Digital Entertainment Law – Creative Talent, User Generated Content And Branded Integration Issues

By Richard Hofstetter, Partner and co-Chair Entertainment Group

With every burst of new technology in our wired entertainment environment, the lines among traditional distribution channels blur a little bit more. We're moving from a predominantly aggregated consumer, "push" broadcast model, to a largely personalized combination of "push" and "pull" – what some have called a "narrowcast" model. Commercial brands are increasingly negotiating to align themselves with -- or create -- entertainment content. And traditional distributors, platform owners, and content developers have seen some of their power erode.

Despite all of this change, the entertainment content business models continue to be driven by familiar friends: revenue dependent on advertising, subscription, pay-per-view, or some combination of these. Our law firm continues to advise clients that the future, like the past, will be about