Maine Entertainment Forms - Maine Entertainment Law

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Maine Entertainment FAQ

What is entertainment law? 

Entertainment law generally encompasses industries involving motion pictures, television, music, publishing, and theatre. These industries have special economic and business considerations that involve nearly every area of law including copyright, trademark, trade secret, rights of privacy and publicity, securities, tax, tort, corporate law, labor law, constitutional law, international law, and so forth. The law of copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and patents each play a role in protecting creative rights.

The personal service agreement is a primary legal instrument in the entertainment industry. This agreement is negotiated between an artist and a company that manufactures, promotes, and distributes the artist's goods or services. The agreement often commits the artist to produce exclusively for one company for a certain period of time. Personal service agreements are often governed by statutes, and are often the subject of litigation because of the restrictions placed on the rights of artists to perform or create for other entities.

How are royalties earned and collected? 

A significant amount of income for entertainers can be acquired in the form of profits from a royalty agreement. The first step to a royalty agreement begins, for example, when a songwriter pens their original piece. From being produced in tangible form, the artist receives a copyright. The writer then may wish have their song exposed and published by a recording company. The songwriter will assign a copyright to a publisher who will market and promote the material. Those that wish to use the copyrighted material will then begin the process of establishing royalty agreements and be issued a license. The proceeds from the sales and use of the copyrighted material by anyone will then be required to pay royalties to the publisher which represents the writer selected.

Tips for Preparing Maine Entertainment Forms

  1. Don’t enter into any verbal entertainment contracts. Too often, individuals working in the entertainment business rely on oral deals. Despite the fact that kind of contract is legally binding, utilizing it as your legal means might cause long-running disputes because of provisions that could be overlooked during negotiations.
  2. Ensure that you control the drafting process. Even if you intend to go through the Maine Entertainment Forms’s draft carefully before you sign it, it’s advisable to make several reviews to be on the safe side. After that, make the necessary changes to the stipulations along the way. By doing this, you’ll avoid the legal issues that might happen later on, be it a performance contract or arts agreement.
  3. Ensure that each signer of the document gets their fair share. You can do this by inviting a third-party auditing specialist who will prepare an review report. For instance, they can check whether an artist receives the proper amount of royalties from a film’s distribution. Yet, to prevent auditing, make sure you include proper wording in the contract regarding all financial matters from the outset. You will discover all the required forms to seal the deal in the entertainment industry in the US Legal Forms online catalog, along with the information on how to put together Maine Entertainment Forms and other paperwork.
  4. Determine specific terms on how to end the contract. Before drafting Maine Entertainment Forms, all parties in the contract need to spell out their expectations of how they would like to terminate it. If you work, for example, with a third-party representative, be sure they don’t have the authority to extend the agreement on your behalf.