Bradley Legal Group

Film and Television Production Growth in South Florida

LS — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:37:13 +0000

Recently head attorney of the Bradley Legal Group, P.A., John F. Bradley, made some comments for Law360.com, a lexis company, concerning the growth of the film industry in South Florida. Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

“The growth in the [film and television] industry has largely been driven by the state’s new focus on tax incentives. With the appropriation of an additional $42 million in tax credits in March 2012, Florida brought its incentives pool to $296 million since 2011. In return, the state has seen about $3.7 billion in production spending, according to a study released March 20 by the Motion Picture Association of America. And that number jumps to $7.2 billion when film-induced tourism and infrastructure spending are also taken into account.

With the industry booming, opportunities for new legal work aren’t far behind, attorneys say. “Our goal is to bring more of that legal work here,” says John F. Bradley, a 25-year South Florida entertainment law veteran based in Broward County who has served as the chairman of the Florida Bar’s entertainment, arts and sports law section. “Growth should occur,” Bradley said, “but it will be tied to the overall financial picture, the incentive to produce more content in the state, and the growth of the related parts of the entertainment, film and media community in the state.”

Please see the full article here

Bradley Legal Group, P.A. are Intellectual Property lawyers, Entertainment lawyers and Music lawyers servicing clients in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Orlando, and Nashville. We also affiliate with entertainment lawyers licensed in New York and Washington, D.C. © 2013 Bradley Legal Group, P.A

Blogger rights in defamation lawsuits

LS — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:56:38 +0000

This week, lead attorney of the Bradley Legal Group, P.A., John F. Bradley, Esq., successfully argued the extension of media defendant rights to the blogosphere. Some cases in Florida have dealt with this issue before, but this issue is not yet well settled and under considerable debate. Under Florida law, before a plaintiff can bring a lawsuit for defamation against a media defendant, a plaintiff must serve the media defendant in writing specifying the allegedly defamatory statements made. See, Fla. Stat. 770.01. The purpose for this required notice is simple; It gives the media defendant an opportunity to retract the alleged defamatory statement and publish a correction. If the media defendant does retract the statement within 5 days of the statutory notice, the plaintiff can only seek “actual damages” in a lawsuit, instead of potentially much higher (and easier to prove) “punitive damages.” The intent of these laws are to allow the free and uninterrupted dissemination of news, while still affording individuals who are allegedly defamed some recourse if defamatory material is published.

Historically during the last 60 years, these laws have applied to what you would imagine to be a media entity, such as the newspaper or the television station. This is because these were the only people who disseminated news as they controlled the distribution channels. With the rise of the Internet, it goes without saying that an individual can start disseminating news and information easily, quickly and cheaply so a grey area has arisen with how is the law to consider this new form of the dissemination of information and journalism. Which brings us to our current issue, is a “blog,” or any website which disseminates information, considered a media defendant under Florida law and thus a plaintiff would be required to serve the blog owner with a retraction notice?

Circuit Court Judge Victoria Sigler ruled in DeRosas et al. v. Johnson et al., 12-32919, 11th Judicial Circuit, that a “blog” falls under Florida’s retraction statute and looking at whether the defendant disseminates news and information is a key factor in determining whether the defendant would fall under the “media.” In the instant case, the Defendant runs a real-estate blog that reposts recent court decisions concerning landlord-tenant law in Florida, as well as fraud bulletins from title companies and other ancillary real estate matters. Overall, Judge Sigler found that through these activities, and specifically the two alleged defamatory blog posts that Plaintiffs complained about, that this was sufficient to establish the Defendant as a media defendant. This is a significant ruling for all those who run blogs, and perhaps post on the Internet, as it affords rights under the retraction statute. For more, please see an article by Mr. Nathan Hale of www.law360.com, a LexisNexis Company who was in attendance at the hearing.

Sweetwater Minute (part 2) – featuring John F. Bradley

LS — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:55:33 +0000

Check out part 2 of the interview between Sweetwater Music’s Editorial Director, Mitch Gallagher, and lead attorney of the Bradley Legal Group, P.A., John Bradley, as they discuss various critical aspects of music copyright law. They cover the basics of publishing and protecting your music, as well as how to properly license music and samples so you can play covers or DJ.

Sweetwater Minute, featuring John F. Bradley

LS — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 18:27:53 +0000

Check out this interview between Sweetwater Music’s Editorial Director, Mitch Gallagher, and lead attorney of the Bradley Legal Group, P.A., John Bradley, as they discuss various critical aspects of music copyright law. They cover the basics of publishing and protecting your music, as well as how to properly license music and samples so you can play covers or DJ.

South Florida Top Rated Lawyers 2012 – John F. Bradley, Esq.

LS — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 12:44:59 +0000

The firm would like to congratulate partner John F. Bradley, Esq. for being named one of the top Intellectual Property Lawyers in South Florida. Click here for an excerpt of the list.

Marilyn Monroe losses major Rights of Publicity litigation

LS — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 12:35:07 +0000

Last month, the estate of Marilyn Monroe lost a major court case in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California in regards to the late actresses’ post-mortem rights as to her name, image, and likeness. As you may be aware, Marilyn Monroe is still extremely popular in modern culture and her estate generates reportedly over $25 million dollars in income annually. Part of this revenue generated comes through licensing Mrs. Monroe’s image to vendors and subsequently it being plastered on t-shirts, posters, and anything else you can think of. Due to the commercial viability of Mrs. Monroe, many try to imitate and sell things with Mrs. Monroe’s name and likeness on it, and the estate seeks to stop these commercial ventures for the purported misappropriation of Mrs. Monroe’s name and likeness.

Publicity rights of the deceased are governed by state law, which vary greatly. Some states such as Tennessee and California have very lenient rights of publicity laws, granting the estate of the deceased extended (if not forever) periods of time to attempt to generate revenue with the name and likeness of the deceased. Other states, like New York, do not grant an estate post-mortem rights, meaning that if you are resident of New York when you die, any individual has a strong claim at being able to use your name and likeness for commercial purposes.

Which brings us to Mrs. Monroe. At the time of death, Mrs. Monroe had permanent residences in California and New York, and as such, her estate was allowed to choose Mrs. Monroe’s state citizenship status. This in turn dictates which state’s law applies to her estate. The estate choose to have the laws of New York apply to Mrs. Monroe’s estate. This may seem crazy given the prior two paragraphs, but back fifty years ago the estates of dead celebrities were not cash cows and California had a significantly higher estate tax than New York. The decision the estate made was likely the smarter decision at the time as there was no way to expect Mrs. Monroe would be generating so much income significant years after her death, however this established New York law as the controlling law of the estate and has led to the estate’s current issues.

A few years back, and very simply stated, the estate of Marilyn Monroe began claiming rights under California law (and California’s ‘forever’ rights of publicity) which spawned the lawsuit when the estate sought to shut down certain companies making products with Mrs. Monroe’s image. The estate sought to gain protection for Mrs. Monroe through the more beneficial laws of California, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals shot down this argument and told the estate in schoolyard fashion “there are no take backs.” Once the law controlling an estate is established, through selecting the state citizenship and domicile of the deceased, the estate cannot change its selection at a later date.

As rights of publicity are state dependent, it is important to know what rights you may have concerning the estate of a deceased. Please be sure to contact an experienced intellectual property attorney to ensure the rights of the estate are best protected, as you can see above, there is the possibility that significant decisions must be made rather immediately in even filling out death certificates and forming a legal entity to govern an estate.

How to set up a Talent Agency in Florida – Part 2

LS — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 14:01:29 +0000

The second part of this blog series involves the on-going requirements of a talent agency once the agency is licensed. So now that you have set up shop, the next question is how to legally run your business as to comply with the laws of Florida and Florida’s Department of Business & Professional Regulation (FDBP). This is incredibly important as violating Florida’s Talent Agency laws could bring about CRIMINAL penalties, which may include significant fees and jail time.

Here are some quick bullet points (and in no way intended to be a complete list) of the primary on-going requirements of a talent agency as required by Florida law.

∙ You must maintain a permanent office and maintain regular operating hours at that office. Your license must be displayed at all times in a conspicuous place in your place of business that it is freely viewable to the public.

∙ Your license is not a perpetual license. You must renew it biennial, usually around May 31^st every year. You may also have to renew your bond upon a new license cycle.

∙ You know that itemized schedule of maximum fees, charges, and commissions you filed out as party of your application? Print it out in 30 point bold font in post it in a conspicuous place on your wall.

∙ You may not charge a registration fee as a condition of employment with any Artist, nor require the Artist to purchase, subscribe to, or attend any service (such as acting school, singing lessons, photography services, or other workshops) as a condition of employment.

∙ You must not engage in sexual relationships with Artists. If you do, the FDBP can permanently invoke your license and bring forth both civil and criminal penalties.

∙ When you sign an Artist, you must give them a fully executed copy of the contract which lists the services to be provided, the applicable fee and compensation schedule, a statement that you are regulated by the FDBP, and provide the FDBP’s contract information.

∙ You must keep all applications, registrations, and contracts of each Artist on file in your office, which also includes the contract information of the Artist and a full accounting of all compensation received. As to record sheets for each booking, you are required to keep the record of placement for a period of one year after the date of the last booking entry.

∙ You must keep on file all attempts to procure engagements for Artists. This means, maintaining copies of all of your advertising materials, phone logs, etc. Additionally, while obvious, you must not solicit by publishing fake, fraudulent, or misleading information.

∙ Just received a check from a promoter for an Artist you booked? You have five days from your receipt of payment to tender payment to the Artist (less your fair commission percentage and costs of course).

∙ You must not knowingly send any Artist who has received an engagement to any place where there is an active labor dispute or strike, without first notifying the Artist.

∙ You must advise the Artist in writing that the artist has a right to rescind a contract for employment within the first three business days after the contract’s execution. Any engagement procured by the talent agency for the artist during the first 3 business days of the contract remains commissionable to the talent agency.

∙ You must not send any Artist on assignment, without proper notice and/or parental consent, to any place of ‘immoral purposes,’ which is loosely defined as a place requiring the Artist to pose nude or engage in sexual acts.

∙You must not share fees with any talent buyer, casting director, promoter, or other booker.

∙ You may not assign an Artist engagement contract to another talent agency or agent without written permission of the Artist.

Overall, we reiterate and please be aware that CRIMINAL penalties are a possibility under the talent agency statute, so it is in your best interest to contact an experienced entertainment attorney to assist in setting up and operating a talent agency.

How to set up a Talent Agency in Florida – Part 1

LS — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 18:43:10 +0000

In Florida, a talent agency is any person or entity that engages in the business of procuring or attempting to procure engagements for an “artist” for compensation. An artist is any person performing on a professional stage or in the production of television, radio, motion pictures, music, or modeling. In order to own, operate, solicit business or otherwise engage in the occupation of a talent agency, that person or entity must procure a license from Florida’s Department of Business & Professional Regulation. The reason Florida requires this is simple. Florida does not want individuals to take advantage of entertainment acts, who typically are more “creatively” focused than “business” oriented.

There are a variety of statutory requirements in order to gain a talent agent license. These include, but are certainly not limited too:

(1) A detailed application providing the name and address of the talent agency owner, including all partners, associates or those with a profit sharing interest in the talent agency. In the event the applicant is a corporation, the applicant additionally must disclose the name and address of all persons actively participating in the management and business responsibilities of the corporation;

(2) Address of the physical location of the talent agency;

(3) A full set of finger prints of the applicant or the principal owner of the corporation;

(4) Photograph taken within last 2 years of the applicant or the principal owner of the corporation;

(5) Proof of at least one year’s experience working in a talent agency business or similarly suited booking business (such as director of a movie or booker of acts at a nightclub);

(6) Affidavits of at least five (5) reputable persons, other than artists, who have known or been associated with the applicant for at least three years, stating the applicant is of good moral character and has a reputation for fair dealing;

(7) Provide a bond of not less than $5,000.00 from a reputable bonding company doing business in Florida;

(8) Itemized schedule of maximum fees, charges, and commissions which the applicant intends to collect and charge Artists for their services; and

(9) An application fee, which currently is approximately $705.00.

Once filed, the Department of Business & Professional Regulation will review the application for truthfulness and conduct a background check to verify the applicant’s criminal and business history to find instances of fraud or misrepresentation that would weigh against the issuance of a talent agency license.

Please understand the serious nature of filing to be a talent agent in the State of Florida, as there is the potential for criminal (felony level) penalties if one does not comply with the Statute. Be sure to contact an experienced entertainment attorney before setting up your application. Part 2 of this series will discuss the on going requirements of a talent agency once established.

Single versus Compilation Copyright Filings

LS — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 13:25:22 +0000

Filing a copyright is easy if you know what you are doing. Registration is accessible online via the United States Copyright Office, and currently the online filing fee is $35.00 USD for most works. For an introductory level discussion on this matter, there are two primary ways you can register: as a bulk compilation or as an individual work of art. There are benefits and limitations to both.

Imagine you are a band that has recorded 10 new songs, or an artist who has painted 10 new paintings. The copyright office allows you to bulk-file all 10 of these new works of art in one filing, paying a one time $35.00 fee. The benefit of this registration is that it is cheap, and will provide federal protection. This means if someone copies your work, you can bring a copyright infringement action and receive an assortment of powerful remedies from lost profits to statutory damages. However, the bad news is, you can only receive a remedy based on 1 copyright registration and not 10. This is the trade off. While cheaper, you receive less potential monetary compensation and bargaining power if someone violates your copyright by filing in bulk. Compared to individual registrations, the opposite is true. It will cost $350.00 in filing fees ($35.00 times 10) to register each track individually online (which also takes 10 times the amount of time), but in the event of a copyright infringement down the road, you could bring a copyright infringement action with 10 counts and be afforded greater relief in the event of a legal victory.

A second major consideration is the concept of ownership. When you fill out the registration form, you must specify every author of the work. For a compilation filing, the percentages of ownership must be equal for every work filed. This is not a big deal for the painter who has painted 10 works all by himself, but this becomes a significant legal issue for the band where every band member may have written varying percentages of each musical work. If the band cannot agree on a single set percentage across the board for the ownership percentages of all their songs (which is likely), the band may be forced to register each song individually, thus being a more significant upfront cost.

In the end, any type of registration will give increased protection to your work of art, but it is important to think about how much is that protection worth to you when deciding what type of copyright to file.

Rights of Publicity and Choice of Venue

LS — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 19:25:14 +0000

Publicity rights of an individual can be confusing when compared to other intellectual property rights. Copyrights, trademarks, and patents are all governed by federal law, simply meaning they are national laws passed by the United States of America’s government. Wherever you are in the United States, the same law applies. However, as we all (hopefully) learned in third grade civics class, a variety of rights are reserved to each State in the union. This is called federalism. Currently, although many academics are pushing for a national law, publicity rights of an individual are decided by laws passed by each State. Many States in the union share common ideas of how to protect the commercial use of an individual’s name, imagine, or likeness, but many are wildly different. This poses a problem for individuals and their legal counsel, as issues of what law applies and where should I file suit against a purported misappropriater come up immediately. Here is a real life example.

A company named ToyWatch USA has recently been sued by actress Sandra Bullock, as ToyWatch is advertising a watch they sell as “the watch Sandra Bullock wore in The Blind Side.” ToyWatch additionally displays pictures of Bullock wearing the watch in their advertising. What is interesting about this lawsuit is Bullock is not bringing any copyright or trademark claims (such as false advertising) against ToyWatch, but is exclusively bringing suit against ToyWatch for a misappropriation of her name and likeness. Bullock claims her name and image will become over-saturated if companies are allowed free reign to use her name and likeness in connection with their products, simply because that product may have some relation to a film Bullock starred in. As for venue shopping, Bullock brought this lawsuit in California, universally known as one of the most liberal and pro-celebrity States in the nation for obvious reasons. ToyWatch, according to the complaint, is from Delaware. This is an important example as one thinks about the Internet, where even if one is located in one State, you can be dragged into Court in another state if you are “doing business” in the other State. Having something for sale on the Internet is all a potential litigant needs to potential drag a Defendant across state lines. Of course, there are other jurisdiction and venue rules that may apply, which is why if you think your publicity rights are being violated by another, to consult an intellectual property law attorney to discuss your options. But simply stated, potential litigants may be able to “venue shop” around for states with more stringent rights of publicity laws which could be a valuable weapon against those illegally using another’s name or likeness.