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Entertainment Law Research Guide

Introduction

This guide was prepared to assist research on entertainment law at the Georgetown University Law Library. Entertainment law encompasses all of the legal problems and issues most commonly faced by a variety of related industries, including film, television, radio, music recording, publishing, theater, and sports. The areas of law most frequently associated with the field are intellectual property, agency, antitrust, contracts, and labor and employment.

While this guide is intended to introduce researchers to the general field of entertainment law, we also have guides on specific aspects of the field, such as sports law, art law, music law, trademark law, and copyright.

Members of the Georgetown University community can seek additional assistance at the reference desk or online.

Getting Started

The following resources provide good introductions to entertainment law, and are excellent starting points for research:

Primary Law Resources

Case Law

For information on researching U.S. case law generally, see Georgetown Law Library's Case Law Research Guide or the Case Law Research Tutorial. Additional sources for finding court opinions dealing with entertainment law include the following:

Statutes

For information on researching U.S. statutory law generally, see Georgetown Law Library's Statutes Research Guide or the Statutory Research Tutorial. Additional sources for finding statutes dealing with entertainment law include the following:

  • Title 17 of the United States Code contains the text of current federal copyright law. The following is a selected list of important copyright statutes:
    • Copyright Act of 1909, Public Law 60-349, 35 Stat. 1075 (1909)
    • Copyright Act of 1976, Pub. L. No. 94-553, 90 Stat. 2541 (1976)
    • Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Pub L. No. 105–304, 112 Stat. 2860 (1998)
    • Sound Recording Act of 1971, Pub. L. No. 140, 85 Stat. 39 (1971)
    • Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-104, 110 Stat. 56 (1996)

  • Title 15 of the U.S. Code contains the text of three major antitrust statutes:
    • Sherman Antitrust Act, 26 Stat. 209 (1890)
    • Clayton Act, Pub. L. No. 63-212, 38 Stat. 730 (1914)
    • Federal Trade Commission Act, 38 Stat. 717 (1914)

  • Other statutes:
    • Trademark Act of 1946 ("Lanham Act"), Pub. L. No.79-489, 60 Stat. 427 (1946)
    • California Civil Code Section 3344 (Right of publicity)
    • California Penal Code Section 653w (Failure to disclose origin of recording or audiovisual work)
    • New York Civil Rights Law Sec. 50 & 51 (Right of privacy and action for damages)

For information regarding major statutes dealing with specific areas of entertainment law, please refer to our art law, music law, and sports law research guides.

Regulations

For information on researching U.S. regulations generally, see Georgetown Law Library's Administrative Law Research Guide or the Administrative Law Tutorial.

Select federal regulations relevant to the entertainment industry:

  • 37 C.F.R. secs. 200-299
    Regulations promulgated by the Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
  • 37 C.F.R. secs. 300-399
    Regulations promulgated by the Copyright Royalty Board, Library of Congress.
  • 47 C.F.R. secs. 70-79
    Regulations promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission dealing with broadcast radio services.

Secondary Sources

Treatises & Other General Works

Academic Journals

News & Current Awareness

These current awareness publications are heavily used by attorneys to keep up with recent cases, proposed legislation, and developments within their practice areas.

Study Aids

Other Resources

  • Entertainment Law Digest
    Short abstracts; full-text stories are available only to subscribers. Published by Courthouse News Service. (1996-present)

Further Research Tools

The Georgetown Law Library also has a number of other research guides that are relevant to specific areas of entertainment law:

Updated 11/27/2007 (YM)
Revised 07/18/2011 (TV)

Page last saved 19-Jan-2012