Phillips Nizer is a leading law firm in the entertainment industry. Today the entertainment practice spans a broad range of client interests drawing on the firm's extensive experience in entertainment and intellectual property law as well as litigation, tax and corporate matters.
One of the entertainment law group's strongest areas of expertise is in the music industry. We represent concert and event producers, record companies, distributors, producers and music publishers as well as recording artists, songwriters, talent agents, managers, booking agents and others. We provide these clients with legal counsel, commercial and litigation services and handle a variety of general business matters on their behalf. For individual artists and writers, we also serve as personal counselors.
RANGE OF SERVICES
We represent clients in structuring, negotiating and implementing such transactions as:
- Rights and catalogue acquisitions;
- Talent representation agreements;
- Concert and event production and venue agreements;
- Master licenses, product licensing and merchandising;
- Recording artist and songwriter agreements;
- Collaboration and co-publishing agreements;
- Touring agreements;
- Distribution agreements;
- Music publishing, foreign sub-publishing and foreign licensing agreements; and
- Mergers, acquisitions and financing for concert producers, record companies, publishing companies and others.
We also administer publishing catalogues and supervise the conduct of royalty audits on behalf of recording artists and writers with their record and publishing companies.
We frequently counsel clients with regard to international and domestic copyright and trademark matters including registration, copyright duration and ownership, neighboring rights and licensing. Working with our litigation attorneys we also litigate licensing and contract disputes, trademark oppositions, royalty disputes, guild arbitrations, infringement and unfair competition claims, and other matters.
INTERACTION WITH OTHER PRACTICE GROUPS
Representing entertainment clients involves many disciplines. Consequently, our entertainment attorneys work closely with our other practice groups for an interdisciplinary approach in areas such as litigation, corporate and tax law.
Litigation
Phillips Nizer's litigators provide the strategic framework for handling a successful litigation. The firm's litigation roots go back to the founding of the firm in 1926, and over the decades the firm has evolved its own distinctive approach to litigation - innovative thinking, zealous advocacy and relentless attention to preparation. As one of the country's premier litigation firms, we offer our clients a depth of experience and breadth of practice, which enables us to staff each case at an appropriate and cost-effective level with lawyers of suitable seniority.
Corporate
The firm's corporate and entertainment lawyers work together when structuring sophisticated business transactions and handling general corporate work. In addition, they concentrate on merger and acquisition work and negotiating international licensing agreements in the entertainment field.
Real Estate and Goverment Affairs
Our Real Estate and Government Affairs attorneys work closely with our entertainment clients in negotiating venue agreements and obtaining permits for concerts, music festivals and special events.
Tax
Our tax attorneys apply their skills to minimize the tax consequences of every business transaction, drawing on their knowledge of and experience with U.S. and international tax laws. The practice also strives to create tax planning strategies that respond directly to specific client needs and problems.
