As an entertainment attorney, I am often called upon to assist writers who have gotten themselves into trouble because they do not understand how their work may infringe the rights of others. A writer who learns the fine points of the law through trial and error is receiving …
Veteran Entertainment Attorney Mark Litwak gives valuable legal insight for every filmmaker in a new series of legal videos on IFP’s YouTube Channel and we wanted to share the a few videos to get onto your radar. Litwak has a no nonsense approach to important legal subjects such …
In a suit filed recently in federal court in Chicago[1], a top Sherlock Holmes scholar alleged that many licensing fees paid to the Arthur Conan Doyle estate have been unnecessary, since the main characters and elements of their story derive from materials in the public domain. The suit was brought …
Warner Brothers, New Line, and its affiliates (“Plaintiffs”) recently achieved a rare courtroom victory by obtaining a court order restraining distribution of a film they claimed unfairly competed with one of its titles. The target of their ire was The Global Asylum’s (“Asylum”) film The Age of Hobbits. Asylum was …
Lucy Stille discuses the distinctions between agents and managers.
From the 2011 Independent Filmmaker Conference.
Barry Cole explains the closing of the gap between filmmakers and the troubles of obtaining licensing for music.
From the 2011 Independent Filmmaker Conference.
I often meet with two (or more) clients who wish to work together to produce a film, a video or some other audio-visual project. Sometimes one person will be designated a project’s producer while the other person may serve as the director. One of the parties often has written or …
Independent producers usually utilize the services of members of various guilds and unions in the entertainment industry such as the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA) by becoming signatories to a union’s collective bargaining agreement.
Under the guild agreements, the …
Loading ...