Greenberg Glusker partner Bonnie Eskenazi was quoted in the American Lawyer Litigation Daily article, “If You Were Justin Bieber’s Lawyer, What Would You Be Doing Today?” on October 12, 2015 (subscription required).
The article focuses on the unique aspects of representing of celebrities, with Eskenazi noting, “Movie stars, musicians and other entertainers for the most part are ‘just people with the same feelings and concerns’ as regular mortals.” However, when it comes to stars’ legal worries, Eskenazi says they tend to be a bit different.
Whether the litigation involves breach of contract or invasion of privacy, Eskenazi says the overriding question when representing a celebrity client should be, “How do you protect a person’s talent?” She says this is “different than protecting a widget or a golf course.”
Eskenazi doesn’t comment on specific cases. However, there are an abundance of celebrity legal matters in the public sphere one can point to such as the current litigation involving Justin Beiber pending in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
When asked, “If you were, say, Justin Bieber’s lawyer, what would be on your plate right now?”, Eskenazi commented, “The most common celebrity litigation involves delineation of rights, and this suit against Bieber, his mentor Usher and multiple music publishers falls into that category.”
Deciding whether to settle or litigate can also be challenging in the entertainment field since celebrities have different concerns. Eskenazi notes, “If you’re representing someone like Shell Oil or BP, they make a business decision more on dollars and cents,” she said. With talent, the litigation may turn more on concerns about public perception. “It’s not the same decision-making matrix,” she said.
“I teach entertainment law at Stanford Law School, and I ask my students ‘What is entertainment law?’ There is no such thing,” she said. Rather, it’s a combination of multiple practice areas “overlaid on to the most unique, strange industry. ... You can’t understand the legal side without understanding the business side.”
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Greenberg Glusker partner Bonnie Eskenazi was quoted in the American Lawyer Litigation Daily article, “If You Were Justin Bieber’s Lawyer, What Would You Be Doing Today?” on October 12, 2015 (subscription required).
The article focuses on the unique aspects of representing of celebrities, with Eskenazi noting, “Movie stars, musicians and other entertainers for the most part are ‘just people with the same feelings and concerns’ as regular mortals.” However, when it comes to stars’ legal worries, Eskenazi says they tend to be a bit different.
Whether the litigation involves breach of contract or invasion of privacy, Eskenazi says the overriding question when representing a celebrity client should be, “How do you protect a person’s talent?” She says this is “different than protecting a widget or a golf course.”
Eskenazi doesn’t comment on specific cases. However, there are an abundance of celebrity legal matters in the public sphere one can point to such as the current litigation involving Justin Beiber pending in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
When asked, “If you were, say, Justin Bieber’s lawyer, what would be on your plate right now?”, Eskenazi commented, “The most common celebrity litigation involves delineation of rights, and this suit against Bieber, his mentor Usher and multiple music publishers falls into that category.”
Deciding whether to settle or litigate can also be challenging in the entertainment field since celebrities have different concerns. Eskenazi notes, “If you’re representing someone like Shell Oil or BP, they make a business decision more on dollars and cents,” she said. With talent, the litigation may turn more on concerns about public perception. “It’s not the same decision-making matrix,” she said.
“I teach entertainment law at Stanford Law School, and I ask my students ‘What is entertainment law?’ There is no such thing,” she said. Rather, it’s a combination of multiple practice areas “overlaid on to the most unique, strange industry. ... You can’t understand the legal side without understanding the business side.”
