Our Philosophy: The entertainment business is about passion and commitment. We practice law with a passion for creativity and a commitment to our clients’ success.
Our Team: The Lommen Abdo Entertainment & Sports Law department is co-chaired by Dan Satorius and Ken Abdo. With their combined 40+ years of experience, they bring extensive experience and expertise to helping individuals and businesses in the entertainment industry meet their needs. Bob Donnelly adds 30 years as an attorney focusing solely on the representation of music industry clients. Paul Bezilla's 25-plus years in the entertainment industry includes legal services for an array of high profile individuals and companies. Barry O'Neil litigates entertainment law disputes. Tim Matson adds his considerable expertise in the intellectual property area, including IP litigation, to the group. Lee Hutton is an NFL contract advisor and contributes his expertise of sports law to the group. Bryan Feldhaus is the associate attorney in this practice group. Christie Healey, paralegal with the Entertainment & Sports Law Department, has a great depth of experience, having been a business affairs executive for major motion picture studios and distributors and television producers and financiers. Theresa Abdo Whelan has excellent credentials and many years of experience as an entertainment paralegal. Our team offers a broad range of capabilities and a depth of experience that make us competitive with entertainment firms anywhere.
Clients: Our clients include GRAMMY
® Award-winning songwriters, recording and performing artists, producers, publishers, record companies, and studios in the music industry; authors and publishers in the literary and electronic publishing industry; Academy Award
®, Emmy Award
®, and Peabody Award-winning independent producers, writers, and television stations in the film and television industry.
Representative Services:
Motion Picture and Television
- Option and Purchase Agreements
- Production Agreements
- Rights Acquisition Agreements
- Distribution Agreements
- Broadcast Licenses
- Cable Network Agreements
- Licensing Agreements
- Talent and Employment Agreements
Music
- Recording Contracts
- Music Publishing Agreements
- Producer, Mixer, Engineer Agreements
- Endorsement and Sponsorship Deals
- Touring and Live Performance Transactions
- Band Agreements
- Music Licensing Agreements
- Distribution Agreements
- Talent Agreements
Trademark
- Evaluations of potential marks, including searches for availability of trademarks and consultation as to selection
- Applications and registration of trademarks
- Enforcement of trademark rights and trademark disputes
- Trademark protection and development programs -- including training of client personnel
- Oppositions and cancellations
- Sending and responding to cease and desist notices
- Trademark licenses and other transactions involving trademarks
- Domain name protection
- Trademark portfolio management
- Litigation
Copyright
- Registration
- Enforcement of copyrights
- Copyright licenses and other transactions involving trademarks
- Disputes involving copyrights
- Sending and responding to cease and desist notices
- Clearing rights in copyrights owned by others
- Copyright portfolio management including, for example, music publishing
- Litigation
Technology Companies/New Media
- Content Acquisition Agreements
- Distribution Agreements
- Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Agreements
- Joint Ventures and Strategic Alliances
- Nondisclosure/Confidentiality Agreements
- Noncompetition Agreements
- Licenses
- Application Service Provider (ASP) Agreements
- Web Designer Agreements
- E-commerce Agreements
- IP Escrow Agreements
- Franchise Agreements
Litigation
- Lommen Abdo attorneys are well known as successful litigators of complex and high-stakes law suits. We bring that successful experience to litigated disputes involving entertainment industry issues including, for example, transactions, copyrights, trademarks, and business disputes
- Mediation and other dispute resolution methods
- Arbitration
Book Publishing
- Publishing Agreements
- Distribution Agreements
- Collaboration Agreements
- Licensing Agreements
Business Law for Entertainment Companies
- Business Structures: Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, and Partnerships
- Financing
- Securities Law
IP Evaluations and Due Diligence
- Rights clearance work for entertainment properties (motion pictures, television programs, computer software, books, music, and websites) involving issues such as copyright, trademark, right of privacy/publicity, defamation, etc.
- Errors and Omission insurance matters, including attorney opinions
- Investor side evaluations
- Intellectual property audits
We would be pleased to answer any questions you may have about the services of our Entertainment, IP and Sports attorneys. Any questions may be directed to:
In Minnesota:
Ken Abdo,
ken@lommen.com, 612-336-9316 or Dan Satorius,
dsatorius@lommen.com, 612-336-9332.
In New York:
Bob Donnelly at 212-683-8775 or
bobdonnelly@lommen.com.
Additional Resources:
Bob Donnelly has had another article published…this time in the April 2008 Julliard Journal, which is one of the most prestigious publications in classical music.
An article which appeared in the March 15, 2008 Boston Globe covering the SXSW Music Festival. Ken Abdo was quoted in the article.
An article on Ken Abdo which was published in the American Bar Association’s Forum in the Entertainment and Sports Industries quarterly publication.
DAN SATORIUS BLOGGING FROM SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL - Link to Dan's blog for Minnesota Public Radio and Gather.com from the Sundance Film Festival from January 19 to 23, 2008.
DIGITAL AGE SHIFTS ROLES OF LABELS, MUSIC PUBLISHERS
DAN SATORIUS'S GUEST APPEARANCE ON TECH TALK ON TPT-17 - Dan discussed digital rights management. The program was produced by the University of Minnesota. Lommen Abdo client, Professor Jon Riedl, was also a guest.
LAW AND BUSINESS OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES, 5TH EDITION
FROM BOOK TO SCREEN: MINING LITERARY WORKS IN THE MOVIE BUSINESS
OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY: FINANCING THE LOW-BUDGET INDEPENDENT FEATURE FILM WITH PRIVATE EQUITY SECURITIES OFFERINGS
CLEARING RIGHTS FOR FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS
ENTERTAINMENT LAW ETHICS
SHOPPING RECORD DEALS
NET PROFITS
WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH PRODUCTION DEALS?
MANAGERS SHOULDN'T BE ENDANGERED SPECIES