Law and Business of the Entertainment Industries, 5th Edition (Law & Business of the Entertainment Industries) (Hardcover)

by Donald E. Biederman (Author), Edward P. Pierson (Author), Martin E. Silfen (Author), Janna Glasser (Author), Charles J. Biederman (Author), Kenneth J. Abdo (Author), Scott D. Sanders (Author) "Although many creative talents are also adept at handling the business aspects of their professional lives (e.g., Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and Michael Douglas, in..." (more)
Key Phrases: undelivered works, net profit formula, voice misappropriation, New York, United States, Lanham Act (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Law and Business of the Entertainment Industry is a comprehensive indispensable guide to the intricacies and pitfalls of the entertainment business." Don Passman Partner, Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown, Beverly Hills author of All You Need to Know About the Music Business "I have taught Entertainment Law at the University of Georgia School of Law since 1988, and I have always used Law and Business of the Entertainment Industries. It is a comprehensive survey of relevant cases and materials, and includes excellent questions and editorial observations. One challenge for the editors is the need for frequent updating due to the rapid pace of technological change across industries; thus far, each succeeding edition has built on and improved from the one before, and with the addition of periodic supplements between editions I will surely be able to present the most cutting-edge advances in the classroom. I cannot wait to get my hands on the fourth edition." Bertis Downs, Professor University of Georgia School of Law "An essential text for examining the landscale of both fundamental and landmark court rulings in the entertainment industry." Stan Soocher Editor-in-Chief, Entertainment Law & Finance Department Chair, Music, and Entertainment Industry Studies University of Colorado at Denver "There is simply no other single legal text that covers the major areas of entertainment law with such practical information and scholarly depth that is also written by practicing lawyers who are long recognized as experts in this field." Scott D. Sanders Adjunct Professor Emory University Law School "Over the years, I have used every edition of this book as the primary text for teaching entertainment law. It is a comprehensive, well-organized, and well-written guide through a compiled and voluminous body of law." Kenneth J. Abdo, Esq. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
“Law and Business of the Entertainment Industries is one of the few texts that thoroughly explores both aspects of the various entertainment industries. Now in its fifth edition, Law and Business of the Entertainment Industries is authored by a panel of experts who are also among the top lawyers in the field. This lends a certain gravitas both to the theoretical, as well as to the practical, aspects of the work. This classic tome sets out and examines the various businesses that comprise the entertainment industry in an accessible, interesting, and thoroughly informative manner....[t]he text generously uses entertainment industry cases and historical examples in order to explain many of the basic principles of these legal specialties. The pleasing result is both a casebook filled with several of the most important decisions affecting the entertainment business....In all, this fully updated fifth edition....[m]ay well be the most comprehensive work on the subject available.”–Entertainment and Sports Lawyer

“Aimed at law students preparing to specialize in this area, this text examines both the legal and business aspects of the entertainment industries. The authors begin by looking at the roles of the various representatives of entertainers and discussing the complex issues involved in recognizing and acquiring rights. Other topics include (for example) literary publishing, sound recordings, film, television, and the Internet. Editor Don Biederman (who died in 2002) taught entertainment and media law at Southwestern U. School of Law in Los Angeles.”–Reference & Research Book News

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1044 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers; 5 edition (November 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275992055
• ISBN-13: 978-0275992057
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #118,055 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A helpful examination of the entertainment business, May 5, 1999

By	William L. Wilson ([e-mail]) (South Bend, Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Law and Business of the Entertainment Industries (Law & Business of the Entertainment Industries) (Hardcover)

As an attorney teaching an entertainment law course to undergraduates at the University of Notre Dame, I've found this text book to be very useful. Not only does it address and examine legal issues that face entertainment industry persons, it examines *how* the entertainment industries actually work. The vast majority of my students have found this book to be useful and worthwhile.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Has room for improvement..., December 5, 2007

By	jen "JL" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

1. There are too many cases to illustrate the same point. For example, the Remedies section does not nearly need to be as long as it is. The bankruptcy section would be just as adequate and informative with 2-3 cases and more commentary. The agency rules chapter and the chapter on literary publishing also have this same problem: it is repetitive and there are too many cases with the same point. Some of the cases would have been been just as effective as a note case.

2. The size of the font for the note cases are too small and sometimes, an eye strain to read. I understand that there is a concern for the length of the book, but with the first suggestion and using thinner pages may fix this. (this book uses paper that is considerably thicker than your average law book). Also, sometimes, with the center justification alignment for the note cases, it squeezes the sentences together, it's almost impossible to read. (see page 199, note 3, the third line --the entire line is practically one word).

3. On the plus side, I do like how the book goes through entertainment agreements. For example, the detailed discussions on music publishing agreements with comments after each provision were very helpful.

2.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat Helpful, April 15, 2008

By	sayock - See all my reviews

I would basically have to agree with Jen's review about this book. There are too many cases, the book is huge and the font is small...especially in the notes sections. The inclusion of various types of contracts has its plusses and minuses. I feel as if the contracts are stuck in the book in their entirety, but they're not necessarily explained. Thus, even if you're in law school, you're reading the contracts, not understanding the language and then not getting an explanation of the contracts. It's almost the same as reading the contracts as a complete layperson. The worst part is that there are tons of these contracts. Someone who taught this course as an adjunct at my law school assigned pretty much all the contracts in the book to read.

Obviously, they are not captivating reading, so if you're in this position you can get stuck reading boring contracts that you don't understand and a professor who assigns all these contracts to read but doesn't explain them well enough--either because he's a lawyer in this field and it makes way more sense to him than to you and/or because he's a practicing attorney rather than a real law professor and, thus, doesn't really know how to teach. I think both applied in my situation, and, unfortunately, people teaching entertainment law oftentimes will be practicing attorneys and/or completely over your head with knowledge.

I don't feel as if this book is well-written, and sometimes the contracts aren't the only things that don't make sense or aren't explained well enough. Terms are thrown out or descriptions/explanations of the industry are given sometimes in ways that don't help someone who knows nothing about it...or at least doesn't know about the areas being covered by a particular chapter. I'm not just talking about the legal aspects; I am also referring to the actual industry itself and the way things work in it. That makes this book much worse than the average legal casebook. And with the size of this book--and, as a result, the amount of material covered in it--a lot of stuff that doesn't always make sense is thrown at you, and that's hard to deal with, even for a law student. And with other books I've seen and/or read on the market that explain the entertainment industry, this book could easily be less in-depth/complicated and shorter, even including the same amount of cases.

In other words, this book is just not brought down to a dummy's level enough, or even enough to be taught in law school. And it takes what should be an interesting subject and makes it completely devoid of intrigue. For people who are interested in this book outside of school reading and want to know more about the intersection of business, entertainment and/or law, this is not the book to read or refer to. What I did like about this book is when I could understand it, it presented a lot of interesting cases and information about the industry, even in its complicated contracts. Still, professors and teachers, please find a better textbook if you're using this to teach...or arrange your class lectures in a way that breaks the book down in English!