Alec Baldwin lectures at Harvard Law School

By Eriq Gardner

Harvard Law School is starting to look like Hollywood East. The latest celebrity to appear at the prestigious legal academy is Alec Baldwin, who was brought on campus by HLS assistant professor Jeannie Suk to give an opinion about whether the law goes too far in defining minor incidents of bad behavior as evidence that a parent is unfit.

Baldwin, whose legal credits range from a highly publicized child custody case with ex-wife Kim Basinger to his role as a rich, assertive lawyer in the forthcoming film, "It's Complicated," talked about his perception that the realm of family law tends to be gender-biased. Baldwin previously explored his personal experiences with divorce and child custody law in the book, "A Promise to Ourselves."

It wouldn't be shocking to see Baldwin try out life as a lawyer. 

Recently, he's indicated he has lost interest in acting and might retire after his contract for "30 Rock" expires. Baldwin has also told the press he intends to go back to school and get a graduate degree. 

We''re thinking that Baldwin would make a fine litigator, especially if he's able to ham it up some in court.

Previously: Tom Cruise enrolls at Harvard Law (for an hour).

 

At USC Law symposium, Bob Iger saves sharp words for pirate-enablers

By Matthew Belloni

Walt Disney Co. chief executive Bob Iger believes technology companies are winning the PR war at the expense of Hollywood, and the result could make it tougher to police illegal activity online.

Iger made the comments during a keynote chat with talent attorney Bruce Ramer today at the annual Institute on Entertainment Law & Business presented by USC Law School and the Beverly Hills Bar Assn.

"New technology is great, but it has to be used in a responsible way that respects the talent and the investment in creativity," Iger told the luncheon crowd of 600--a record for the annual event, according to Ramer. "I don't think our industry has been as effective as it needs to be on the subject. The tech industry is doing a better job of articulating excitement around technology than we are about how a business that is so vital to the United States is potentially in peril."

Iger called piracy "the biggest problem the industry faces," echoing superagent Ari Emanuel's comments from earlier in the day. "It's not getting better and it will get worse."

The Disney exec touched on several of his favorite topics during his hour-long talk with Ramer, including the freefall of the DVD market, the challenge of global expansion and the shortening of home video windows. But he reserved his most pointed comments for those resisting the industry's efforts to strengthen content protection laws.   

"In some of the discussions we had about making sure that net neutrality regulations enabled ISPs to go after those that were using the Internet illegally, people actually had the audacity to ask us whether we'd be willing to trade that for some form of shortened copyright," Iger said. "I don't know why the two are linked at all. I still have not heard a decent argument that suggests that shortening copyright increases creativity. You hear that a lot. I won't name names, but there's one guy I could easily name."  

Hmm. Larry Lessig? Anybody on staff at the Electronic Frontier Foundation? We don't want to put words in Iger's mouth.  

When asked if Disney--which was instrumental in helping pass the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (the law some called the Mickey Mouse Protection Act because it lengthened Disney's control over its pride and joy)--would pursue a further extension of the term of copyright, Iger seemed less enthusiastic. "I don't know that I see a long-term extension," he said. "But hopefully there won't be legislation aimed at shortening, either."  

Iger avoided talking about his recent axing of studio chairman Dick Cook or the downsizing of specialty outpost Miramax, saying only that he had "made some personnel changes recently."

But when asked by Ramer whether installing former Disney Channel Worldwide president Rich Ross atop the film division means the studio head now functions as a brand manager, Iger said: "The studio head today--the primary responsibility, aside from creating value for the shareholders, is to choose good movies. I also think it's really important that the person who's making those decisions has a business sense as well. They go hand in hand, creativity and business. At Disney, that person is a brand manager because the primary focus of the studio is...Disney-branded movies."

Emanuel, O'Connor, Berkus and Berg share stage at USC Law symposium

By Matthew Belloni

Given the uncertainties and animosities in the agency world these days, we wondered whether they'd all show up. But today's Institute on Entertainment Law & Business at USC Law School did indeed play host to an historic gathering of sorts, as top execs at the Big Four talent agencies--WME co-CEO Ari Emanuel, CAA managing director David O'Connor, UTA's chairman and co-founder Jim Berkus and ICM chariman and CEO Jeff Berg--sat on a panel together to talk about the future of their business.

We couldn't find anyone in the packed Bovard Hall who could remember a public discussion among the string-pullers at the majors--"a panel never seen before and possibly never to be seen again," said Assn. of Talent Agents exec director Karen Stuart, who moderated (and gave this humble blog an appreciated shout-out from the podium). 

So what did they say? Not much, actually. It was a mix of unified support for such standard talent-side issues as increasing antipiracy efforts/job creation/curbing studio consolidation and some gentle ribbing amongst longtime rivals. 

After Berg opened with a brief history of the Talent Agencies Act, Emanuel jumped on the antipiracy soapbox, calling the effort to enact tougher content protection laws "the most important thing for our business." Ari wants Congress to pass something similar to France's controversial "3 Strikes and You're Off the Internet" law, which allows a juge to take away Web privileges after three citations for illegal activities. A constitutional council found the first version of that law unacceptable but a second version was passed last month, and Emanuel thinks the U.S. should follow suit. "We created the interstate highway system, and there are rules on that," he said. "There should be similar rules" on the information superhighway, the superagent urged. 

Emanuel also said it was "a little absurd" that as few as four companies could soon control most of the the country's content, echoing the widespread discontent in the representation community over the disappearance of buyers over the past few years.  

Taking that cue, Berkus offered his take on what it's like to be an agent in a changing business: "We used to spend the vast majority of our time looking for a job for our clients. Today we spend the vast majority of our time trying to create jobs for clients."

(Berkus also made the mistake of refering to "William Morris," which prompted Emanuel chime in with a helpful "William Morris Endeavor. William Morris Endeavor." That got perhaps the morning's biggest laugh, just ahead of Emanuel recounting the story of him interviewing with Berkus when he was just starting out and Berkus telling him he wouldn't be successful because he wasn't a lawyer.)

O'Connor talked about CAA's strategy in getting into sports representation. "All you have to do is look around today and realize the number one show on NBC is "Sunday Night Football" and "Monday Night Football" just achieved record ratings for a cable broadcast," he noted before discussing the agency's diversification strategy. 

That's about it. For how often they steal each other's clients, the quartet stayed fairly civil. The most awkward moment might have been when Berg noted the challenge of first getting projects financed before agency clients can find jobs on them. Emanuel then asked whether ICM's financial backer is in the production/financing business. 

"Yes," Berg replied. 

"I guess that's how you do it," Emanuel responded.  

Jerry O'Connell heads to law school

By Eriq Gardner

Has Hollywood gotten so bad that some actors are now pursuing law degrees?

Jerry O'Connell has enrolled at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. He was spotted at orientation by a fellow student last week, and the dean of the school is reportedly "very excited" to have the "Stand By Me" and "Jerry Maguire" star in the classroom. No word yet on what practice area O'Connell intends to pursue.

It got us thinking about other celebrities with law degrees. The list includes Gerard Butler, John Cleese, Julio Iglesias, WCW wrestler Raven, Geraldo Rivera, and Jerry Springer. Matthew McConaughey never made it through law school, but Dennis Greene, the founder and singer of Sha Na Na, apparently teaches entertainment law at the University of Dayton School of Law.

Of course, most of these people found fame and fortune after slaving away in law school.

Warner Bros.' John Schulman to head USC entertainment law program

By Matthew Belloni

Warner Bros.' longtime top lawyer John Schulman is joining USC Law School to spearhead a new entertainment law program.

Schulman, who retired from his position as Warners’ executive vp and general counsel in December after a 25-year run, will start Saturday at USC with an eye toward launching the program in fall 2010.

“There is no more accomplished lawyer in the entertainment industry,” USC Law dean Robert Rasmussen said. “I am confident that with John’s vision, we will have a program that is second to none.”

Despite its location in Los Angeles and a long list of alumni in Hollywood, USC Law currently does not offer a dedicated entertainment specialty like some other law schools, including crosstown rival UCLA.

But under Rasmussen, who joined the school two years ago, USC is attempting to raise its industry profile. At a breakfast with Hollywood alumni in May, the dean said enhancing the school's entertainment curriculum was a top priority. The new program will increase the showbiz-focused courses at the law school, as well as allow students to take classes at USC’s vaunted film school and its Marshall School of Business.

The school has not indicated whether it will hire additional faculty, but bringing aboard Schulman — who developed a thick Rolodex during his career atop the largest studio legal department — should help attract legal talent to the school.

“This is part of my next adventure,” Schulman said. “I am very excited about joining USC Law School and creating one of the nation’s best entertainment law programs.”

Stanford Law School Wants To Teach Yoko Ono A Lesson About Fair Use

Posted by Eriq Gardner

Premise Media Distribution might not have imagined they'd find friends in the mainstream academic arena when they released “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” a documentary about alleged discrimination against people who support such alternative theories of evolution as intelligent design. But then Yoko Ono sued, claiming that a clip of the song "Imagine" was used in the film without copyright permission.

Enter the Fair Use Project of Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, which has announced they will be fighting on Premise Media's behalf. The song is played for roughly 15 seconds in the documentary, and according to Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project, "The right to quote from copyrighted works in order to criticize them and discuss the views they may represent lies at the heart of the fair use doctrine."

Jerry Springer Has Alienated His Law School Roots

Posted by Eriq Gardner

Law students at Northwestern University are in open outrage over the fact that Jerry Springer has been invited to be this year's commencement speaker.

Seems rare in this day and age for students to prefer serious scholarship over celebrity attraction, but evidently NU law students descended upon Springer's website to complain about the school's choice of its 1968 alum. We're sure they'll all make fine lawyers, but none will be practicing entertainment law anytime soon.

UCLA Law Takes Leap Day

The UCLA School of Law has announced the date of its famed annual entertainment law symposium. Drum roll, please...

It's February 29 and March 1 and themed "When Disaster Strikes: The Ultimate Survival Guide." Hope springs eternal.