Entertainment Lawyer Interview

My interview with Brian Broughton was both very educational and informative. Mr. Broughton has practiced law for over 15 years. Entertainment Law has become a field that he has mastered. Brian is currently one of the lawyers at BET Networks.   During my interview with Brian I took the time to ask him four very important questions that will be very essential to my business.  

1.     What are some key terms that are incorporated in a contract between an artist/actor and a company? I would not necessarily say that there are key terms in this type of contract. There are key elements that must be in a contract of this nature. These contacts must include compensation, contract term, dates in effect, contract end date. As long as the contract has solid pieces of information the contract will be effective.

2.     How long does it take on average to fully execute a contract? There is no average time frame when it comes to executing a contract. It normally depends of the type of contract and how many people are required to sign the contract. In some cases a contract can sit and not be fully executed due to one missing signature.

3.     What are some common conflicts that you face with the contracts that you currently process at Black Entertainment Television Networks? One conflict that I have noticed is with television release forms. These forms are required to be signed, by every talent act that may appear on television during a Black Entertainment Television event. The purpose of this form is to make the people aware that they will not receive compensation for their television appearance. If a celebrity appears on television during a BET event and does not sign this contract there can be a conflict because they will then ask for BET to pay them for their television appearance.

4.     What would you say are some key forms of documentation when working as an Entertainment Lawyer? Non-disclosure agreements are commonly used. Talent performance agreements, which is a contract between an entertainment company and a talent act.

Brian Broughton is very knowledgeable of both the music and film business. After interviewing him I was able to see the importance of know the basic information that is involved with Entertainment law.

Legal Controversies in Music

The music industry has many different legalities that are involved.  Songwriters have many responsibilities and rights to songs. Recently in the music industry there have been a few incidents take place. I will be covering three recent legal controversies that took place with people involved in the music industry.  Chris Brown was recently charged with robbery for stealing one of his fans phone. Drake is being sued by his ex-girlfriend for not giving her credit for a song that they worked on together. Court ruling that allows songwriters to receive higher percentages for song placements.  

Drake has an amazing song “Marvin’s Room” which got a lot of buzz and did amazing on music charts.  Ex-girlfriend Erika Lee, whom appears on the song in a phone conversation, claims that she is entitled to part ownership in the copyright in the song, copyright in the sound recording, and payment of songwriter royalties. If his ex-girlfriend is telling the truth she should be granted the rights of the song that she is entitled to.

Chris Brown is being accused of robbery for taking a phone from a fan that took a picture of him. This is a huge controversy because both the fan and Chris Brown are wrong. The fan needs to get permission from Chris Brown before just taking a photo of him. Chris Brown could have asked the fan to delete the photo instead of taking her phone out of her hand and driving off with it.

Recent court ruling allows songwriters to gain millions of dollars in royalties. Universal Music Group was denied an appeal by the Supreme Court. This ruling will affect record labels since the songwriters will now be taking a percentage of sales on a song that once went directly to the record label.

Every legal controversy mentioned is very important to know.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57384614-504083/report-chris-brown-steals-fans-cell-  phone-out-of-her-hands/

http://bizmology.hoovers.com/2011/05/06/court-ruling-could-enrichen-songwriters/

http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=c78f688f-902e-497d-a3d2-a07dea28b0da