Note: Parking will be validated for this CLE.
Register now, and join your colleagues for the NBA Entertainment, Sports & Media Law Committee’s premier annual event!
This full day, information-packed CLE program will feature panels on immigration law in the entertainment industry, projecting growth of digital streaming, the current state of copyright fair use, the legal processes involved in making documentary films, and the ever-popular sports law panel focusing on the new age of American sports gambling and compensation of athletes.
If you practice in entertainment, sports, or media law, you don’t want to miss this opportunity to learn about and network in your field. Attorneys in other legal practice areas are also welcome and encouraged to attend. Lunch and a reception at Alley Taps sponsored by Herman Hicks of First Tennessee Bank are included with registration for this seminar.
8:30-9:00am | Registration
9:00-10:00am | The Art of Immigration in the Entertainment Industry (1.0 General)
Moderated by Linda Rose, Rose Immigration Law Firm, PLC
Douglas Russo, Rose Immigration Law Firm, PLC
Blessing Offor, Singer/Songwriter
Immigration law is a lot more than undocumented workers and families being separated at the border. You would be surprised to see how much immigration impacts the arts, entertainment, and athletics. (A number of America’s top country music stars are from foreign countries!) This panel is designed for attorneys who represent foreign artists and athletes, as well as U.S. managers, agents, bands and teams that work with foreigners. Speakers will cover basic visa issues for artists (collectively, visual artists, entertainers, musicians) and athletes, as well as delve into some of the more complex issues that typically arise when representing artists and athletes. You will hear the personalized immigration experiences of select artists and maybe even get a taste of music performed by one of Nashville’s foreign artists. Don’t miss this important, fun, and cutting-edge panel on the “art” of immigration law.
- Immigration vocabulary -- petitioners, beneficiaries, agents, consultation letters, itineraries
- The alphabet soup of work-authorized visas for artists and athletes – O-1A, O-1B, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-3
- Permanent residence (Green Card) requirements for artists and athletes
- Why do artists need “work” visas? Is painting a landscape or competing in an athletic event “work”?
- Are U.S. immigration laws more restrictive or more welcoming than other countries?
10:00-10:10am | Break
10:10-11:40am | Full “Stream” Ahead: Projecting Streaming Growth in the Music Industry (1.5 General)
Moderated by Derek Crownover, Dickinson Wright
Duff Berschback, Sony/ATV
J.D. Connell, SESAC Vice President and Counsel, New Media Licensing, Nashville
Steven McMillan, Director of Royalties, Blue Sky Group Business Management LLC
Lauren Spahn, Attorney, Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton, LLP, Nashville
This panel will take a look at the details of the current streaming rates, the interplay between record deals, album releases, and the need for continuous product roll-outs, as well as the future value of streaming and what a record deal of the future will look like.
11:40am-12:40pm | Lunch Sponsored by First Tennessee Bank
12:40-1:40pm | Fair or Foul?: Campbell v. Acuff-Rose and the State of Copyright Fair Use Controversies Today (1.0 General)
Stan Soocher, Esq., Editor-in-Chief of Entertainment Law & Finance
The 25th anniversary is upon us of the U.S. Supreme Court’s consideration of Campbell v. Acuff-Rose, the copyright infringement case that arose out of Nashville federal court over 2 Live Crew’s rap version of Roy Orbison’s rock classic “Oh, Pretty Woman.” In Campbell, since cited in hundreds of court decisions, the Supreme Court ruled for the first time that a parody may be a copyright fair use. But the decision left controversies for content creators and users in its wake, some of which have been magnified by today’s online and social media inclusions of pre-existing content. In this presentation, Professor Soocher will examine how these concerns are playing out, including: distinctions between fair or license-required derivative uses; between fair and de minimis use defenses; the role of fair use analysis in sending DMCA takedown notices; criticism of Campbell’s emphasis on the “transformative” use factor; and how courts handle motions to dismiss, the drafting of jury instructions and other procedural issues in fair use disputes.
Stan Soocher is the long-time Editor-in-Chief of Entertainment Law & Finance. He is also Professor of Music & Entertainment Industry Studies at the University of Colorado’s Denver Campus. In addition, Stan is an award-winning journalist and entertainment attorney. He is author of the books Baby You’re a Rich Man: Suing the Beatles for Fun & Profit and They Fought the Law: Rock Music Goes to Court, the latter which is now available in an updated, expanded edition in Amazon’s Kindle Store.
This is Stan’s 25th consecutive year presenting to the Nashville Bar Association.
1:40-2:40pm | “So I Want to Make a Documentary Film. Now What?” (1.0 General)
Suzanne Kessler, Bone McAllester Norton
In this engaging presentation, you will gain insights into the legal processes and contracts involved in making a documentary film from start to finish, using two documentaries as case studies. Topics and contracts covered include:
- life story rights acquisitions and agreements/estate permissions
- narrator agreements
- location agreements
- personal releases
- production personnel contracts
- third-party intellectual property rights acquisition (e.g., music licenses, film/video clip and photograph licenses)
- stock footage use
- public domain materials
- fair use considerations
- advising clients throughout the production and clearance processes
In addition, fundraising and production insurance issues will be touched on.
2:40-2:50pm | Break
2:50-4:20pm | Sports Law Panel (1.5 Dual)
Moderated by Alex Hall, Shuttleworth PLLC and Jimmie Strong, Baker Donelson
Dana Drew Shaw, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP
Isaac Conner, Manson Johnson Conner PLLC
Che Mock, Founder, ESQ Agency; NFL, NBA Certified Agent
Topic I: Legal Considerations and Uncertainties in the New Age of American Sports Gambling
In a May 2018 decision in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) conflicts with the Tenth Amendment. Overturning PASPA allowed state legislatures to pass laws permitting sports wagering. As of September 2018, five states permit sports wagering, three states have taken legal or budgetary action, and another eighteen states have old laws on their books or have introduced new legislation related to sports wagering. Now what?
- Will Congress ultimately get involved?
- Should sports leagues get paid? How?
- Does legalization threaten the “integrity of the game”?
- Is this the end of the offshore books and illegal markets?
Topic II: Compensating Players and Cleaning the NCAA System Without Killing the Economics
NCAA basketball and NCAA football are the most profitable collegiate sports, but discussions regarding paying players and allowing players to profit from their names and likenesses haven't moved the NCAA from its defense of amateurism. Perhaps, an intermediate step is necessary. One potential intermediate step could be pressing the NCAA to stretch its exception that allows athletic programs to purchase loss of value insurance policies for projected top draft picks; such policies pay player beneficiaries certain amounts in the event that injuries cause the players to be selected much later in the draft than originally projected. Players with these policies tend to be the same players targeted by agents, runners, financial advisors, business managers, handlers, and others hoping that an early investment during the time that the player is not permitted to be paid leads to long-term returns. While the NCAA wants to root out these early investments that threaten player eligibility and system integrity, the NCAA hasn't been proactive in filling the void that these early investors can't ignore. One way to fill that void is to allow players who are named as beneficiaries in loss of value insurance policies to loan against their policies.
- What legal protections would be needed to protect the players and the NCAA?
- What unintended consequences would result from permitting players to loan against these polices?
- What stops players from loaning against these policies now? Is the NCAA's consent necessary?
4:20pm | Reception at Alley Taps Sponsored by First Tennessee Bank
Jeffrey L. Allen, Bradley
Shellie Handelsman, Shuttleworth PLLC
1.5 Dual & 4.5 General
$0 | CLE Easy Passholder
$275 | NBA Members
$549 | Non-Members
After December 5, 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.
