Insights

Entertainment & Media

Entertainment and media insights on publishing, recording, sync licensing, management, and rights.

Artist Management Agreements and What Managers Earn, Control, and Owe

A manager can influence every part of your career without owning a song or master. Your management agreement sets which activities the manager handles, which income supports a commission, how much authority the manager receives, and what happens to the relationship after termination.

Chain of Title in Music and How to Verify Ownership

A music catalog can generate royalties from several rights owned by different people. Before you buy, sell, license, finance, or distribute that catalog, you need documents showing who created each composition and recording, who first owned each copyright, and how each interest passed to the current claimant.

Digital Replicas, Synthetic Performers, and Consent in Production Agreements

A producer may own the footage and lack the right to create a new performance from a performer's face or voice. Guild counsel, a distributor, or a buyer may first find the defect during review or a subsequent transfer of the replica files.

Film and Television Chain of Title and Rights Clearance

A film or television project can be completed and remain undeliverable if the production entity cannot prove ownership or control of the screenplay, underlying property, performances, footage, music, artwork, and other material it proposes to exploit.

Music Publishing Agreements and Songwriter Rights

Music publishing agreements determine who owns or administers the composition copyright, who collects publishing income, how advances recoup, how long the publisher controls the song, and whether and when copyright interests revert to the songwriter.

Producer Agreements for Points, Credits, Letters of Direction, and Master Rights

Producer agreements turn a recording session into a business relationship. A producer may bring a beat, build the track, shape the vocal, arrange the recording, hire musicians, mix the record, or perform some combination of those jobs.

Production Incentive Diligence Under Texas SB 22 and Ireland's Section 481

Texas grants and Irish film tax credits use different eligibility, payment, and company structures. Production financing depends on a separate diligence file for each program.

Recording and Distribution Agreements and How Artists Get Paid

A recording agreement determines who owns or controls the master recordings, who pays for recording and marketing, who makes release decisions, and how the artist receives recording-side revenue. A distribution agreement usually has a narrower purpose.

Synchronization Licensing for Film, Television, Advertising, and Video Games

Absent an applicable copyright exception, a production using a preexisting copyrighted recording of a protected composition must own the relevant rights or obtain permission to use both the composition and the sound recording.

Talent Migration Between Competing Projects

Film and television projects often compete for the same subject and talent. Recruiting from another production requires separate reviews of ownership, prior agreements, confidentiality, interference, and agency licensing.

What a Talent Attachment Means in Film and Television

The word attached can describe a binding services agreement, a conditional deal memo, an expression of interest, or an expired option. The signed file determines what the package can claim.