Settle ownership in writing first
Who owns the script, footage, recording, or master is the question that decides everything else. We fix it in the contract, before the work exists, not after a dispute.
PRACTICE · ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Entertainment Law
General counsel for the people who make and finance creative work — writers, directors, performers, musicians, and the independent production companies that carry projects from option to release. We draft and negotiate production and talent agreements, option and rights deals, financing and distribution terms, and the clearances that let a project ship — so the deal on paper matches the work you actually do. For deeper specialties, the firm also handles music and streaming licensing, digital-media and platform matters, fine-art transactions, and artist estates and archives.
- Discipline
- Art, Streaming & Entertainment
- Engagement
- Production & rights counsel
- Counsel
- Christopher Moye
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Settle ownership in writing first
Who owns the script, footage, recording, or master is the question that decides everything else.
The problem
Creative projects move on a handshake, and the questions of ownership, credit, and money are settled long after they should have been settled in writing.
Who owns the script, the footage, or the recording; who is paid, when, and out of what; whether a third party can stop the release for an uncleared sample, photo, or likeness — these are contract questions, and they are cheapest to answer before production starts, not after. We put them in writing while there is still room to negotiate.
Principles · 01
How we draft the matter.
Every engagement is composed against these commitments. They shape the protections we add, the questions we ask, and the document that leaves the file.
Draft for the project that stalls, not only the one that succeeds
Credit, reversions, and exit terms matter most when a deal changes or ends early. We build those terms in, so the agreement holds in either case.
Clear the rights before the work ships
An uncleared sample, photo, or likeness can stop a release. We identify and secure clearances early, while there is still time to fix a gap.
What we watch · 02
What can break the matter.
These are the terms, structures, and practical risks that usually decide whether the work holds when the file is tested.
CREATORSTUDIO
Production and talent agreements
Drafting and negotiating the services, compensation, credit, and ownership terms that carry a film, music, or digital project from development through delivery.
PRODUCERWRITER
Option and rights deals
Structuring options, life-story and source-material acquisitions, and work-for-hire or assignment terms so the rights to build a project are secured on defined terms.
STUDIOFOUNDER
Financing, distribution, and clearance
Negotiating financing and distribution agreements and completing the music, footage, trademark, and likeness clearances a project needs before release.
The work · 03
Four steps. One engagement.
Each step is concrete; each step has a deliverable. The scope is defined, the matter moves, and the file closes.
- 01
Project review
We review the project, the parties, and the rights involved — what is being made, who contributes, and what each side needs to own or use.
- 02
Deal structure
We map the agreements the project needs — option, talent, production, financing, distribution — and explain the ownership and payment trade-offs in plain terms.
- 03
Drafting and negotiation
We draft and negotiate the agreements so ownership, credit, and compensation are defined, and the terms hold if the project changes course.
- 04
Clearance and delivery
We complete the clearances and licenses the finished work requires and document them, so the release is supported by the rights behind it.
Proof
What stands behind the work.
What stands behind the work — credentials and representative engagements, stated plainly.
Entertainment matters are handled by Christopher Moyé, Esq., who authors the firm's published writing on entertainment and media law.
Production and talent agreements, option and rights deals, work-for-hire and assignment terms, financing and distribution agreements, and rights clearance and licensing across film, music, and digital media.
We start from ownership, credit, and payment — the terms that decide what each party keeps — and draft from there, in plain language, before production locks them in.
Common questions
Questions clients ask.
Plain answers to the questions that come up most. If yours is not here, send the facts — we answer in writing.
- Do creators and production companies really need written contracts?
- For any collaboration where money, ownership, or credit is involved, yes. A written agreement fixes who owns the work, who is paid and when, and who can use the result — terms that otherwise default to whatever a party later claims or to background law that may not fit the project. A short, clear contract at the start is far less costly than a dispute over rights or payment after the work exists.
- What is the difference between a work-for-hire and an assignment?
- Both move ownership, but they work differently. Under U.S. copyright law, a work made for hire belongs to the hiring party from creation — yet it applies only to employees or to certain commissioned categories with a signed agreement. An assignment is a separate transfer of rights already owned by the creator, and some assignments are subject to statutory termination rights years later. We pick the structure that actually fits the relationship and put the language in writing rather than assume one applies.
- What is an option agreement, and how is it different from buying the rights outright?
- An option gives a producer the exclusive right, for a set period and fee, to develop a property — a book, script, or life story — and to acquire the underlying rights later on agreed terms, without paying the full purchase price up front. If the project does not move forward, the rights revert to the owner. We negotiate the option period, the exercise price, reserved rights, and what happens on reversion, so neither side is locked into terms that no longer fit.
- What should a talent or production agreement cover?
- At a minimum: scope of services, compensation and any back-end participation, credit, ownership of the resulting work, exclusivity and term, and what happens if the project changes or ends early. The details that look minor at signing — how credit is defined, how a back-end is calculated, who controls the work — are the ones that surface later. We draft them so the agreement holds up when a project succeeds and when it stalls. We do not promise or predict any particular result from a given deal.
- What is rights clearance, and why does it matter before release?
- Clearance is confirming you have the rights to everything in the finished work — music, film and photo excerpts, trademarks, names and likenesses, and underlying source material — before it goes out. An uncleared element can delay a release, trigger a takedown, or expose the project to an infringement claim. We identify what needs clearing, secure the necessary licenses or releases, and document them, so the release is not held up by a right you do not have. We address the legal risk; we do not guarantee that no claim will ever be made.
OWNERSHIP DECIDED IN THE CONTRACT
Get the deal in writing.
Bring the project — an option, a talent agreement, a financing or distribution term sheet, or a clearance question. We draft and negotiate the agreements that decide who owns what, who is paid, and what the work can become.
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