Morals Clauses: Past, Present and Future
This note argues that morals clauses remain important in talent contracts, despite the liberalization of the modern moral climate. Morals clauses, express and implied, are employed to terminate a contract…
Signing in Glitter or Blood?: Unconscionability and Reality Television Contracts
Reality television is a modern phenomenon that can be found on both daytime and primetime television. Using “real” people creates unique problems for production teams. Real people do not have…
“Adapting to the Realities of 21st Century Journalism”: Keith Olbermann and an Examination of Legal and Political Constraints in an Era of Partisan News Outlets
When NBC News suspended Keith Olbermann for donating to political campaigns and thus violating company policies, the news reporters became the news. The punditry tried to assess whether or not…
Fasten Your Seatbelts, It’s Going to Be a Bumpy Night: The Implications of Recent Delaware Case Law on the Film Industry
Recently, the Court of Chancery in eBay v. Newmark doubted the ability of firms to cite a threat to corporate culture as legitimate grounds for implementing a takeover defense. Just over a…
Regulating the Film Industry in China: A New Approach
For U.S. filmmakers, the People’s Republic of China represents a prodigious market opportunity. Yet, true exploitation of the market is simply chimerical due to an obstinate web of import quotas,…
Foreign Formats – Licensing Optional?: Why ABC’s “Bombshell” Memo regarding Foreign Formats Isn’t Scandalous at All
On June 24, 2008, ABC Executive Vice President Howard Davine wrote a memo to ABC’s executive producers and show-runners which suggested that there may be no need to license a…