Protecting your Creative Property

It is very important for creative professionals to protect their intellectual properties.  Can you image if someone infringed on your creative project?  I know, I would be devastated if that happened to me.  So I thought this week, I would interview an entertainment attorney who can help answer some important questions so we can protect our creative works.  I was fortunate to land an interview with Steve Hilsee, Senior Legal Entertainment Council for Walt Disney Entertainment.  Steve and I have actually worked on a few projects together throughout my years at Walt Disney World.  He advised me through a major contract involving an event featuring Lenny Kravitz in concert.  He was invaluable during tough negotiations with multiple parties.  It was a source of comfort for me to have Steve’s experience with entertainment contracts.  I sat down with Hilsee and we discussed his latest projects with Walt Disney Entertainment.

RF:  First, I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to me about entertainment law and your role with Walt Disney Entertainment.  Can you tell me some of the projects that you are currently working on for the company?

SH:  First, it is my pleasure to sit down and talk with you, Ray.  You and I have crossed many paths throughout the years.  My role with Walt Disney Entertainment is to work with all the production and casting teams at the Walt Disney World Resort and Disney Cruise Line and protect the company from any legal liabilities that may arise.  Needless to say, I stay quite busy with a multitude of entertainment law issues.  Currently, I am working on an international contract with Talent Casting and Booking.  They have identified a performing group from China that they want to contract to perform daily at the China Pavilion at Epcot.  They identified the group through a third party from New York City.  We drafted a detailed contract to be sure that all labor laws are followed.  With an international contract we need to understand and work with different customs, terms, and legalities.  There have been several delays in the process and the third party refused to forward our contract to the Chinese government for approval of the performer’s work visas.  It has been a process.

RF:  International contracts especially in China must be difficult to follow as the law continues to evolve?  Did you work on any of the Disney Shanghai Theme Park negotiations with the Peoples Republic of China?

SH:  Yes, international law can be tricky, especially in regards to China.  I did not work on the legal negotiations for the Disney Park in Shanghai.  However, I was made aware of the progress and the issues we were negotiating with the Chinese government.  Our legal team did a great job with these negotiations and ultimately arrived at an agreement.  This arrangement is going to open up a whole new market for Disney.  It’s a huge accomplishment!

RF:  What entertainment law concerns do you deal with on a regular basis?

SH:  Well, I examine multiple contracts everyday that involve agreements with performers, production companies, as well as intellectual property issues.  For example, we produced Finding Nemo, The Musical and I was the lead attorney with many of those contracts.  Disney hired many outside consultants to develop the show.  One of those contracts involved the creators of the music.  Tony-award winning musical composer, Robert Lopez, and his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, penned new songs specifically for the show.   Of course, the rest of the music was taken from the movie.  So, all of these intellectual property issues were negotiated with each rightful owner of the music.

RF:  Do you have any advice for creative individuals who are creating music or other intellectual property?

SH:  The most advice I can give is to be sure you are consulting a qualified attorney who specializes in entertainment law.  There are many attorneys out there but you must work with someone who specifically understands the entertainment industry.  It will be most beneficial for you to seek council prior to entering into an arrangement.  This is the best advice I can give you.

RF:  Thanks again Steve for your time.  I know you are a very busy man and I appreciate you sharing your insight. 

SH:  You’re welcome Ray.

My conversation with Steve reinforced my belief that those who are involved in the entertainment industry should seek the counsel of a qualified entertainment law attorney. Taking this invaluable step can protect you from making a legal mistake that could endanger your company or your intellectual property rights. 

http://disney.go.com/index

Registering Your Creative Work is a Must!

Many creative people fail to register their scripts or music with the United States Copyrights Office.  This causes many legal problems for the creative community.  Recently, I have been researching articles for Intellectual Property infringements and came across three that were interesting.  I thought I would share my thoughts on these cases.

First, in a copyright infringement action against the producers of You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, a court awarded the defendants, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., $1,000 in attorney fees after considering Robert Cabell, the plaintiffs financial circumstances (Loeb & Loeb, 2011).  The district court granted Sony’s motion for summary judgment.  Which is a decision made based on evidence and statements presented on record without a trial (www.lectlaw.com).  Cabell alleged that the film and its marketing materials infringed his copyrights in works featuring a character named Jayms Blonde.  Apparently, he did not have the supporting evidence to convince the court to take the case to trial.  The court ruled that Cabell’s claims were objectively unreasonable.  The original motion was a fee upwards of $568,000.  However, the court considered Cabells financial situation and lowered the fee.  This is an example of someone who took the risk of suing a major corporation without the proper evidence.  He was lucky his financial situation was bleak because the court could have required him to pay all of the defendant’s attorney fees. 

The second article that I have found interesting involves new technologies that are emerging and causing a whole lot of Intellectual Property issues.  Recently, a cease-and-desist letter was sent to Ali Davar, founder and CEO of Zite, the iPad news magazine software creator (Indvik, 2011).  The letter was sent from some heavy hitters in the news industry including the Associated Press, Dow Jones, and Gannett and Getty Images.  Zite analyzes users everyday reading habits and pulls the information from Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader.  They know what stories the reader clicked on or bypassed.  They even can determine how long they’re read.  This gives users an online magazine tailored to their own interests.

The concern comes from the publishers who complain that pulling the content from their sites takes away the potential for ads and other data.  They are not getting any pageviews or ad impressions and this has an adverse effect on their businesses.  Davar has cooperated with the publishers and agreed to render their content as a webpage.  It will be interesting to see if Zite begins a strategy with these publishers in the future.  It seems to me that they could negotiate a deal where both Zite and the Publishers could benefit.

Finally, the last article deals with writers stealing content from online blogs to incorporate in television episodes.  Apparently, CBS and their CSI:NY series created a show based on Teddy Wayne’s creative blog (www.motherboard.tv).  Unfortunately, Wayne did not understand his freelance contract with Radar, the gossip magazine, and unknowingly handed over his rights to them.  Therefore, he is unable to seek action because he is not the owner of the copyright.  A CBS attorney implicitly acknowledged that the series used his blog to develop the show.  This brings us to the importance of understanding anything that you post on the Internet.  If you post your content on Facebook, you have just given them the right to do practically whatever they feel like doing with your photos, updates, and profile data (Pasternack, 2011).   As creative people, we need to always make sure your creative content is protected.  You can find more information on how to register your work with the United States Copyright Office at www.copyright.gov. 

References:

http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/s102.htm

http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=0382ed14-70f6-49a1-9c80-d61570cb2a83

http://mashable.com/2011/04/01/zite-cease-and-desist/

http://www.motherboard.tv/2011/2/22/tv-shows-stealing-from-blogs-and-other-internet-wonders

http://www.copyright.gov/