Unit

Topics

Assignment

1.

Contracts, Part 1: The Hollywood Climate

Read Litwak, Chapter 1 “Introduction,” pp. 1‑9; Chapter 10, “Negotiating Tactics & Strategies,” pp. 251-256,

Read Simensky:

Donahue v. Artisan (“Blair Witch”), 144-149

Main Line Pictures v. Basinger, 152-160

2.

Liability for Audience Actions

Read Simensky:

McCollum v. CBS, 1406-1418

Listen to the Audio Supplement:

“Suicide Solution” Ozzy Osbourne

Read Compendium:

Weirum v. RKO General (“Don Steele”)

3.

Labor, Guilds, and Pitfalls for Talent

Read Litwak, Chapter 5, “Literary Acquisition Agreements,” pp. 59-92; Chapter 6, “Employment Contracts,” pp. 93-151; and Chapter 7 “Advice for Writers, Directors & Actors” pp. 161-196.  Merely skim the contracts in these chapters.

Read Simensky:

Muller v. Walt Disney Productions, 314-318

“Union Soldiers …” 105-110

Marino v. WGA, 1045-1052

4.

Agents, Managers, Attorneys, and Employment Regulation

Read Litwak, Chapter 18 “Retaining Attorneys, Agents and Managers” pp. 347-372. 

Read Compendium:

Sheryl Crow / Dressing Room Requirements Rider

Kid Nation / Participant Agreement

Read Simensky:

“Agents, Managers, and Lawyers …” 48-56

[A] and [1] explanatory text, 56

Park v. Deftones, 56-60

Styne v. Stevens, 61-73

74-75 (only nn. 1, 2, 3, & 4)

[3] explanatory text, 80

87 (only n. 1)

[B] explanatory text, 87-88

91 (only nn. 3 & 4)

[C] explanatory text, 92

Day v. Rosenthal, 92-99

“Conflict of Interest in Ent.” 99-104

5.

Protections for Persons as Subjects, Part 1: Defamation

Read Simensky:

Bindrim v. Mitchell, 345–360

Clark v. ABC, 361-371

371-375 (only nn. 2, 3, 4, 6, 13, 14, 15, 16)

"New Dispute is Stirred by Doubleday – Davis Suit," 313–314

Read Compendium:

North Dakota Century Code §§ 14-02-01, 14-02-02, 14-02-03, 14-02-04, 14-02-05, 14-02-09, 14-02-10.

California Civil Code § 48.5.

Read Litwak, Chapter 14 “Defamation of Persons Depicted in Literary Works,” pp. 307-316. 

6.

Protections for Persons as Subjects, Part 2: Right of Publicity

Read Simensky:

Dora v. Frontline, 435–438

438–439 (only n. 1)

449-450 (nn. 1-8)

Polydoros v. 20th Century Fox, 451–456

White v. Samsung, 456–465

465 (only nn 2–3)

Read Litwak, Chapter 13 “The First Amendment and the Right to Publicity” 

7.

Protections for Persons as Subjects, Part 3: Privacy Torts and Life Story Rights

Read Compendium:

Shulman v. Group W. Prods.

Read Simensky:

416–419 (nn. 1-12)

432-435 (only nn. 2-8)

"Lawyer's Role ... Life Story,"336–342

Read Litwak, Chapter 3 “Permission to Portray People and Places” 

8.

Protections for Persons as Subjects, Part 4: Applications

Read “In Advertising, Governor Accepts No Imitations,” Los Angeles Times, March 30, 2004, p. A1[3]

Read Compendium:

Lindsay Lohan & Dina Lohan / Defamation Claim Letter

One America Productions / "Borat" Release

Catherine Zeta Jones / Atkins Diet Letter

Catherine Zeta Jones & Michael Douglas / Clear Channel Letter

Jennifer Aniston / Invasion of Privacy Letter

9.

Contracts, Part 2: When the Contract Comes to Court

·          Litigating entertainment contracts

·          Contract torts

·          Interpretation

·          “Creative accounting”

Read Compendium:

April Enterprises, Inc. v. KTTV 

Read Litwak, Chapter 11, “Creative Accounting,” pp. 257-268.

Read Simensky:

Buchwald v. Paramount Pictures, 1203-1215

Read Compendium:

Brennan v. Big Ticket, First Amended Complaint

Brennan v. Big Ticket, Summary Judgment Order for Big Ticket

Brennan v. Big Ticket, Summary Judgment Order for Viacom

10.

Trademark, Part 1

Read Chapter 4 “Clearance of Rights,” pp. 49-58, and Chapter 16 “Trademarks and Unfair Competition” pp. 327-332.

Read Simensky:

In Re Elvis Presley Enterprises, 828-830

831 (nn. 1& 2)

845 (n.)

864-865 (only nn. 1 & 2)

868 (only n. 1), 

Morgan Creek v. Capital Cities / ABC, 874-878

11.

Trademark, Part 2

Read Simensky:

Bell, Bivens, Brown, DaVoe  & Tresvant v. Streetwise Records, 1074-1079

976 (nn. 1 & 2)

New Kids  v. News America, 983-990

990 (n.)

Mattel v. MCA Records, 990-1000

Recommended: Listen to the Audio Supplement:

“Barbie Girl” Aqua

Optional: Listen to the Audio Supplement:

“Candy Girl” New Edition

“Do Me!” Bel Biv DeVoe

“Hangin' Tough” New Kids on the Block

12.

Copyright, Part 1

Read Litwak, Chapter 12 “Copyright,” pp. 269-300.

Read Simensky:

Maljack Productions v. UAV, 533-538

539-542 (all notes)

Lone Wolf McQuade v. CBS, 542-547

MGM v. American Honda Motor, 547-553

553-554 (all notes and text)

567-569 (only nn. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)

607 (only n. 6)

13.

Copyright, Part 2

Listen to the Audio Supplement:

“He’s So Fine” The Chiffons

“My Sweet Lord” George Harrison

“Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie” Final

“Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie” Stray Cats

Read Simensky:

Motola v. EMI, 610-612

Bright Tunes v. Harrisongs, 661-664

14.

Copyright, Part 3

Read Simensky:

Beal v. Paramount 665–675

675–676 (nn 1–4)

Campbell v. Acuff-Rose, 713-727

Optional: Listen to the Audio Supplement:

“Oh, Pretty Woman” Roy Orbison

“Pretty Woman” 2 Live Crew (Note: Contains offensive content.)

Optional (neither required nor recommended): “Coming to America” (Paramount Pictures, 1988) Note: Rated R, contains nudity, profanity, and offensive content. (On reserve in library.)

15.

Copyright, Part 4

Read Compendium:

Newton v. Diamond

Morill v. Smashing Pumpkins

Read Simensky:

581-583, 642-643

Fred Alhert Music v. Warner/Chappell Music, 649-657

658-661 (only nn. 2-4)

Optional: Listen to the Audio Supplement:

“Pass the Mic” Beastie Boys

16.

Broadcast Regulation, Obscenity, Telecom Regulation, Antitrust

Read Simensky:

Luke Records v. Navarro, 1352-1356

1356-1358 (n.)

FCC v. Pacifica, 1374-1388

Optional: Listen to the Audio Supplement:

“Seven Words You Can’t Say On Television” George Carlin (Note: Contains offensive content and abundant profanity.)

Read 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c) and 47 U.S.C. §§ 317, 508.[4] 

Read FCC consumer facts sheets:[5]

Station Identification and Call Signs

Obscene, Profane & Indecent Broadcasts

Broadcasting Contests, Lotteries, and Solicitation of Funds

The FCC's Payola Rules

Broadcasting False Information

Closed Captioning

Children's Educational Television

Interception and Divulgence of Radio Communications

17-A.

Protections for Inchoate Entertainment

·          Theft of ideas

·          Breach of confidence

·          Development deals

·          Submissions

Read Litwak, Chapter 2, “Dealmaking,” pp. 11-28. 

Read Simensky:

Buchwald v. Paramount Pictures, 751-758

Desny v. Wilder, 758-768

Farris v. Enberg, 790-793

17-B.

Read Simensky:

Land v. Jerry Lewis Productions, 794-796

796 (only n.)

Read Compendium:

Grosso v. Miramax Film Corp.

18-A.

Contracts, Part 3: “I’ve Changed My Mind”

·          Limitations on duration

·          Bankruptcy

·          Distribution and acquisition agreements

Read Litwak, Chapter 9, “The Acquisition/Distribution Agreement,” pp. 215-222.  Omit the agreement on pp. 222-250.

Read Simensky:

De Haviland v. Warner Bros., 243-250

Radioactive Records v. Manson, 250-257

257-258 (only n. 6)

18-B.

Read Simensky:

“Bankruptcy and Personal …” 276-283

283-284 (only nn. 1 & 2)

(NOTE: This unit 18-B was not assigned this semester.)

18-C.

Read Compendium:

American Idol Re-negotiation / Fox Broadcasting Company, FremantleMedia North America, Inc., 19 TV Limited
Prepare two well-thought-out comments regarding this document to contribute to class discussion.

19.

Remedies

Read Litwak Chapter 17, “Remedies,” pp. 333-346.

(NOTE: This unit 19 was not assigned this semester.)

20.

Case Studies in Transactional Practice: Reality Television

Read Compendium:

James Adam Blair Boon -w- Queer Eye LLC / Talent Agreement
Prepare two well-thought-out comments regarding this document to contribute to class discussion.

Trista Rehn -w- Syndicated Productions, Inc. / Bachelorette Agreement
Prepare two well-thought-out comments regarding this document to contribute to class discussion.

21.

Legitimate Theatre

Thomson v. Larson, 147 F.3d 195 (2d Cir. 1998) [please retreive this case from an online source]

22.

Recording Contracts

The Problem With Music by Steve Albini [LINK] (Warning: contains profanity and offensive content.)

Read Compendium:

American Idol / Contestant Agreement (partial)

23.

Nano Media

No readings - group presentations