Television and radio networks, production companies, performing talent, advertisers, and many other clients in the entertainment and media industries turn to Fitch Even for advice on:
- copyrights
- licensing
- syndication
- defamation
- branding
- merchandising
- First Amendment rights
With decades of expertise and high-level relationships with emerging and established creative talent and production companies, Fitch Even lawyers have experience in representing prominent entertainment and media companies, including several major broadcast and cable networks, as well as individual actors, writers, directors, producers, composers, animators, influencers, and graphic designers.
Proactive Legal Solutions for the Creative Arena
Our entertainment and media lawyers are highly skilled in providing practical and timely guidance that anticipates the legal needs of our clients. A senior member of our practice team was Deputy General Counsel for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), representing the network in all domestic and international copyright matters, copyright issues involving cable royalties, and production contracts for some of the best-known PBS programs and series. We understand the business concerns and intellectual property issues involved in television and radio production deals, program acquisitions, rights clearances, syndication, FCC content review, and other issues involved in bringing media content to the public.
Crafting Contracts to Protect Your Creative Assets
Structuring and documenting contractual agreements that protect all copyright and trademark concerns is an important part of our work. For example, our firm is skilled at drafting product integration agreements that promote client products and brands through scripted material in television, motion picture, and other media productions. Similarly, we negotiate and implement
- Radio, television, and film production and distribution deals
- Celebrity endorsement and publicity arrangements
- Print, online, radio, and television syndication, licensing, and merchandising arrangements
- Talent agreements for actors, musicians, and songwriters
- Rights acquisitions and clearances in all media, including those that address royalty issues
In dealing with entertainment and media talent, we understand that their true passion is for creating their art, not tending to business details. Often we need to balance a client’s immediate desire to record an album, publish a book, or sell a screenplay with the long-term benefits that such talent creates. Our lawyers take the time to understand the career goals and objectives of creative artists, and use our negotiating skills to ensure that the intellectual property embodied by our clients’ artistic production is properly protected, and that this protection is enforced against infringement and other violations. Our innovation and skill at advising these and all other entertainment and media clients matches the high standards they expect and reflects our lawyers’ years of industry experience.
Case Studies
Client: A respected national nonprofit scholarship organization and the television network that carries its long-running annual fundraising program
Problem: This special television event is a showcase both for established and fast-rising stars from the music industry, and requires coordination of complex contractual issues covering everything from the performers’ services, to agreements with the program’s sponsors, to promotion of the nonprofit’s scholarship activities.
Solution: Fitch Even is uniquely qualified to counsel both the organization and the network to make sure that all issues involving copyrights, performance rights, and broadcast/cable rights are proactively and properly addressed.
Result: The fundraising program is approaching its 35th anniversary, and Fitch Even’s efforts have been instrumental in its ongoing success.
