California Entertainment Legal Questions

I could review the document by the end of the day.  We have more than 40 years of experience in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating these types of contracts.  Member of the California and Nevada Bar Associations and their Entertainment committees.  Minimum fee is $95, but could be higher depending on the length of the contract. My name is Marc Risman.  My contact information is marcrisman@calneva-law.com and (702) 388-8100.  We can communicate about the difference between a manager and an agent and if this agency/person is right for you.  Please be prepared to inform me about the background of this person/agency and what licenses they hold.... Read More

I am not sure what you are asking. If you want to create porn as a business, there are many laws to follow. Before you begin, you should consult with a lawyer or with several types of lawyers. You should also keep at least one lawyer on hand or on retainer the entire time and consult with her or him often. Zoning is one of the laws. Adult entertainment is another field of law, and involves such things as practical health rules, particularly in Los Angeles County, where condom use is required. There are also federal laws that require record keeping. There are also age laws. You also need to understand what constitutes obscenity versus what is pornography. You also need to understand laws about how you must distribute your porn to be certain it is never seen by anyone under age 18. If you are hiring people, you need to follow regular employment law and also employment law for the adult entertainment industry. Most likely you will be hiring people who are freelance or self-employed. You will most likely do that through a third party film company that issues paychecks to film casts and crews. Your own entity can be a production company or it can be a series of production companies. Many film companies make a new production company for each film. As you can see, it is not a matter of which documents you need. You need to know and understand a whole body of laws from different fields of law, including all those already listed and also copyright and trademark. There are no shortcuts. You need to invest in good legal help before you begin and all while running such a business. You also need people who actually know how to do lighting, camera, editing, audio and directing specifically for porn. You will also need at least one good bodyguard.... Read More

Dear Mr. Epps,   Thank you for your question.  The answer is it could be an issue moving forward.  The actor whom you want to work with could be under contract.  That being said, SAG-AFTRA has recently changed some of its ruls as to independent films.  The issue that you're going to have is that the actor's manager won't sign off on the release.  There are restrictions on obtaining talent given the current state of the law and that could present a barrier for the actor being willing to work on the project.  What exact role would you want this person to play, producer or actor who is being called a producer.  You're welcome to respond confidentially.... Read More

If you videotaped it by yourself for yourself, and not as part of a job or as a work for hire, you most likely own the Copyright to the video itself. If the video was made as part of a job or for a client, then that employer most likely owns the Copyright on the video itself. The second issue is whether you would have the legal right to use the images of the people in the video. Was there a written permission given by them back in 2007, and if so, what did it say? Did it sign over rights for any use in perpetuity? If yes, then you are probably okay to proceed. If there were no permissions given or if the permissions given did not give use of the video in any manner for all time, then you are probably not okay to use it. In that instance, you can do several things. First, you can try to locate the people and ask their permission. If you knew who the people were back in 2007, they are still the same people now. Get a solid written contract if you can find any of the people and if they will sign. Second, you can blur the faces to make the people unrecognizable. However, if a person's body, movement or clothing make them recognizable, they might still have a claim. Another thing to consider is what was the purpose for which you made the video back in 2007. Was it for a local news outlet or cable show? If so, you can probably use it. Were the people aware of being on video and in agreement with it, back then? If so, you can probably use it. A lot has to do with the content of the video. If the purpose of the content is to show dance styles of 2007, that is rather safe. If the purpose of using the video is to ridicule or demean the dancers, that opens you to more likely lawsuits. You really should consult with a lawyer about your particular situation and have a lawyer write up any releases. A media lawyer could tell you a whole lot just by looking at the video and asking you some questions about your project. Whatever money you spend now on a lawyer will be worth it in the long run because if you have dubious material in your documentary, you may find that you cannot get Errors and Omissions insurance and cannot get distribution.... Read More

It looks like you have partly defined one of the Exceptions that are written into the Internet Gambling law in 31 U.S. Code ? 5362 Definitions that defines Bet or Wager. Bet or Wager does not include participation in any game or contest in which participants do not stake or risk anything of value other than personal efforts of the participants in playing the game or contest or obtaining access to the Internet; or points or credits that the sponsor of the game or contest provides to participants free of charge and that can be used or redeemed only for participation in games or contests offered by the sponsor. The law also exempts fantasy sports games, but with very specific limitations. The difference between this exception in the law and your proposed game is that your game includes the players eventually cashing out for real money. The law seems to say that the only thing that can be won is the right to play more of the games offered by that sponsor. You may find it is legally easier and financially just as rewarding to design games that do not involve anything that resembles gambling. It seems at least half of Americans are addicted to video games and this number will likely increase as more people have their own screens at ever younger ages. There is a huge market out there for good games.... Read More

This is a complex question and before you file a lawsuit, you need to realize that. In most of the U.S., participating in online gambling is illegal. Your financial loss that you hope to recoup in a lawsuit would come from your participation, which, in most instances, would be illegal. This would be similar to suing because you were ripped off by a drug dealer or prostitute. The Courts do not entertain such complaints. You might consider filing a criminal complaint with the FBI online or with the Federal Trade Commission, but there, too, you might risk getting yourself in trouble. If you are certain the online casino is operating legally and that your participation is legal, then you could file a criminal complaint with less danger to yourself. However, filing a lawsuit, which is civil and is conducted by you and at your expense, could be risky. Running a lawsuit costs a great deal of money. The least amount you could expect such a lawsuit to cost is $100,000. You open yourself up to defenses and counterclaims, in which you could well end out owing money to the casino. In addition, most gambling operations are run by unsavory sorts of people, and coming up against them could be very dangerous. Then there is the matter of evidence. To prove that the casino or software is operating improperly, you would need to prove this with admissible evidence presented by an expert witness. You cannot show this by committing a crime, such as hacking into the software or website. This is where a criminal complaint is likely to be much more effective, since the government uses all sorts of sketchy means to prove crimes. However, you won't make any money by filing a criminal complaint, as you might in a lawsuit. Then there is the matter of an online casino cheating. All casino gambling, online or in person, is a system of getting players to part with their money in exchange for the adrenaline and endorphins that person gets from engaging in a risky activity. No one ever wins money by gambling, not in the long run. The occasional wins that are allowed by the casino are intended to help induce the feeling or risk, anxiety, and rush of those chemicals into the body of the gambler. In this context, it is hard to see what would be considered cheating. Of course, the online gambling software is going to be set up to mimic a casino experience, where the user is led to compulsively keep playing on the idea that she or he is about to win big. If you think the software is rigged, well, of course it is. If you think it is rigged beyond what could possibly be legal, well, online gambling is illegal in most parts of the U.S. If you know of some intentional deception in the software, and you want to report it to authorities, please do, but do it in a securely anonymous way or do it with a lawyer who thinks they can keep you from being arrested for gambling or hacking. If you want to file a lawsuit, do it with a lawyer who understands gambling laws and hire a large bodyguard to follow you around. In sum, if you file a lawsuit, it will cost you a lot of money, you will probably be countersued and risk losing more money, and a large man named Vic will start hanging around outside your gym. If you file a criminal complaint, you are likely to be charged with crimes by the very people you think are helping you. If you are hoping to expose the flaws in the software by posting about it online, get legal advice before you do that, since you might be providing evidence of your own unauthorized access. This really is a complex situation and your most basic line should be to prevent getting yourself in trouble.... Read More

There are many types of trainer knives and Cosplay weapon knives. These look like knives, but they have no blade. The blade is what makes it a knife, just as the ability to shoot bullets is what makes a gun. In many styles of trainer knives, the blade-like part is made with holes in it so it can never be sharpened. These do not appear to be illegal, just like toy guns are not illegal. However, if you bring this anywhere in public or any place that knives are not allowed, then you will most likely run into trouble. That trouble may include being questioned, being arrested, or even being shot by police who think you pose a danger. Therefore, if you have one of these practice knives, be careful never to carry or use it in public or on the street, never bring it to a school or park, never bring it on an airplane. Simply practice at home or at a martial arts studio, and keep it packed up while bringing it there. Some of these trainer or cosplay knives look realistic, while others look obviously fake. If you want to meet with less trouble, choose one that looks obviously fake. Think of toy guns and how there are children who have been shot and killed by police for carrying a toy gun. This is not much different and could easily lead to the same sort of trouble.... Read More

This is a huge question. You really should get a music lawyer to work on this with you. Consider hiring a lawyer to be part of your expenses. Choosing to hold your concert in a existing venue is a great choice. If the venue is already legally holding concerts, that means it most likely has all the zoning, safety, and parking requirements. It probably also has music use licenses from performing rights organizations. Speak with the venue about renting out its space. They will tell you what they need. The three main things they are likely to need are money, insurance, and information about who you are and what you plan to do. The venue might have insurance coverage you can buy through their insurer. If the venue is selling the alcohol and food, since you would be supplying the audience, you might want to ask for a percentage of the take. There will be a whole contract involved and you are best to have a lawyer representing you on it. One of the main things any venue is concerned about is safety. They may reject any event if it sounds unsafe. Many venues will reject any event that sounds like it will draw unsafe people or include unsafe activities. The venue will also want to know about your track record, experience, and associates. They will want to know if this is a private party, a charity event, a business venture, or part of an existing organization. If you get rejected by one venue, move on to other venues until you find one that is suited, or adjust what you are doing so it is more suited to venues.... Read More

It is the policy of the State of California to afford all persons in public schools, regardless of their disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate crimes set forth in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code, equal rights and opportunities in the educational institutions of the state. If a student-athlete has been kept out of a sport based on one of these categories, then legal action might be appropriate. However, the legal action would probably be to seek an administrative remedy first, and only if that does not work, move to a lawsuit. If it is not a situation of discrimination, but rather of judgment on the part of the coach, that is probably a matter to bring to a principal or the school district. There could be many legitimate reasons for keeping a student off a team or less active on a team, including the student's discipline record, grades, behavior, lack of team spirit, disrespect for the coach or game officials, play that endangers others or that the sport endangers the student, and on and on. Most coaches become good at making such assessments. Most teams require try-outs and some make it onto the team and others do not. If it looks like a student has been kept off a team for reason that is considered discrimination, it may be time to discuss this with a local lawyer or with an agency or organization in your area that deals with civil rights.... Read More

There are three major areas of law that come into play in your game scenario. The first is copyright. You must own the copyright on any pictures you use. You would have to have artists create pictures of each person that are not based on photos or works from anyone else. The second area of law is defamation. If the characters you use are all public figures, such as all presidents or presidential candidates, then the bar for defamation is quite high, but it still exists. You game cannot tell lies that are damaging. If you paid attention, you would have noticed that Melania Trump sued The Daily Mail because the news outlet claimed that Mrs. Trump's modeling career was not just about modeling. The parties settled the case. With the people who are currently involved in politics, you should not have to make up any stories, since the reality is interesting enough. The third area of law is the right of publicity. This is not federal law, but are different laws in different states. In a nutshell, the laws make it a tort to make commercial use of any person's name or image without their permission. A game you sell is commercial use. Every one of these laws is different. Does Donald Trump want you to use his name and image to sell your game? Probably not. Will he sue you? Maybe. If the game is basically a satire or parody, you might have a First Amendment Fair Use defense to the right of publicity claim. In fact, making the game strong satire or parody will assist your defense in any claims. Avoid anything lewd or vulgar, too, since such misuses usually will undo any defenses you might otherwise have.... Read More

Contracts with educational entities in the U.S. will be covered by the bodies that govern the contracts. For example, the procurement procedure for a local school district is something you can obtain from that school district. If you are talking about a college or a university, the procurement policy for each of these will be governed by the Board that runs that college or university. Google the name of the university and the word procurement and this should bring you to a page that tells the procurement policies for that school. Large university systems will have detailed procurement procedures that cover different categories and different price ranges. If you look at the policy of the specific institution, you may find that items below a certain price or items for free, may have a different procurement procedure. Selling or giving items or getting contracts with any school district or university is a complex job that requires someone willing and able to learn all the rules involved with the particular institution. One thing that is almost always illegal in dealing with any public institution is for the software company to offer bribes, gifts, kickbacks or other money or items of value to the person who will be making the purchase decisions. In most cases, the vendor will be required to sign a statement saying no such exchange took place. If you are allegedly giving the software and then charging for some aspects or usage of it, this needs to be clearly stated in any deal.... Read More

School dress codes and school uniforms are decided by school districts or by individual schools. The uniforms or codes would be subject to state law and to the U.S. Constitution. To learn about a specific dress code, you would need to read that particular dress code. A dress code will be in writing and should be available in paper form or on a website for your school or school district. When you read the dress code you are concerned about, you will see if it does in fact disallow bandannas for boys, but allow them for girls. My guess, without seeing the code in question, is that bandannas are not allowed for boys or girls, but that some form of hair accessories are allowed for girls. With every dress code, there is a lot of interpretation of the rules that will be left to the discretion of the teacher or principal or whoever is enforcing the dress code. If the teacher saw a girl with her hair held back by a bandanna that was obviously not part of a gang symbol, the teacher might let it pass. Another teacher might send her to the office or tell her not to wear it again. Why would bandannas not be allowed for boys? It might be the association with gangs. It might also be that almost all schools nationwide do not allow any head wear indoors, unless it is required by the student's religion. The rule about boys and men not wearing hats indoors goes back a long time in the U.S. and is considered a basic rule of good manners and being polite. Head wear such as bandannas and ball caps are often associated with gangs, and so are likely to be disallowed indoors or outdoors in or near a school. Many public schools have found it too difficult to interpret dress codes and have opted for simple school uniforms. Most of these school uniforms consist of a polo shirt in a specific color worn with some sort of bottom in a different color. For example, a typical school uniform is a navy blue polo shirt with khaki bottoms, such as pants, shorts, or a skirt. School uniforms will almost never allow any head wear, other than whatever might be required by a religion. So, a Muslim girl may wear a hijab and a Jewish boy may wear a yarmulke. But, unless you are going to start the Church of the Easy Rider or the Church of the Dude, you are not going to have the right to wear a bandanna to school.... Read More

It is past the expiration date you mention. Are you complaining about something that happened before that date? If so, where did this happen? The location is important because local laws may affect the answer. The only place I have seen use of the term "meal booking" is in colleges in the United Kingdom. Without knowing the details or location, it is not possible to know what laws might be in effect. However, usually in most cases, such a coupon is not considered a contract offer, but is simply considered a promotion. There would be no obligation to honor the coupon. However, in most places, if a business hands out such coupons as a form of "bait and switch," where they lure in customers to try to sell them something more expensive or less desirable, then this may be a deceptive business practice that should be reported to a local Better Business Bureau, a Chamber of Commerce, and possibly to the Federal Trade Commission.... Read More

A contract signed under the influence of alcohol may or may not be valid. A person who signed a contract while intoxicated can attempt to cancel the contract with the other party, or can go to court seeking to void the contract. Usually such a contract is only voidable if the other party had reason to know of the level of impairment. The totality of the circumstances will affect the Court's decision. Such factors as if the other party gave the signing party alcohol to trick them or woo them into signing will be taken into consideration. If you are asking someone to sign a contract, do not give them any alcoholic drink or smoke weed or use any other drugs with them. Do not let them sign if they appear as if they have been drinking, smoking weed, or are otherwise intoxicated or high. Also, when you are having a person sign a contract, you should give them the contract and let them have plenty of time to show it to their own lawyer or ask advice from whoever they trust. If the person has had the contract for days and has shown it to their own advisor before signing, then it is highly likely to be considered valid. I write contracts for indie music and film. Since most indie people cannot afford their own lawyer, I write the contracts so that any normal intelligent person can understand the contract. Also, we email the contracts to the person and let them take enough days to read it, show it to their friends and family for advice. Also, the contracts are written to be fair to all parties. In the music and film industries, many people abuse alcohol or drugs, and many people have mental or emotional instability. Some such people have very strong natural talents. If one is signing a contract with such a person, please get good legal advice before doing so. Record label contracts often have provisions for what is to happen if the artist becomes incapable of living up to the expectations of the contract. Such provisions should be written only by a lawyer. ... Read More

My best opinion after looking at the DMCA notice on the site is that the site is most likely not legally run. The site claims it is legally run, in a description that is jam-packed with misspellings, incorrect word usage, and legal confusion. The TV-o.org domain is registered in the name of a man with an address in Vienna, Austria. The site claims it is not hosting content, but rather, is indexing, redirecting, or framing materials from other sites. Most other sites have Terms of Service that disallow such usage. Why would any content provider go through all the expense and work of providing and hosting legal content, only to have another site profit from it? It is highly unlikely that the sites he is slurping off of want him doing that. On his DMCA page, he seems to misunderstand almost totally what U.S. Copyright law is about, how notice is given, and whether or not he could be allowed to make the copyright owners of infringed materials jump through hoops. He chastises content owners who want him to stop infringing on their entire body of material, and insists they must report infringement on each URL specifically. He actually thinks a site like Youtube should be forced to report a million URLs, or however many videos are on Youtube. That's not how it works. Youtube can simply file a copyright infringement lawsuit, or perhaps the U.S. government will file criminal copyright infringement charges against him. The U.S. Department of Justice has filed criminal charges before against the owners of websites that index or redirect content from other sites. Whether it is legal or not for you as a viewer to watch this probably depends on where you live. Federal law was proposed to make viewing such things illegal, but I do not think that ever became law. There could still be state laws against it. If you are viewing it outside of the U.S., you should check with your local laws, because it might be illegal. Also, if you download a show or movie that is protected by copyright, and most are, that is copyright infringement and illegal. There may be other dangers besides whether or not it is legal such a site may be prone to containing malware or viruses. Is your computer safe there? There are many sites where you can view videos and TV for free or for a small charge. You are better off viewing videos and shows on sites that have gone to the trouble and expense of making sure their content is offered to you free from any concerns about legality and safety.... Read More

The laws regarding gaming, gambling and sweepstakes do differ from state to state. So much depends on where your sweepstakes is actually taking place and how. For example, if all tickets are sold within one state only, then probably the rules of that state only apply. If the tickets are being sold in multiple states or sold on the internet, then you have a lot of complications. Also, there are several states that might ban any such gaming. Within any one state, there can be different rules, such as rules of different counties, rules on water versus rules on land, and rules on tribal lands. Keep in mind that anyone can sue anyone for anything and even if the case is clear cut, it can cost a lot of money and time to get a case dismissed. Check with the lawyer who wrote the rules for the sweepstakes and make sure they advise you carefully on what you plan to do, before you do it.... Read More

There are basically five areas of law that you will be looking to for guidance in this matter. The first is FCC law regarding radio or phone transmissions, depending on what kind of transmissions your device uses. All such devices are licensed by the FCC, which controls the frequency on which the communication will operate, how strong the signal will be, and how the device functions. When cordless house phones first came out, this was a big deal, since some phones were transmitting into nearby phone. The second area of law is the FCC Regulations for Low Power, Non-Licensed Transmitters. This is the category of baby monitors, garage door openers, and other such low range items. If your item fits this category, you will be looking to this body of law. If your device fits neither of these categories, you will need to discuss with the FCC. Generally, the FCC does not allow any frequencies to bleed into phone frequencies, since no one wants their phone calls interrupted. The third area of law that will guide you is advertising law. Some types of ads are legal and some are not. The sort of ads you describe are likely to be illegal as harassment or unfair competition. Have the people downloading the app been fully informed on what it does and then agreed to that? If the app easy to deactivate and uninstall? The fourth area of law you will look to is privacy law. A while back, there was an ad company that wanted to transmit ads at a shopping mall onto the phones and iPod of the shoppers. This was deemed an invasion of privacy. There are special privacy laws for children under age 13, and they have phone and iPods and are present in shopping spaces. The fifth area of law, and the one that should be of most concern to you, is patent law. You should immediately get a good patent lawyer who is experienced in tech inventions. First they will do a search to see if the thing you have invented has already been invented. If not, they will go ahead and start the long registration process. You should go directly and quickly to the patent process and not worry about this or that application being legal or exactly what the practical uses for it will be. Most inventions take on a life of their own and uses will be found.... Read More

Generally, a mere listing of contents is not covered by copyright protection. However, a working Table of Contents is not a listing of contents, but is more a proposed outline of a work, so an argument could be made that it is a creative, original work that could be registered. Literary works can be registered with Copyright, and a listing of Chapter headings in itself may not be considered a literary work. If the table of contents is a detailed outline of a book that is going to be written, an argument might be made that it should be eligible for registration. If you are looking to protect the working Table of Contents during the planning and writing stages, Copyright registration may not be the most effective approach. It may be much more effective to try to protect your working Table of Contents with nondisclosure agreements that state liquidated damages for any breach and possibly with a covenant not to compete, that is, a contract whereby the participants agree not to take the ideas or materials and use them to create their own book or a book for some other entity. The working Table of Contents should be treated as a trade secret. That means it will be kept very securely and divulged only to those who are under a nondisclosure agreement. The physical handling of the Table of Contents as a trade secret will be most important. It must be password protected with limited access. Security precautions must be taken to make any such materials meet the legal requirements of being a trade secret. Trade secrets are the bulk of the way that most proprietary things in business are protected, rather than copyright. Copyright registration necessarily exposes the thing to public scrutiny and dissection by a Copyright officer. Keeping trade secrets locked away and divulged only to those that need to know and who are under a legal obligation not to reveal is the way most business secrets are protected. If you are planning to send the Table of Contents out with a query letter to literary agents or publishers, it may be worth trying to copyright register it in advance or trying to get a confidentiality and nondisclosure agreement in advance from those who will read it. Another option is not to send out the Table of Contents in queries and only divulge it once there is a serious potential agent or publisher who will willingly sign a nondisclosure and trade secrets agreement.... Read More

It sounds like in the first part of your question, you are asking what is the average finder's fee for a music distribution deal. This question makes little to no sense to me. There would not be any finder's fee involved in any such thing. The only person who can be paid a percentage of talent work is a Licensed Talent Agent and the prices are set by contract that must be approved by the State. The only exception is when a Music Manager gets a recording contract for a client, but the law states recording contract, not a distribution deal. Trying to get a "finder's fee" for telling someone about a music distribution company would not happen legally, absent being a licensed Talent Agent. In the second part of your question, you are saying something about a "film finder deal bring investor." Please be aware that investing in a film is usually considered an activity only for qualified investors under SEC rules. In any situation where an investor will be brought on to a film, you must work closely with a film finance attorney. The rules are very specific because the investment is so incredibly risky. When the film project has a good film finance attorney in place, she or he will be able to tell you if there will be some sort of fee available for bringing in an investor to the project. Before expecting any such fee, be sure to have a contract in place between yourself and the producers of the film, written by the film finance attorney with all legal provisions. If you simply show up introducing an investor to a film producer, do not expect to be paid any money for that. Who can be paid for what is very specific in the entertainment industry.... Read More

It sounds like you need to consult a lawyer of your own that you pay for. That is the only way to divulge all the details of your situation and get some solid answers. Often in contract law, it comes down to the intent of the parties. Was the person or persons behind the LLC intending to make a contract for themselves with the individual? You need to hire a lawyer and show the lawyer all the paperwork and emails and discuss. Whatever the situation, both parties should try to work out a deal that will be good for both of them.... Read More

Not usually. If you could, the courts would be awash in lawsuits over cable and cell phone companies. However, you might want to write back here with more about your specific situation, such as the type of company and type of service and what happened. Then maybe there will be more answers for you.... Read More

The answer depends on the DJ and on the source of the music and the location of the event. It may be that the venue is licensed through performing rights organizations (PRO) to have music performances. That would usually include such things as radio, live bands, live DJs, and other sources of music performances in the venue. The venue or DJ should be submitting a cue sheet or list of songs to the PRO after each event. Whether the DJ has been licensed to do whatever it is that is being done to the music, that is a question you'd need to ask the DJ. Each DJ runs their business differently and some are more legal than others. If you are holding your party at a venue that has not bought music licensing from PROs and if your DJ has also not bothered to get licensed through the PROs and for use of the music through the copyright holders, then the music is most likely not licensed.... Read More

If you own mansions and plan to run such a business, your group should hire a lawyer who will work with you on these issues. Offhand, I think you will need proper zoning, proper parking, an entertainment license, event insurance, alcohol licensing, and proper security. The zoning is probably going to stop you dead in your tracks. But hire a lawyer and work closely with them and have them on call for the entire life of the business.... Read More