Horst said The Academy takes its copyrights and trademarks very seriously, and will protect its intellectual property vigilantly. Horst has worked on other cases in the entertainment and music industries, including representing the father of a young hip-hop star who signed a management contract for his son under which they needed to give up half of his royalties in perpetuity. When the sued and reached a settlement with the management company. The growth of the film and music industries in Atlanta means that Horst's firm gets regular inquiries from people looking for legal help with entertainment related issues. "The cases tend to be a little bit more high profile and that can be of interest to people," Horst said. London firm Marriott Harrison has done work in film and television since it was founded in 1985, according to partners Tony Morris and Jonathan and creative talent in the origination, development, production and exploitation of feature films as well as television and other programming. The firm's corporate department also does merger and acquisition cases and works with those financing investment in television production and production companies. Morris said he found one recent case particularly interesting because it in which Marriott Harrison represented Pattinson Productions Limited in its deal with All3Media the United Kindgom's top independent television, film and digital production and distribution company involved combining first look (an agreement in which a producer or studio agrees to pay a development fee for the right to have the first look at new material before others in the industry get to see it) and distribution in one agreement. "I have not previously been asked to combine first look and distribution within such a complex commercial matrix," he and I was very proud of the finished result." Marriott Harrison's clients include RSA Films, a company owned by Ridley Scott, the film director and producer responsible for films including "Alien," "Thelma & Louise" and "Black Hawk Down." RSA Films is a company Scott created many years ago, before he went to Hollywood, that produces commercials, music videos and some U.K. broadcasters. Morris advises RSA Films on these projects. The firm also represents a number of clients in the music industry including Warnock and others. Morris, a big music and film fan, loves his work. "I enjoy working with creative people," he said. For more information on Primerus firms specializing in entertainment law, visit primerus.com. |