To: Entertainment Law Seminar Participants

From: Nicholas Johnson

Re: Where we've been, where we're at, where we're going
 

Let's recap.

For starters, here's the bottom line for next Thursday afternoon.  We meet in BLB Room 125 at 2:30 p.m.  With a 15 minute break we'll go to 5:15 p.m. The reading assignment is the theater material; that is, Biederman chapter 12, pages 699-740.  This includes the following cases: Gennaro, Elvin Associates, Childress, Wasserman, and the two Sacks cases.

Please note: This assignment assumes you all, by now, have your book.  If I am wrong about that, and you still do not have it by Wednesday, it is your responsibility to let me know that ahead of time so that I can make some alternative plans/assignments for those of you who will not be prepared.

If you have not yet done so, make sure you check out our seminar Web site:

http://www.uiowa.edu/~cyberlaw/elx99

especially the section headed, "Assigned Materials/Resources."

Why? Because I have not repeated here what is already there about the assignments for this portion of the class, including the hard copy "Introduction: The American Legal System" and links to the two pieces by Professor Clinton we mentioned.  It will be close to impossible for you to deal with the assignment for Thursday without having read this material.

So, for Thursday afternoon we have three purposes: (1) to continue our effort to demystify the law, develop skills at reading court opinions, and apply the insights/techniques from the Clinton and "Introduction" pieces -- skills training, (2) to gain a factual understanding of the workings of the theater industry (from the fact statements in the opinions as well as from the textual material), and purposefully last and least, (3) pick up a little understanding of at least some elements of "theater law."

And don't forget that you owe me a personal one page bio by Thursday.  If you want further directions on that assignment, check out the memo, "Personal Bio Writing Assignment" at

http://www.uiowa.edu/~cyberlaw/lem97/lembio.html

That's an old memo for another class, but it will give you some insight into what I am looking for and why.  (Of course, the "due date" is not, as that memo suggests, "September 2"!)

(1) It's difficult to learn the "law and business" of anything -- including the entertainment industry -- without knowing something about the law in general. That's why what we've done so far, with the law library/building tour and class discussion, is to begin the process of demystifying the law.

You learned, by walking around, that there is an enormous body of legal materials. You got a sense of the rather extraordinary degree to which they are indexed and cross referenced. You know that, today, there is a duplicative/and additional body of material available electronically (e.g., "Westlaw" and "Lexis").

You reviewed, by seeing those materials, that there are two legal systems in the U.S. (state and federal), both of which generate legislative, administrative and judicial material, and that legislative-like sources include constitutions, statutory enactments and administrative regulations. You discovered that most are issued in "slip opinions" or daily (e.g., Supreme Court opinions, the "Federal Register" daily report of new administrative regulations), subsequently bound (e.g., the "U.S. Reports," the "Statutes at Large"), and then republished in an organized way (e.g., the United States Code, the Code of Federal Regulations). You know that there are both official and commercial sources (e.g., the United States Code (official) and United States Code Annotated (commercial)) -- and that many of the latter come from the West Publishing Company.

We made some mention of the law review literature, books, the "Restatements," "horn books," and encyclopedias as possible places to start legal research.

(2) We've begun the process of exploring what each of you, individually, wants to get out of this class: real life dreams and projects you may want to formulate and advance, intellectual interests you'd like to pursue, or whatever.  Because your research paper will make up the bulk of your activity, time, focus (and grade) the sooner you and I can agree on your topic the better for you. This is not something you can write the night before it's due. We will have a number of deadlines/mileposts to meet between now and then. So it's something you'll be putting time in on every week.

Based on what you've told me so far, the following would appear to be our multiple goals and assignments (at this point in time, and subject to revision).

1. Papers and Projects. Each of you will take on a paper topic, or project proposal. This will involve (a) topic selection, in consultation with me, (b) outlining, (c) research, (d) first draft, (e) revision, in response to my editing/suggestions, (f) final draft, and (g) some form of presentation to the class. Each of these mileposts will have its own deadline (to be announced).

2. Reading and Discussion.  A major portion of the seminar will be the readings in Biederman and seminar discussions regarding those assignments. This is the relatively expandable and contractible portion of the seminar.  That is to say, we cannot cover the entire book in any event -- although all of it would be useful to you.  For the next three or more sessions we will cover:

 (a) Theater.  Chapter 12. January 28.

 (b) Multimedia and Other Emerging Technologies.  Chapter 11.  February 4 (as background for our afternoon learning/exploring the Internet/Web).

 (c) Dealing with Talent and Their Representatives. Chapter 2. February 11.

 (d) Beyond this, it would be my (present) intention to cover, in order, chapters 10, 9 and 8 (Television, Films and Sound Recordings) as the most useful to you.  But, by then, you (and I) may have a different sense of what might have higher priority.

3. Visitors and Field Trips.  I would also like to make available to you the opportunity to visit with, hear from, and question, a number of individuals.  Some would be national figures who could give you some additional insights about life and work in Los Angeles and New York. Others would be closer to home -- and to the lives, and opportunities, you are more likely to have open to you immediately after graduation.

In addition to individuals from the entertainment industries, if you would think it useful we might try to arrange a visit to an Iowa City lawyer's office -- if most of you are lucky enough to have never dealt with a lawyer before. S/he could give you some idea of the lawyer-client relationship, how they work with clients in formulating contract provisions (or other agreements), why it's a good idea to see a lawyer before you need one, how fees are determined, and whatever else you might want to ask.

That's the basic mix I have in mind at the moment -- subject, as always, to revisions based on your own needs and desires.