Entertainment Legal Questions

This is really not my area, being an injury attorney. If it were me, I would go to the store where I purchased the card and ask if there is a procedure to cancel the card and get a refund. My guess is that there is no such procedure. It is kind of like having 160 in cash that is misplaced or stolen. You can't go to the US Treasury and ask for the cash to be replaced. Now, if the card was in the possession of the store when it was misplaced, you may have a claim against the store for not taking better care of the card.... Read More

I would make photocopies of your receipt(s), and all card information, and contact the headquarters of the store and complain. $160 is a lot of money to lose, and you should be able to work out something with the store. If that doesn't work, then sue them in small claims court, but make sure you have copies of all the paperwork to prove your side of the story.... Read More

If the company itself issued the coupons and there are no restrictions on them other than the expiration date, the company should honor them. However, if the company issued the coupons through a third party or there is some legal reason free beer can't be offered this way, the company may be able to refuse to honor the coupons.... Read More

Ecclesiastical law is the law within a particular church or religion. For example, the Roman Catholic church has extensive law on the rights and obligations of its clergy. Ecclesiastical law is governed within that particular church or religion, and governmental authorities have little authority over it.... Read More

You might be able to sue the other company for divulging your trade secrets or for interfering with contractual relations. For sure, you should let the other company know that you are the one with whom they are doing business, not your employees. You should talk with a good business lawyer quickly. There may be steps you need to take and only your own lawyer can assess the situation and let you know.... Read More

I think it is trademark and not copyright that may be of concern in this instance. Oddly enough, there are over 13,000 trademarks using USA as part of it. The risk you run is that the jacket emblem is a trademark and that the trademark owner will object to its use in your film, which will make the film unusable. It is always best in a film to avoid any logos or trademarks of any kind. If you want to create a wardrobe piece that uses USA on a jacket, have a lawyer do a little research for you to be sure you are not infringing anyone's trademark and create your own jacket. Or if you want to use an existing piece, get clearance from the trademark owner.... Read More

Yes, you should contact each person that you want to interview or get clearance for each quote from the source or from the original publisher. Otherwise, you are simply repeating hearsay that may not even be real. You may also be infringing on the copyright of the reporter or writer who did the original interview. Generally speaking, a commercial book has no fair use about it and you must get clearances for every quote. I am not sure why you think anyone would want to buy a book that is rehashes of things off the internet that may or may not be actual quotes. Even if you were able to borrow such work from others, you cannot copyright it, as it is not your own original work. Why not just do a fresh good interview and have your own original work to sell? But if you insist on compiling stuff off the internet, yes, any decent publisher will require clearance on each and every quote.... Read More

This entirely depends on the person's life to which the rights are being obtained. i.e., the President of the United States, or a garbage person would have a substantially different value to their life rights. There are to many variables for there to be a standard rate but rather this is the product of a negotiated value.... Read More

Do not write the contract yourself without a lawyer doing it for you. In general, whatever the two parties decide is a binding signature is one. So part of your contract is going to state that you both agree that whatever form you agree on for the contract will make it binding and admissible as evidence. The purpose of a notary is that the notary checks the person's identification to be sure it is actually the person signing. That can then be scanned and sent back as a pdf. The signature then also contains the notary's signature and license number. This is one level of being sure you are dealing with a real thing. The current list of California-licensed notaries is available online. If you have any doubts if you are dealing with the actual person, having a notary is nice. If you have any doubts, deal with the person's lawyer. And have your lawyer handle the transaction.... Read More

You can possibly file a complaint with the police for battery. You can also probably file a lawsuit for battery. Talk with a lawyer. You would probably want to do this as a John Doe, so that you are not publicly humiliated further. Keep in mind, your friends may have ordered and paid extra for you to be treated this way. Also keep in mind, there are many members of the public who think anyone who goes to such an establishment, for any purpose at any time, are morally bad people who are harming their neighborhoods. You may get little sympathy from the public or from a jury. You should also consider whether you might lose your job or any form of licensing, or child custody, or any other such thing, because you went to such an establishment. It is generally considered, by what appears to be many people in leadership positions, that moral, responsible people do not work at or attend such places. It's real easy to say no, I don't want to do that for my bachelor party. You went along with this tawdry plan and that will be a factor in determining your character, and will of course, be a factor in any court case. In the meantime, you might want to get a new set of friends.... Read More