Entertainment Attorney Danny Andrews Negotiates Lucrative Deal for Lead in Upcoming Major Film

After several weeks of heavy back and forth negotiations, entertainment attorney Danny Andrews has successfully negotiated a lucrative deal for his client in connection with his role as the lead in the sequel to a successful film, which is set to be distributed by the same major that distributed the first movie.

My client who also starred in the first move, in a deal that he was not happy with, contacted my office when he needed the agreement negotiated for the sequel.  This time around he had a successful movie under his belt, fans and some leverage to get a better deal.  Even with this new leverage,  it looked like the deal was not going to happen for a number of reasons that will remain unsaid.  However, after some conversations between myself and the production company, I was able to remind the parties that this movie needed my client in order to be successful.  After all, he was the lead in the first movie and the movie was based on this character's story.  Consequently, the parties came to the table and we worked out a deal.  In fact, I was able to negotiate a payday for my client that was 5 times higher than the initial offer.  The deal, many of the terms of which I cannot share, incorporates guaranteed compensation as well as other compensation tied to a successful theatrical release, DVD sales and other exploitations of the film.  My client, who didn't initially think that my aggressive negotiation tactics would work, called my office the day the agreement was signed and said, "I won't doubt you again...you are the man." I told him, in this business you've got to take calculated risks.  I said, you've got to know your worth and you've got to stick to your guns.

If you are a musician, actor, producer, writer, etc., it is important that you seek legal counsel before entering into any negotiations and/or agreements related to your intellectual property, name and likeness, or for your services, generally.  For more information on how Los Angeles entertainment attorney Danny Andrews can help protect your rights and get you paid, please visit us at  www.dannyandrews.com and contact us with any questions you might have.     

Los Angeles Lawyer Danny Andrews Writes Article Teaching You How To Protect Your Copyrights

As a lawyer in Los Angeles, the heart of the entertainment industry, I get hundreds of calls and emails from artists, writers, and producers alike asking me questions about how to protect their copyrights and other intellectual property.  But many people don't understand a very important provision in the Copyright Act of 1976 known as the "work made for hire" provision.  If you are like most creative people today, you understand that to be successful or to be discovered, you've got to do a lot of the work on the front-end, yourself.  Artists today are serving as their own publicists, managers, marketing team, and even record labels.   

Have you ever hired someone to create a track for, design a website, write an article for your online magazine, or take photographs for your album cover? Or, maybe you’ve done most of the work, but asked someone to write the introduction to the book you plan to self-publish or write the hook to your new song.  Sound familiar?  This happens all the time.  So, here’s the question of the hour:  When you hire someone to do creative work for you, do you legally own the work?   

You may think that because you paid someone to do the work or because you did most of the work and they only added what you deem to be a trifling portion, that you own the copyright exclusively.  But, like George and Ira Gershwin once said, “It Ain’t Necessarily So”.  The general rule of copyright is, the person who creates the work, owns the work.  But this is not always the case.  As with most intellectual property laws, there are exceptions to rules.  To see the full article that I wrote on this topic, please click here: http://dannyandrews.com/?p=128.  

And as usual, for more information and updates on this article or any other matter, please fee free to contact me, Danny Andrews by visiting www.dannyandrews.com

Danny Andrews LA Lawyer Continues To Provide Pro Bono Legal Services To Disadvantaged Communities

This is my second blog entry, but by now, you know that my name is Danny Andrews and I am a lawyer in LA.  While I generally practice entertainment law, you know, copyrights, contracts, trademarks etc., sometimes I provide legal services in other non-entertainment areas.  Such as,  bankruptcy, consumer advocacy and protection, family law, and wills and trusts.  This is just what I did this past Saturday at Tom Mesereau's Free Legal Clinic.  I don't pretend to be an expert in any of these areas of law.  So,  I help advise the clients the best way I can, and when there's an area of law that is not my speciality; well, there's a great team of attorneys at the Mesereau Free Legal Clinic to whom I can refer clients, and vice versa, including Tom Mesereau himself.

After spending more than 3 hours at the Free Legal Clinic, I walked away feeling a sense of accomplishment that made me remember why I became a lawyer.  LA with all its wealth, also has some of the most disadvantaged people in the country.  In just a few short hours, I had helped a woman file for bankruptcy, I'd helped a non-English speaking man resolve certain real property issues, and I'd helped a woman stay in her apartment without fear of losing her government subsidized housing.  So, now I'm hooked and plan to be at the free legal clinic more Saturdays than not.  As if the day wasn't amazing enough, as I was walking out of the clinic, Executive Director, Sophia Harris said to me, "hey, aren't you that entertainment attorney Danny Andrews?" I said, "yes."  And, after a long talk about how we could continue to give back, we decided that I am going to be putting together a free entertainment law information series for the communities that the clinic serves throughout LA.  We are going to teach young and old people alike how to protect their intellectual property, whether it be copyrights, trademarks, music, scripts, and/or other works.  Stay tuned for details.  We'd love to see you there.  

So, if you need free legal advice in any aspect of your life, or if you're an attorney, paralegal, or law student, and want to come by and provide some free legal services, please feel free to stop by.  The clinic is held on Saturdays at Morningside Church located at 8722 Crenshaw Blvd in Inglewood.


And as usual, for more information and updates on this or other volunteer opportunities and activities that I am involved in, and/or if you need legal assistance, please feel free to contact me, Danny Andrews.  My contact information can be found at www.dannyandrews.com.