LibGuides: Selected Resources for the Entertainment Law Clinic: Home

Welcome

The Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library at the Fowler School of Law at Chapman University offers a variety of resources to support your work with the Entertainment Law Clinic. Click on the hyperlinked title of the resource to access the Law Library catalog record for the item.

Client Interviews

California Client Communications Manual: Sample Letters and Forms by Holly J. Fujie
Provides guidance on written communication with clients at key stages of representation.
Drafting Business Contracts: Principles, Techniques and Forms by Wendy L. Brown & David Peyerwold (eds.)
Chapter 4 provides guidance on conducting a client interview. Includes a checklist, ethical considerations, and discussion points.

Negotiating and Drafting Agreements

Business and Legal Forms for Fine Artists by Tad Crawford
Forms and guidance for visual artists. Sample contracts cover everything from the sale and licensing of artwork through a release form for models and leasing agreements for work space.
Dealmaking in the Film & Television Industry: From Negotiations to Final Contracts by Mark Litwak.
A guide to the processes, with particular attention paid to quirks and pitfalls of the industry.
Entertainment Industry Contracts: Negotiating and Drafting Guide by Donald C. Farber (ed.)
Provides extensive and detailed coverage of the subject with form agreements throughout. The forms are accompanied by commentary explaining each clause.
Entertainment Law: Legal Concepts and Business Practices by Thomas D. Selz, et al.
Another comprehensive source that touches on issues not covered by other sources.
Hollywood Dealmaking by Dina Appleton and Daniel Yankelevits
Each chapter covers a different type of agreement and concludes with a “deal point summary,” or checklist of issues to consider when preparing or negotiating the agreement. Appendix A contains sample contracts.
Lindey on Entertainment, Publishing, and the Arts: Agreements and the Law (3rd ed.) by Alexander Lindey & Michael Landau
Covering intellectual property rights in a variety of mediums. Chapter 6 discusses motion pictures.

Filing for Copyright

Nimmer on Copyright (Rev. ed.)
Generally considered to be the leading treatise on U.S. copyright law, this treatise is updated annually. Chapter 21 contains Copyright Office forms and related materials and Chapter 23 focuses on copyright issues surrounding motion pictures.

Setting Up Business Entities

Check out CEB OnLAW and CEB OnLaw Pro for more transactional and practice management resources specific to California.