Produced by the Entertainment, Sports & Media Law Committee
8:30-9:00am | Registration
9:00-10:00am | Live Performance Contracts 101: The Good, The Bad, and Everything In Between (1.0 General)
With the increasing legal complexities in the live performance industry, lawyers, agencies, promoters, managers and talent buyers have had to re-examine their template agreements and legal protocols related to performers and entertainment. This live performance panel will highlight the following:
- The basic legal language in the agency agreements, including force majeure, inclement weather, cancellation, insurance and choice of law.
- How the agency, manager, talent buyer, promoter, and their lawyers typically revise and negotiate a live performance agreement.
- Now that we know the basics, what actually qualifies as a “force majeure event” and “inclement weather”?
- What happens next?
Steve Gaches, In-House Counsel, Business Affairs, William Morris Endeavor
Elizabeth Gregory, Partner, Mark Music & Media Law, PC
RJ Romeo, Agent & In-House Counsel, Romeo Entertainment Group
Lauren M. Spahn, Attorney, Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton, LLP
10:00-11:00am | A Free and Responsible Press (1.0 Dual)
The seminar will include a discussion of recent developments in defamation and open records, and the obligations of lawyers making statements to the press. The panel discussion will include a journalist with suggestions about dealing with the media.
Robb S. Harvey, Waller
Demetria Kalodimos, WSMV News Channel 4
Edward D. Lanquist, Jr., Patterson Intellectual Property Law
11:00-11:10am | Break
11:10am-12:10pm | On The Edge: Significant New Court Rulings in Entertainment & Media (1.0 General)
Highlights of this presentation include:
- Burdens of proof in statutory and in common law right of publicity claims
- Incontestability clauses in royalty provisions
- Impact of copyright termination notices on music administration and sales agreements
- Entertainment litigation funding disputes
- The role of geoblocking in determining personal jurisdiction in copyright lawsuits
- Mash-ups and fair use
- Recent litigations over rights in band names
- Entertainment content rights as collateral for loans
Professor Stan Soocher, Esq., Editor-in-Chief of Entertainment Law & Finance
12:10-1:10pm | Networking Lunch Sponsored by First Tennessee Bank
1:10-2:40pm | Planning, Operations, Security and Insurance Issues for Lawyers Working on Mass Events in Music and Sports (1.5 General)
With the recent events in Las Vegas, the concert cancellations in St. Louis due to riots, the Baltimore Orioles playing through the Freddy Gray city riots, and the London, France and Orlando venue shootings, lawyers, promoters, security and insurance personnel have had to re-evaluate their deals, their operational plans, their risks, their expenses and even their public statements related to mass live events in music and sports. This esteemed panel will cover the insurance perspective, the venue/owner perspective, the security perspective, the expense perspective, and the public relations perspective associated with modern-day live mass events.
Moderated by Derek C. Crownover, Esq., Entertainment, Sports and Media, International Practice Group Leader, Dickinson Wright PLLC (Nashville, TN)
John Angelos, Esq., COO, Baltimore Orioles (Franklin, TN/Baltimore, MA)
Julie Bennett, General Counsel, Bristol Motor Speedway
Jake LaGrone, CEO, 287 Entertainment
Toby McCord, Partner, Anderson Benson Insurance (Nashville, TN)
Noah McPike, Esq., Of Counsel, Dickinson Wright, PLLC – Music Row (Nashville, TN)
Scott Nichols, Owner, Sequel Tour Solutions (U2, Joshua Tree 2017) (Bingham Farms, MI)
2:40-2:50pm | Break
2:50-4:20pm | The Bridge From Compliance Violations to Criminal Investigations: Explaining the Implications of the FBI's Probe Into the NCAA's Black Market for Talent (1.5 General)
This year’s Nashville Bar Association Sports Law Panel examines the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe that revealed fraud, bribery, and corruption in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball and its implications for other sports and amateurism generally. For the first time, criminal charges and not just NCAA violations have been brought against NCAA coaches, investment advisors, and apparel company executives for their alleged wrongdoing. The parties involved are alleged to have conspired in the following manner: coaches used their influence with student-athletes to steer student-athletes to apparel companies and investment advisors, and, in return, apparel companies and investment advisors made payments (often disguised as legitimate transactions) to coaches, the student-athletes, and student-athletes' family members. Such actions, if proven, would constitute conspiracy to commit bribery through educational programs that receive federal funds. Penalties could include decades in prison. These unprecedented actions raise a number of questions that the panelists will address:
- Why is the FBI involved? Did the NCAA request FBI assistance?
- Why is basketball the target (or the first target)?
- Why are assistant coaches and not head coaches facing charges?
- What does this mean for other sports?
- What does this mean for amateurism?
Moderated by Jimmie Strong, Baker Donelson
Tim Browne, Bass, Berry & Sims, PLC
Isaac Conner, Manson Johnson Law
Che Mock, Founder, ESQ Agency; NFL, NBA Certified Agent
Dan Werly, Sievert Werly
4:20-5:30pm | Happy Hour Sponsored by First Tennessee Bank
Jeffrey L. Allen, Bradley
Shellie Handelsman, Shuttleworth PLLC
1.0 Dual & 5.0 General
$0 | CLE Easy Passholder
$275 | NBA Members
$549 | Non-Members
After November 29, a $10 late fee will be added.
Not an NBA Member? Join the NBA and register at the member rate.
Registration is available online or by calling 615-242-9272.
If you prefer a physical registration form, you may download one here to submit with payment to the NBA.
