Information on Entertainment Lawyers
Entertainment law can be one of the most attractive and exciting fields of practice for a young lawyer or law student. The opportunity to be a part of the lucrative entertainment industry while working professionally and confronting intellectual challenges, attracts many of the nation's brightest attorneys. But, though some law schools offer special entertainment law programs as a focus, the field is largely based on general legal principles from a variety of general fields.
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Identification
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Entertainment law is a unique legal specialty that concerns how several broader legal topics intersect with the entertainment industry. In particular, entertainment focuses on labor law, employment law, contracts and intellectual property. The practice of entertainment law involves the application of legal principles from these fields to the production and selling of art and entertainment products.
Function
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Entertainment lawyers work both transactionally-- negotiating, drafting and reviewing contracts--and in litigation to enforce contracts, copyrights and other related issues. Some entertainment lawyers specialize in one or the other, while some do both. Entertainment lawyers often work for a flat hourly rate, anywhere from $175 to $450 depending on experience, while others take a 5 to 10 percent cut of the related earnings for an artist or project that they're associated with. Some lawyers work on a value billing system where the cost of the legal services are based on the related earnings, but not necessarily on a fixed percent.
Significance
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While celebrities certainly have entertainment lawyers to advise on their concerns, the bulk of entertainment lawyers work for artists, musicians and other entertainers that are less well known. Many also work for large and small corporations and "labels" that own copyrights to works of art (music, books, movies) and who contract with artists. Other fields in which entertainment lawyers work include theater, fine art, dance and opera.
Considerations
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Even less known to the general public are the technicians and crew members that work "behind the scenes" in the entertainment industry. This may include everyone from special effects and make-up artists to choreographers, cameramen and the carpenters that build sets. Many of these workers are unionized and their lawyers must be skilled in labor law as well as contracts. Working conditions, benefits and overtime are general labor law issues that are important in entertainment contexts as well. Issues such as payment from online royalties is more specific to the entertainment industry.
Geography
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Like the entertainment industry itself, entertainment law is focused primarily in two cities. New York and Los Angeles are the largest media markets and home of most of the large entertainment-related corporations. Not surprisingly, this is where most entertainment law school programs and practicing lawyers are also found. It's not necessary, however, to attend a special entertainment law program to ultimately become an entertainment lawyer. Graduating from any of the nation's top law schools, even those with no specific entertainment law program, provides an adequate foundation in legal principles to enter the field with confidence.
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