Welcome

Whether it is a Homeric epic recited onstage at the theater at Epidaurus, a classic comedy reworked and replayed in an amphitheater in Rome, Shakespeare resounding from the boards at the Globe Theatre to one of the stages at Ashland, a Broadway musical performed at the Hollywood Bowl, a motion picture premiere, streaming Internet media or a podcast series, the dramatic arts entertain us, inform us, teach us, connect us, take us to new places, expand our horizons and continuously offer up opportunities (including – yes – employment) for those who participate, including writers, producers, actors, directors and all those that work to develop entertainment, in the dynamic arena we know as “The Business”.

And attorneys, such as the author of this Blog.

Without much that lawyers do – ranging from assembling an option and purchase agreement for the literary property that forms the genesis of all projects, to counseling a production company, to negotiating the terms of distribution agreements, and so on and so on – projects would simply not get off the ground. The good news is that when the legal counseling is done right, everybody wins: the writer, the producer, the director, the actors, the post-production people, the craft services folk and, of course, all those who experience the final entertainment product.

The purpose of this Blog is to provide insights into the goings-on in the entertainment business in general – hence the title of “The Arts Law” – and current legal issues in particular…all delivered with clarity, intelligence, realism and no small amount of humor.