Athletes, entertainers, musicians and other individuals at the vanguard of their fields (whether it be the next Super Bowl MVP quarterback, Grammy-winning artist, or Oscar-winning director), often surround themselves with
Continue Reading The Dream “TEAM” – Talent, Esquire, Agent, and Manager
New York Jets Star Cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner (“Gardner”) engaged in a back-and-forth exchange with a Buffalo Bills fan (the “Fan”) on X (formerly Twitter) prompting a civil suit for
Continue Reading Clapback and Pay Up?: New Jersey Court Issues $50,000 Attorneys’ Fee Award Against Fan Under Anti-SLAPP Statute
Netflix may be on the outs with the Writers Guild, but has had better luck in its negotiations with SAG-AFTRA. The SAG-AFTRA National Board just approved resoundingly a new
Continue Reading Netflix Closes Deal with SAG-AFTRA
The Writers Guild has scored a $42 million arbitration award against Netflix for unpaid residuals.
The arbitration involved the Sandra Bullock feature Bird Box. The picture was released for
Continue Reading Netflix Must Pay Writers Residuals of $42 million
As the content industry moves inexorably toward a streaming model, linear broadcast and cable channels are looking increasingly to live sports to gain competitive advantage. In the past, streamers have
Continue Reading No Slam Dunk for Broadcasters as Streamers Bid for Live Sports
After 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 Deal
Copyright in characters is not a new concept but it can take interesting twists. We saw this recently when litigation over the Netflix movie Enola Holmes raised the question just
Continue Reading Comic Publishers No Heroes to Artists Seeking NFT Score
While most of us look back on the last twelve months as a horrible dream, Hollywood’s labor unions can actually point to a string of successes. Early in the pandemic,
Continue Reading SAG-AFTRA Crafts Agreement for Influencers
In what must be counted as a victory for solidarity among WGA members and the often controversial tactics of its executive director David Goodman, the leading agency WME reached a
Continue Reading Blessed Peace Descends Upon the Land as WME Settles with WGA
In response to a copyright claim that the Netflix series “Stranger Things” infringed the plaintiff’s unpublished screenplays, Netflix and the other defendants filed a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, arguing
Continue Reading “Stranger Things”: Copyright Challenge to Popular Series Survives Motion to Dismiss