New Jersey Entertainment Forms - New Jersey Entertainment Law

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New Jersey 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 New Jersey Entertainment Forms

  1. Don’t opt into any verbal entertainment agreements. Too frequently, people in the entertainment industry prefer verbal agreements. Despite the fact that kind of contract is legally binding, using it as your legal means might lead to long-running disagreements because of clauses that could be left out during negotiations on terms.
  2. Make sure to control the drafting process. Even if you intend to go through the New Jersey Entertainment Forms’s draft carefully before you sign it, it’s preferable to make a few revisions to be on the safe side. After that, make the necessary changes to the stipulations along the way. In this way, you’ll avoid the legal issues that might happen down the road, be it a performance contract or arts agreement.
  3. Make sure that each party of the document receives their fair share. This can be done by inviting a third-party auditing expert who will prepare an audit report. For example, they can check whether an artist receives the right number of royalties from a film’s broadcasting. However, to prevent auditing, make sure you incorporate proper wording in the contract regarding all financial provisions from the very beginning. You can find all the required forms to sign the deal in the entertainment industry in the US Legal Forms online catalog, along with the information on how to put together New Jersey Entertainment Forms and other paperwork.
  4. Establish specific conditions on how to put an end to the contract. Before drafting New Jersey Entertainment Forms, all parties in the contract need to spell out their requirements of how they would like to terminate it. If you work, for instance, with a third-party representative, be sure they don’t have the legal right to extend the agreement for you.