This time of year Santa Claus is everywhere. Selling cars, soft drinks, kitchen appliances, and just about anything else you can think of. Can anyone use Santa to market their goods or services? What about other fictional characters like James Bond, Superman, or Rocky Balboa? Can they be used freely? Or does their use require…
Sponsorship and endorsement deals have been in existence for quite some time, but recent trends – from the rise of celebrity culture and social media influencers to the NCAA allowing student-athletes to generate compensation from the licensing of their rights of publicity (aka “NIL”) – have increased their prevalence and importance. In a sponsorship…
Tina Turner recently sold her music catalog and the right to license her name and likeness, reportedly for more than $50 million dollars. Fleetwood Mac members Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks separately sold their catalogs (Stevie reportedly netted $100 million), and perhaps the most prolific songwriter of his era, Bob Dylan, sold his vast music…
Our attorneys at Crown, LLP have represented Creative Agencies — such as branding, naming, package design, marketing, and public relations agencies – for well over twenty years. Over and over we see the same legal issues and mistakes made by Creative Agencies in their contracts with their clients as well as in operational issues that…
Entertainment law is broad, coving a range of activities including sports, TV and movies, live theater, music, publishing, and much more, with each area typically involving multiple fields of law including contracts, entity formation, copyright, trademark, the right of publicity, and others. Additionally, many endeavors in the entertainment industry have an overlay of regulation specific…
Many people are surprised how often right of publicity issues arise. They think that the right of publicity only applies to celebrities, and perhaps only to a photograph of a celebrity, and thus if a celebrity’s image is not used, there is no right of publicity issue. Or perhaps they believe that if the use…
Creative services providers, like branding, naming, graphic design, and packaging design agencies (to name a few) are commonly engaged by consumer products companies to create new brands, logos, product names, package designs, and a wide range of materials to be used in the marketing and sale of their products to the public. While there are…
Under United States Copyright law, the general rule is that the person who actually creates a copyrightable work is the legal author or creator and, therefore, owner of the copyright in that work. The doctrine of work for hire (often shortened to the acronym WFH) is an exception to that general assumption. If a work…
On June 21, 2021, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston, et al. While the decision in NCAA v. Alston is narrow and, by itself, only a small victory for college athletes, it represents another significant blow to the NCAA’s outdated concept of amateurism and another step…
As Published in The Marin Lawyer, An Official Publication of the Marin County Bar Association © Elizabeth J. Rest 2015 In this age of digital downloads and streaming music we often hear musicians lament that they simply are not making enough money. Gone are the days of traditional record deals including substantial advances, cushy tour…
At Crown®, LLP we believe that creativity is developing products, brands, music, and art that is informing and entertaining. Our clients work in all kinds of industries, from tea to t-shirts, beer to Broadway, and all the creative in between.
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(415) 932-6557