New York Entertainment Legal Questions

This question is unclear. It is hard to tell what it is you are asking. You mention mp3s. Those are music files and would be songs, not TV shows. Youtube has video files, not music files. If a TV show has been legally placed online for you to view, then you may view it for your personal viewing enjoyment, but you may not display it for public viewing or charge money. There are many full episode shows that are online legally and that are legal for you to watch. Are you asking if a television show full episode has been illegally placed online, if it is legal for you to view it, as long as you do not download it? It is never a good idea to knowingly participate in someone else's illegal activity because it may also be illegal for you. To my knowledge, it is not a violation of the U.S. Copyright law to view a program that has been placed illegally online by someone else. If you are knowingly seeking out such illegal materials or paying to view them or paying to belong to have service that provides them, you might be breaking some other law of the nation or state or city where you are doing this. If you are doing this at your job or school or library or using a job or school or library computer, you might be breaking their rules.... Read More

There are several issues raised by your question. First, you need to find out if the photographs are protected by copyright. This can be complicated because the term of copyright depends on a lot of factors, particularly for anything that was created before 1978. If the photographs are protected by copyright, then you need the permission of the copyright owner to use them. This can be difficult but you should start with the son. Even if you can use the photographs without a copyright problem, the next issue is the right of publicity of the celebrities shown in the photographs. There is a right of publicity under the laws of most states and many of those laws extend to deceased persons. The deceased persons' estates may control those rights so you would have to find out who controls the estate of the deceased celebrities. Just purchasing a scrapbook doesn't give you the right to use the contents commercially.... Read More

A performer can give a live performance of "covers" of songs. Usually the venue hosting the event will have licenses from the major performing rights societies such as ASCAP and BMI that will pay the royalties for the performance. You can also record a "cover" of a song by getting a mechanical license, usually from the Harry Fox Agency, and paying a royalty. However, posting a recording of your performance of the cover song on You Tube is a different question and not covered by the live performance royalty or mechanical license. In that case, you are synchronizing the song to video and so you would need a separate "synchronization license." To get a "synchronization license," you would have to contact the publisher.... Read More

You can enforce an oral agreement which is a legal contract for small claims court purposes.Clearly the two of you disagree on the terms, which is why you have a dispute. Even if you can't prove the terms of an agreement, you paid him money and you are saying that you didn't get the value you paid for. Either way, you have to prove that what he did wasn't what you paid for which means that you have to prove that the promoter did not meet the terms of your agreement with him. How you prove what those terms were depends on what evidence you have. A written agreement with clearly stated performance requirements would have given you a much better shot at succeeding in a lawsuit against him. Good luck. ... Read More

Yes, a contract can be drafted and signed in the United States and be valid in other jurisdictions, such as the UK. It would be a good idea to get the opinion of a UK attorney that the language used in the release agreement addresses issues that may arise under UK law that may differ from US law. ... Read More

You absolutely need permission from live persons to use their images in the calendar BEFORE you sell the calendar. They have a right of publicity in the use of their images. The law of the right of publicity is different in each state. However, if you plan on selling the calendar all over the country, you could violate the right of publicity in one or more states. Many states extend the right of publicity to dead persons in which case you need to get permission from their estates.... Read More

The typical finder's fee, in my experience, is in the range of 10 to 15%. That being said, I could imagine special circumstances in which 25% would be reasonable and appropriate, but generally 25% is on the high side. Often the finder's fee is a percentage of only the cash advances for the first one or two records. Bear in mind that it is EXTREMELY important that the finder's fee agreement is clear and precise and is prepared by an attorney who knows what he or she is are doing. Just for example,will the finder's fee include a percentage of mechanical royalties for original songs paid by the label? If the agreement is NOT precise and there ends up being a substantial amount of money involved, there is a very high likelihood of an expensive legal dispute at some point.... Read More

First, it must be determined if the work is a "joint work." If two or more writers co-write all the material together (as opposed to one writer writing one section, and the other person writing the remainder), and assuming that there has not been any agreement that it will NOT be considered a joint work, then as a general rule, it will be considered a "joint work." If it is, legally, a joint work, then as a general rule either co-author has the right to adapt, and to issue NON-exclusive licenses to third parties for the adapted work, but must account to his/her co-owner for the co-owner's share of any income which the adapting party receives from third parties. This is a complicated legal area, and the above information is only intended to provide a general overview, and should not be considered legal advice for any particular situation. (There may be factors present which would be exceptions to the general rules stated above). It would be wise to have a qualified copyright attorney in your area review your particular situation and make recommendations to you accordingly.... Read More

Assuming that you had not signed a legal release document in connection with the photo, there is likely a good chance you can be compensated. But sometimes the 'devil is in the detail,' and so you should have a qualified attorney in your State review the particular circumstances of your case. Good luck.... Read More

While there are various sources on the internet for downloadable contracts (just type in the contract you want into the search field and many sites will come up), I still advise you to sit down with an attorney with entertainment law experience to help you draft your agreements. Internet forms may be written for one particular jurisdiction (California or NY say) that may not cover everything you need in other jurisdictions or may have clauses and phrases that do not apply in other states. Also some forms may be overkill and may scare away some crew members uncomfortable with signing a lengthy document that they may feel a need to run by a lawyer of their own.... Read More

A few points in response: 1. The contract clause you quote is not particularly well written and is a little ambiguous. For example, does it mean to say the license is exclusive vs. non-exclusive? 2. It would be more than a little foolhardy for an attorney to answer your question, since there could be other clauses in the contract which would affect how the clause you quote should be intepreted. 3. As a general rule, when a license is granted, the person granting the license retains ownership of the creative work and is only authorizing the other party to use the creative work on the terms set forth in the license. But, again, without seeing an entire contract, an attorney cannot interpret one particular clause from a contract. This information if provided for general informational purposes and should not be construed as legal advice for any particular situation or to any particular person, for the reasons mentioned above.... Read More

It isn't a function of the money, but of the fair use of the lyrics. The money part only makes things worse.   It is ironic that the concern over fair use is being brought in connection with a genre that lives off sampling.  I would have an intellectual property lawyer look at the issue or get permission.   ... Read More