Musical America Blogs

LAW & DISORDER Performing Arts Division June 7, 2023  INSIDE THIS ISSUE: • What Are Contracts For?  • Non-Profit Laws Made Simple  • Are Union Strikes Force Majeure Events?  • Artist Visa Updates   Legal Issue of the Month: What Are Contracts For???  It’s no secret that a vast expanses of artists, venues, managers, presenters, […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein In short, not much. As you can imagine, this was announced without any details as to how, exactly, this was going to work in terms of screening, implementation, flight schedules, etc. But here what we know so far… Anyone who has been in one of the 26 European countries in the […]

I, like most of you, was ingrained with the paradigm that the show must go on no matter what—to the extent that I once performed a whole show the day after I had all four wisdom teeth extracted. However, these are extraordinary times. The live, performing arts will not suffer more than any other economic […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein Let’s all step back and take a breath for moment. As you can imagine, the coronavirus has overrun (dare I say “infected?”) our office with an ever growing stream of cancellations based on force majeur and concerns from venues, presenters, agents, and artists from around the world. As the situation has […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.     Dear Law and Disorder:  Is it legal that a presenter can put “strike, lock-out or other labor controversy (including, without limitation, the picketing on the theater by representatives of any labor union having or claiming to have jurisdiction over theater’s employees” into a force majeure clause? I mean, […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    We were in the process of booking one of our singers with an orchestra, when we encountered the following Force Majeure clause in the orchestra’s contract: “If, as a result of any event beyond the control of the Orchestra, including, but not limited to, war, national calamity, strike, labor […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder: I’m dealing with a presenter who wants to cancel two weeks out due to poor ticket sales. While it’s not a huge engagement fee, my artist has already contracted its performers and paid out expenses for the date as its part of a bigger tour. […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder: A longtime friend who is also a very successful artist who I greatly respect, asked me to do a project with him. He sent me a contract, but it doesn’t cover things like when and how I get paid. I want to mark up the […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.   Dear Law and Disorder: I need to add language to a contract that says that if we have to reschedule due to snow, we have the right to do so. What language do I need? You need language that says: “If we have to reschedule due to snow, we […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder, About six months ago, a venue booked one of my artists and then sent me a signed contract with language requiring the artist to arrive the day before the concert rather than the morning of the concert. The venue was not willing to pay for […]