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

2012 Grammy Award Show

2012 Grammys

Grammy week in Los Angles California is full of exciting and productive events for people in the music industry. The Grammys 2012 made a lot of history. With the loss of the great Whitney Houston, her death took a toll on many of the artist participating in the Grammys.  The Grammy Awards have taken place for more than 50 years and is the biggest award show for music. People are honored for achievements in recording arts and supporting the music industry.

            This year an amazing artist by the name of Adele took home 6 Grammys leaving the show as the top winner.  Nicki Minaj Caused a lot of controversy by showing up to the award show with a man dressed up as the Pope. The Catholic Church was not happy about this due to her show performance being very demonic. The Church feels she is sending a very negative message about the people of the Catholic Church.

            Chris Brown blew the crowd away with an amazing performance. Chris Brown has turned his career around taking on a positive campaign working hard to win his back. After his incident with Riahnna he has worked very hard to put on great shows and make great shows for the people.

            Lady Gaga also was nominated in a many categories this year. She has been doing very well world-wide. The fans continue to appreciate Lady Gaga’s music. Foo Fighters took home a few awards this year also and had many nominations and many different categories.

            I feel the 2012 Grammy Award show did bring out a lot of press and media. I also feel this year was different then most years. I feel like the Recording Academy did a great job by acknowledging Whitney Houston through out the show. I am looking  forward to the future of the Grammy Award show, it gets better every year. 

Artist Management: Irving Azoff

Artist Management: Irving Azoff

Irving Azoff is great example of a great artist manager. His success speaks for itself when looking at the current position he holds today as the executive chairman of Live Nation.  Mr. Azoff sets a great example on how to execute the title and responsibilities of managing an artist. Mr. Azoff has held positions has worked as an agent, personal manager, concert promoter, movie producer, independent record label owner, merchandiser, music publisher, and CEO of a record company. The previous positions that he has held explain why he is the best person for the position he holds today. Live Nation is one of the largest entertainment and ecommerce company’s in the world. Live Nation is the complete package for any artist in the music business today. Live Nation consist of three entities: Live Nation Concerts, Frontline Management Group, and Live Nation Network, which are all needed for the success of any artist in todays music industry. Live Nation also has a contract with Hip Hops icon Jay-Z, this has created a great amount of leverage for Live Nation.

Irving Azoff has a strategy that many of todays record labels and artist managers should consider using. Irving Azoff has no limits with being the executive chairman of Live Nation. Mr. Azoff sets the standard for all artist managers and sets a great example to follow. Mr. Azoff started off promoting events in college, this just shows that anything is possible when you put your mind to it. The leaders of Live Nation have salaries that show the music industry is progressing to some degree even though technology has changed it drastically. Mr. Azoff has been a great addition to the music industry and will continue to make a positive impact. Many record labels in today’s market can learn a lot from the strategies of Live Nation.