Musical America Blogs

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder: I have written a one-man show. Do I need to get a dramatic license for background music? Just to make sure we’re all on the same page, let’s review: In order for music to be “performed” (either live or via a recording) in a public […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder: Does a conductor who has been approved for an O-1 visa need to bring the original approval notice to the consulate or will a color scan of the original work? We have been getting conflicting information, including a representative at the consulate telling us on […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: What’s the new “normal” in reviewing and exchanging contracts? We are receiving an increasing number of contracts that had been issued as PDF files coming back as word files or even revised PDF files which means I have to read every single line of the agreement […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder We filed P-1 and P-1S visa petitions at the Vermont Service Center for a group we have been touring regularly for the past 5 years. This would have been their sixth P-1 visa. Last year, we were getting petitions approved in about week. This time, […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder We recently had a presenter call us and cancel an engagement “due to inclement weather” because the company’s flight was canceled and they could not arrive the day before the performance as required. The company offered to fly the next day and arrive on the […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder: We filed a P-1 petition for an orchestra that is to perform at our venue. The petition was approved and it includes the orchestra’s conductor. However, the conductor just informed us that he does not want to go the consulate and apply for his P-1 […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: A composer has been commissioned to write an ‘original’ work for a particular soloist or specific chamber ensemble. The commission agreement stipulates that the performing artist is granted exclusivity, giving the artist a certain period of time in which he/she has the sole right to perform […]

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. Greetings, I have recently been contacted by ASCAP asking for fees based on music played by live musicians. Are we required to pay if we do not pay the musicians? Any musician who plays at the location is not compensated for their efforts. Is anyone else who works at or […]

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 […]