alternatives to "employment," there are several ideas that warrant a discussion.

By no means do the economic stability and steady growth of a legal practice ensure harmony in the partner ranks or, for that matter, the contentment of any single lawyer. Managing partners who breathe too easily when reassuring revenue or profit numbers get posted may endanger their firms by ignoring tell-tale signs of disharmony. Law firms have been known to go out of business amid strong financials just as precipitously as when those numbers tumble. Remember Shea & Gould?