Mark Litwak mainly talks about contracts for film distribution. The filmmaker has to know if the distribution company distributes to theaters, home video, or television. That information is crucial to the filmmakers marketing plan. In negotiating a distribution deal filmmakers should include certain clauses in the contract. A performance clause is a must. This clause allows the filmmaker to get out of the contract if the distribution company does not hold up their end of the deal. Distribution companies ideally want long-term deals. If the filmmaker agrees to this, after the first few years, distribution companies don’t try very hard to distribute the movie. That is why short-term deals are better and they can always get extended. (Litwak, 2011)
Another important clause is the audit clause. This grants the filmmaker the right to check the books of the distribution company. This is an important clause to make sure that the distribution company is spending the allotted budget on the filmmaker’s movie, and not another movie. (Litwak, 2011)
The next podcast is from Greg Eveline on copyright law. Eveline stresses that artist should write their own songs because money is found in the publishing. The melody and lyrics of a song can be copyrighted. If the artist only performs the song they do not hold the copyright. In most cases the record label would hold the copyright. This is called a work for hire or assignment. The record company employees the artist, for a salary, and then has the right to own the copyright. For many artist, they well get a change to recover their work because of a right of reversion. The right of reversion states that after 35 years the artist can get the sold copyright back. (Eveline, 2011)
The last podcast is from Media Concentration in the Entertainment Industry with Stanton “Larry” Stein. Stein talks about the 6 conglomerates that control what we watch, listen to, and read. Some examples are Disney and Time Warner. These 6 conglomerates control 6 thousand TV stations, 15 thousand radio stations, and 80% of the newspapers. (Stein, 2008) This is an issue because it causes a lack of creative and informative content for the general public to consume. Because these companies are so large the artist, or profit participant, sometimes has to sue the company. They have to do this because the company does some creative financing to hold on to the money, and not give the artist their fair share. That is what Stein does; he represents the artist in these cases.
These experts have helped me in thinking about my business plan. I will be distributing my videos to the home theater market. It is good to know that there are different distributors, and knowing which one I need to do business with. Copyright is something I will have to deal with all the time. Being a company I will have to have work for hire contracts if I want the copyrights to a product. I don’t see how the last podcast relates to my business plan, but it is just good general knowledge. Try to have your own thoughts, and not to freely except everything the media gives you. They only portray one side of the story.
For more information on these topics please see the following videos.
References
Entertainment Attorney Mark Litwak Gives Us A New Look Into Hollywood - Filmnut
A Seminar in Copyright Law with Entertainment Lawyer Greg Eveline
Media Concentration in the Entertainment Industry
