The performers’ union SAG-AFTRA has finally reached agreement with the AMPTP, the studios’ bargaining group, after a lengthy strike. The union is touting what it says are breakthroughs in many areas. The new provisions are extensive, comprising 129 pages of dense prose. The consequences of some of these provisions will…
Continue Reading New SAG-AFTRA Deal Has Hidden Cost for AgentsNeither Fake Nor Fixed: Pro Wrestling Docuseries Tell Stories About Life Beyond the Ring
The lives of professional wrestlers are neither fake nor fixed. Their realities are complicated and…
Continue Reading Neither Fake Nor Fixed: Pro Wrestling Docuseries Tell Stories About Life Beyond the RingNetflix may be on the outs with the Writers Guild, but has had better…
Continue Reading Netflix Closes Deal with SAG-AFTRAThe Writers Guild has scored a $42 million arbitration award against Netflix for unpaid residuals.…
Continue Reading Netflix Must Pay Writers Residuals of $42 millionSubscribe to Pay or Play
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The consolidation trend in Hollywood continues with the closing of another big merger. The long-gestating acquisition of talent agency ICM Partners by its rival CAA closed today. The deal was…
Continue Reading And Then There Were Three: CAA-ICM Merger ClosesA Royal Circuit Split: Supreme Court Will Decide on “Prince Series” Copyright Controversy
The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the Second Circuit’s inconsistent application of the fair use doctrine when it comes to copyrighted art. The case at issue assesses…
Continue Reading A Royal Circuit Split: Supreme Court Will Decide on “Prince Series” Copyright ControversyThe Animation Guild (TAG) is on a roll. The union very recently announced a settlement with the AMPTP, the studios’ bargaining representative, on a new blanket contract, up for a…
Continue Reading Animation Guild Posts Further GainsAfter coming perilously close to its first strike since 1945, the below-the-line union IATSE ratified an accord with producers in November, 2021. The new Basic and Videotape Agreements covered most…
Continue Reading Animation Guild, Studios Sing in Toon with New DealFor many years, the Golden Globes were the kickoff awards event of each awards show season. With its relaxed party atmosphere and awards only in high-profile categories, the Globes were…
Continue Reading Can Golden Globes Regain Their Luster?In a unanimous decision, the US Supreme Court has brought to a close an 83-year quest by the family of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany to recover a stolen painting.…
Continue Reading Supreme Court Grants Win to Victims of Nazi Art TheftYo Ho Ho And a Bottle of . . . Oh No! Court Deep-Sixes Disney’s Motion for Summary Judgment
Appropriate for the pirate genre, citing the parties’ “dueling experts,” a District Court recently denied Disney’s motion for summary judgment in a copyright lawsuit in which the plaintiffs claimed the…
Continue Reading Yo Ho Ho And a Bottle of . . . Oh No! Court Deep-Sixes Disney’s Motion for Summary JudgmentIATSE, the union representing below-the-line production workers from cinematographers and editors to grips and hair stylists, has moved a crucial step closer to its first strike since 1945. In a…
Continue Reading IATSE Members Overwhelmingly Vote Yes on Strike AuthorizationWe are not out of the woods yet.
Just as Hollywood was coping with the early effects of the pandemic, it barely avoided a Writers Guild strike. After a…
Continue Reading Gaffers, Grips Going, Gone as IATSE Threatens WalkoutAbout this Blog
Authored by the attorneys in the firm’s Entertainment & Sports Law Department, this blog provides a legal perspective on the latest issues and trends affecting the entertainment and sports industries, including digital content, multichannel networks, celebrity branding, athlete legal issues and artist and performer management as well as commentary on music law and media distribution law.