Initially I was going to interview an individual practicing law in the state of Illinois, however after realizing that I really didn't know enough about Entertainment Law in general to validate asking a professional to focus time and energy on myself, I felt it best to get some more information and education while figuring out what may be important to ask as a "student" before I have to pay to talk to an attorney. To do this I have researched and subscribed to a couple different podcasts that focus not only on law but mainly on "entertainment" law and will be discussing them here.
First we have a website known as Entertainment Law Update Podcast, which is more or less, exactly what the name states. Over all one will not be taught law, but rather updated on the goings on within the legal side of the entertainment industry. The blog spans all aspects of the entertainment industry from film and TV to music and sports etc. The show is hosted by two individuals Gordon Firemark and Tamera Bennett both whom practice entertainment law. I found this podcast to be very easy to listen too, as someone who doesn't have legal jargon down very well. The podcast flows very well and with pages of archives provides potential listeners with lots of topics. In addition to the podcasts, this website also provides a huge resource list for people visiting acting almost as a one stop shop for entertainment law information!
The next podcast comes from Law School Podcaster, and although this website generally focuses on preparing individuals for starting to coping with law school, they did have a very insightful podcast about the entertainment industry. The first thing that caught my attention with this podcast was a statement that often times I hear people at Full Sail state, it's not all glamor and not all about celebrities. Often times I feel people get into the entertainment industry just for the glitz and glam rather than a passion for the arts. This statement is brought back up mid way through the podcast as they begin to reveal the hard work needed to break out into the entertainment law field and just how much competition people will face on a daily basis. I really liked this podcast because I felt the contributors weren't trying to sell anyone on the idea of going to a certain law school, but rather cautioning them about the hardships they may face and the amount of time and effort needed to make something of themselves. I would recommend this website to anyone preparing for law school on any level not just entertainment.
The final website I would like to highlight is that of the Legal Talk Network, focusing on their podcast series Lawyer 2 Lawyer. L2L consists of practicing attorneys J. Craig Williams and Robert Ambrogi discussing various issues in the legal world. Often of the podcasts involve issues on the goings on in the entertainment industry. The podcasts are once again easy to listen to span various topics providing content for just about anyone interested in law. The particular podcast that I listened too was one involving the new battle over song royalties. This is something that I have been following since I started school at Full Sail over two years ago. I felt that not only the hosts, but also the guests brought on were very insightful regarding many issues such as was the music created as a work for hire, and does the artist still owe recoup funds to the label. Defiantly something I am glad I took the time to listen too and will keep an eye out for more music based topics in the future.
Over all the internet provides a vast knowledge base at anyone's fingertips. Whether they choose to indulge in pleasure or knowledge based activities is up to them, however I hope these three choices will help you out when you feel like being productive and learning a thing or two!
