Author: Joy R. Butler

ISBN: 9780967294018

If you are involved in media be it radio, television, film, newspaper, magazines, or the Internet, it would be very difficult not to be concerned about the possibility of being sued. Moreover, if you try to wade through the thousands of laws, doctrine and jurisprudence to try to make sense of the complex legal issues involving the media, you would probably come to the same conclusion as Will Rodgers did when he quipped “the minute you read something you can’t understand, you can almost be sure it was drawn up by a lawyer.”

Joy R. Butler, author of The Permission Seeker’s Guide Through The Legal Jungle: Clearing Copyrights, Trademarks and Other Rights for Entertainment and Media Productions, is an entertainment and business attorney involved in helping media and entertainment companies clear rights. She has been quoted in various publications as the New York Times, Washington Lawyer, The Motley Fool, Independent Film & Video Monthly and the Orlando Sentinel.

Putting together a book addressed to the layman that will help in identifying legal issues that arise in media productions is a formidable task however Butler manages to cover a lot of ground. Nonetheless, as she mentions in her introduction, the information she has provided may still not cover an interpretation or an exception that may be unique to a particular situation. Furthermore, as is the case with all books of a similar nature dealing with legal matters, the book is not an adequate substitute for seeking legal guidance from an attorney familiar with the facts and circumstances of your particular case.

Butler divides the book into six neat sections. The first introduces an overview of rights clearance issues, wherein she explains what rights clearance entails and why it is important to secure clear rights for your production. There is even an invaluable checklist of clearance issues. The next section goes on to explain in straightforward and understandable language the relevant rights and US laws pertaining to copyright, trademarks, elements of privacy, defamation, right of publicity, and other pertinent rights and laws.  It should be mentioned, as Butler states in her introduction, that the landscape pertaining to laws and jurisprudence is that it is always changing, as the entertainment and media business are fluid. It is essential that you refer to most recent information involving particular media legal issues. From this last section we step into the world of clearance issues pertaining to publishers and writers, visual artists, musicians and music producers, film, TV and audio-visual producers, website and software producers and business issues. I was particularly interested in what Butler has to say about website producers particularly her caveats pertaining to domain name infringement, linking, framing, metatags, and immunity from defamation and copyright claims. She even manages to include some interesting jurisprudential nuggets concerning Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the nationally recognized proponent of assisted suicide as well as John Cerasini, a mafia associate.

Part four deals with the procedures to secure clearing rights and seeking permission-something that can be overwhelming when you consider the amount of paper work involved. It is here where readers are informed as to how to organize your documents in order to approach a rights clearance project. The fifth section delves into the topic of seeking permission to use specific materials to use in books, visual art productions, film, TV, video and other media. The concluding chapter deals with minimizing liability and dealing with the unwanted lawsuits.

 The book is a solid presentation of a subject matter that could have easily fallen into the realm of the mundane. However, with clear and concise language, devoid of legalese, Butler manages to keep her readers awake as they fill in the blanks pertaining to the many issues involving media law. In addition, readers will be grateful for the inclusion of over fifty pages of resources and sample forms. This is one book that, as the press releases states, can become the “Bible of the rights clearance community.”

The above review was contributed by: NORM GOLDMAN:  Retired Title Attorney: Editor & Publisher of Bookpleasures. Here are  Norm Goldman's Reviews       

To read Norm's Interview With Joy R. Butler CLICK HERE