Nicole is committed to providing personalized service to each client in the entertainment, creative and entrepreneurial fields.
Although, with entertainment law, Nicole primarily handles legal matters covering the core areas of film, fashion, intellectual property, music, literature, television, and digital/internet print media, she also handles business law, corporate law, contract law, intellectual property law, first-party insurance mediation, union and guild matters, and mediation.
In undertaking any work for a client, Nicole’s aim is to honor the creative expression by creating a synergy between the artistic expression and the various business and legal elements that come into play in the entertainment industry. Nicole meets her clients’ expectations with concise, commercial and strategic expertise, and offers advice proactively, yet cost-effectively.
Entertainment Law Defined
Entertainment law or media law is a term for a mix of more traditional categories of law with a focus on providing legal services to the entertainment industry.
The principal areas of Entertainment Law overlap substantially with the well-known and conventional field of intellectual property law. But generally speaking the practice of entertainment law often involves questions of agency, business and corporate law, defamation (liable and slander), employment law, immigration, insurance law, international, intellectual property (especially trademarks, copyright, trade
secrets, and patents), labor law, partnership, the right of publicity, security interests, and securities law.
Much of the work of an entertainment law practice is transaction based, i.e. drafting contracts, negotiation and mediation.
Weaving Creative Legal Solutions
- Appearances before the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board
- Arbitration of Cybersquatting issues & claims
- Arts
- Assignments and recordation
- Athlete and celebrity endorsement and appearance agreements
- Business and corporate setup
- Business/Corporate/Partnerships
- Cast and crew agreements
- Clearing sampling rights
- Commercial advertising
- Concert promotion
- Content licensing agreements
- Contract and compliance services for website operators
- Contract disputes
- Contractual protection of trade secrets
- Copyright registration
- Copyright searches
- Corporate
- Corporate formalities including operating agreements, meeting resolutions
- Counsel and represent web service providers, ISP, and content providers
- Counseling and representing producers, writers, actors, directors, and crafts-persons
- Counseling and representing record labels, music
- Counseling on appropriate trademark usage in advertising, commercials and packaging
- Credit disputes
- Customs recordation
- Customs recordation
- Cybersquatting
- Debt
- Distribution agreements
- Employment manuals
- Employment, severance and restrictive covenant agreements
- Endorsement Deals
- Entertainment
- Event sponsorship agreements
- Federal and state trademark registration
- Film finance agreement
- Finance agreements, including applicable securities agreements and UCC filings
- Finder’s fee agreements
- Foreign trademark registration
- Foreign trademark registration
- Formation of independent record labels and management, production
- Franchise Agreements
- General Civil
- Intellectual Property
- Intellectual property licensing and assignment agreements
- Internet domain name disputes
- Interpretation of domestic and foreign rights
- Landlord/Tenant
- Libel and Slander
- Licensing
- Licensing and contract negotiation
- Licensing of trademarks and service marks
- Life story rights agreements
- Litigation of cybersquatting claims
- Litigation of disputes relating to trade secret theft and unfair competition
- Litigation of trademark and copyright infringement
- Litigation, mediation and arbitration of copyright matters
- Location agreements
- Media and Communications
- Mediation
- Merchandising
- Merchandising & Licensing
- Modeling contracts
- Music licensing for video games
- Music royalties collection
- Music and interactive entertainment
- Negligence
- Negotiating and drafting band agreements
- Negotiating and drafting music licenses (including synchronization, mechanical, master use, and performing rights licenses).
- Negotiating and drafting recording, publishing, producing, and tour-related agreements.
- Negotiating with ASCAP and BMI
- Negotiating with performing rights organizations.
- Negotiation of literary and screenplay rights
- Negotiation of music and branding-related clearances
- Negotiation of publishing rights related to theater productions
- Non-disclosure agreements
- Opposition and cancellation proceedings
- Option agreements and other matters relating to underlying rights
- Organizational documents for musical groups
- Podcast advertising contracts
- Pre-production review for television, film and print media
- Privacy, publicity and defamation issues
- Product placement agreements
- Production, finance and distribution agreements
- Professional fees
- Protection of rights in merchandising properties
- Purchase and sale of independent record labels and other entertainment entities
- Registration of copyright
- Registration, maintenance and enforcement of copyright, trademark and
- Other intellectual property rights
- Review and negotiation of license, assignment and royalty agreements
- Review and negotiation of recording, CD and music video production and
- management agreements
- Review and negotiation of television and film talent agreements
- Rights clearance
- Sale and purchase of a business
- Securities regulations (state and federal)- of film financing
- Shareholder agreements and stock pledge agreements
- Site development and production agreements
- Small claims
- Sports law
- Strategic and legal advice relating to licensing and delivery of digital information
- Talent Management and Agent Contracts
- Technology
- Title rights
- Title searches and interpretation
- Torts
- Touring agreements
- Trademark and service mark registration, filings and appeals
- Trademark searches and interpretation
- Trademark Trial & Appeal Board on behalf of singers, songwriters, bands and corporate entities
- Trademark/service mark selection and development
- Trademarking band names logos
- Trademarks, Copyrights and Trade Secret
- Union and guild matters
- Web design contracts
- Web rights litigation and arbitration
- Website disclaimers
- Work-for-hire agreements between movie producers and scoring musicians.
- Work-for-hire contracts