SXSW 2011: Legal Issues in the Music, Film and Emerging Technology Industries

2/11/2011

Lommen Abdo Law Firm presents, in conjunction with South by Southwest (SXSW), Legal Issues in the Music, Film and Emerging Technology Industries. 36 industry leaders will fill 12 panels addressing topics related to the current music, film and technology industries.  All SXSW registrants are welcome. Attorneys may register for up to 12.0 CLE credits.

 
MATERIALS


 
Presented by


with the support of
 


 
 
 

 
Nels Jacobson and Ken Abdo, Program Co-Chairs
Program Coordinator: Theresa Abdo Whelan

  
 
SCHEDULE

 
Interactive/Film on Tuesday, March 15
 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Data Customization and Privacy - Can They Coexist?
The use of services on devices connected to the internet makes much personal information about viewers and listeners available which is the basis for the creation of custom data that can be used to market to customers. Regulators and privacy advocates are pushing back that the practice is too intrusive. The debate continues with the panel addressing all sides of the issue. 
  • David Ring (moderator), EVP, Business Development & Business Affairs, eLabs, Universal Music Group, Santa Monica
  • Howard Hogan, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, New York
  • Gerard Stegmaier, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Washington, D.C.  
 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
With services such as Google TV, the rules of the road are blurred at the intersection of linear TV and regular TV on the same sets. Legal and business issues are buzzing around the conflicts created by multiple advertisers not intending to be seen simultaneously on different programs on the same screen and the protection of the respective broadcaster's content. Whose rights and whose wrongs?  
2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
As equity, presales and other traditional forms of financing have dried up, filmmakers have looked for new forms of financing.  Properly utilized, crowd funding, corporate sponsorships, fiscal agents, soft money and project related investments can be useful and versatile financing tools for the independent producer.  They can be deployed to develop, launch, partially/fully fund, or complete a project.  But there are numerous legal pitfalls to navigate.  As these sources become more widely used, they will most certainly draw increased legal scrutiny.  
3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Productions are no longer financed and distributed exclusively for theatrical, DVD, and world-wide TV.  Increasingly, works are produced specifically for alternative platforms, including exclusively for online.  The panel will discuss production, finance, and distribution of works produced for online, cross-platforms, and transmedia.   
 
Music on Friday, March 18
 
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Recording Artist Deals Beyond Music
Being a music artist is sometimes about music and sometimes not.  More than ever, rights and their value are borne more of celebrity than from artistry, profoundly affecting the nature of the traditional relationship between artists and record companies.  The panel will address the source of these rights, and their exploitation and valuation in a rapidly changing landscape. 
  • Ken Abdo (moderator), Lommen Abdo Law Firm, Minneapolis
  • Ken Hertz, Hertz & Lichtenstein, Beverly Hills
  • Jeffrey Light, Myman, Greenspan, Fineman, Fox, Light, Los Angeles
12:30 to 1:30 p.m. What You Get and Give Up in Today's Recording Agreement
The exclusive recording agreement remains the centerpiece contract of most music artists’ careers. However, by getting signed, not only are the probabilities of a sustained career with a record company less than at the beginning of this century, but the terms of the recording agreement also have evolved since then to become less artist-friendly. Declining music sales, coupled with the reduction of the purchase price of music altogether, justifies scrutinizing record deals more than ever. 
2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Publishing: Music’s Last Money Train?
As mechanical royalties on hard goods disappear, songwriters must rely on new and renewed revenue sources such as synchs, production libraries, black box monies, rerecords, lyric deals, mobile apps, and various digital distributions. The deals and legal considerations governing these exploitations will be discussed by the panel.
3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Cross-Platform Licensing: The New Media Music Deals
Entertainment commerce is more than ever about content licensing across multi-media platforms and products, including games, toys, and audio-visual applications. Various licenses will be explained and compared
  • Henry Root (moderator), Lapidus, Root, Franklin & Sacharow, Santa Monica
  • Karen Hope, SVP, RCA/JIVE Label Group, New York
  • David Weinberg, SVP, Business and Legal Affairs, Universal Music Group, eLabs, Santa Monica
 
Music on Saturday, March 19
 
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Ethics: The Biggest Practice Mistakes to Avoid
The rules of professional conduct apply to all lawyers. However, because of nuance from one practice area to another, the rules may have a disparate impact on entertainment lawyers. Learn to spot the issues and avoid making the big mistakes.
  • Ken Abdo, Lommen Abdo Law Firm, Minneapolis
  • John Strohm, Johnston, Barton, Proctor & Rose, Birmingham
12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Hot Policy that Could Change Our Legal Lives
Legislation and policy making in D.C. reverberates through the music business at every level. From copyright reversions to net neutrality, current debates and imminent decisions will affect the music business and creative communities for years and perhaps generations to come. Policy making observers and participants will review hot policy topics and their potential impact on the music industry.
  • Daryl Friedman (moderator), NARAS/Advocacy & Government Relations, Washington, D.C. 
  • Jay Rosenthal, SVP and General Counsel, National Music Publishers' Association, Washington, D.C.
  • Ken Abdo, Lommen Abdo Law Firm, Minneapolis
2:00 to 3:00 p.m. The Impact of Recent Big Music Cases
What does it mean for a multi-platinum act when one of its founding members leaves? How about when a new member joins? And have the major labels been accounting to their legacy artists appropriately and fairly on the sales of digital downloads featuring those artists' recorded performances? These and other crucial issues have been at the forefront of recently decided music industry cases. This panel will review the cases, the rulings' impact on the music business and the issues the courts left open to further debate. 
  • David Given (moderator), Phillips, Erlewine & Given, San Francisco
  • Barry O’Neil, Lommen Abdo Law Firm, Minneapolis
  • Stan Soocher, Associate Professor of Music & Entertainment Industry Studies, University of Colorado, Denver
3:30 to 4:30 p.m. The Most Important Back-Up Instruments for a Baby Band
Bands are built, broken and busted on the seemingly less important internal deals entered into among the members. These quiet documents can become the loudest should a band's business become unharmonious. Band member agreements, writing collaboration agreements, management agreements, production agreements and other issues facing a rising band will be discussed. 
 

 For additional information on SXSW, visit www.SXSW.com.