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Paul S. Bernstein

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Paul Bernstein, Chair of Venable’s Entertainment and Media Group, counsels companies and individuals on matters such as joint ventures, acquisitions, capital raising, and executive compensation.

Paul has established himself as a thought leader on entertainment and media matters, offering astute insights on topics and concerns specific to these industries. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal on Hollywood’s plans to resume production during the COVID-19 pandemic and in Variety on how the pandemic has reshaped entertainment law.

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Generative AI is creating previously unimaginable possibilities for influencers and brands to engage with consumers. Rather than merely posting on social media, influencers will be able to utilize AI to have two-way conversations that feel authentic. Influencers can do this literally in their own voice, having unique dialogs with countless people at the same time.

Influencers and brands are accustomed to the rules governing what can be said on social media, but now they’ll need to start thinking about what sort of information they can elicit from their fans and consumers in the course of unique and unpredictable interactions, and what they can do with that information, because they will have the ability to gather more consumer information than ever before, and in ways that may be difficult to control.…

Continue Reading Let’s Chat: Influencers and Brands Testing the Waters of Generative AI Must Navigate Data Privacy and FTC Issues

One of the oddities of 2020 is that a great many people in the entertainment and media industries became familiar with a complex form of securities offering: the SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company).

Despite having the word “Company” in their name, SPACs are not really companies. Rather, they are piles of money looking for businesses…

Among the countless casualties of COVID-19, many much-anticipated events had to be canceled. Instead, some of the world’s largest entertainment industry events are becoming virtual experiences.

Comic Con, which boasts over 135,000 annual attendees, announced that its in-person convention will be replaced in 2020 by a virtual experience. Lollapalooza, an annual music festival in Chicago, will also be virtual this summer. Even the venerable Cannes Film Festival has moved online.

These virtual formats pose new legal challenges, however, including cybersecurity threats, consumer privacy policies, and music licensing.
Continue Reading Virtual Events Raise Real World Legal Issues

One of the key elements in the White Paper from the Industry-wide Labor-Management Safety Committee Task Force is the agreement among producers and unions to have an “autonomous” COVID-19 Compliance Officer for each production. The Compliance Officer will not be above-the-line talent, but will nonetheless play a starring role.

The White Paper defines the role of the Compliance Officer as an autonomous designee whose principal responsibilities will include overseeing and monitoring physical distancing, symptom monitoring and testing, disinfecting protocols, and PPE education, protocols, and adherence on set. Officers will be accessible at all times during work hours and will undergo specialized training on health and safety precautions, policies and procedures related to infection prevention, surface disinfection, and the use of PPE. Given the volume of federal, state, local, and now industry-specific pandemic safety laws and guidelines, coupled with the unique demands of Hollywood productions, the training is expected to be rigorous and time-consuming.  …
Continue Reading As the Entertainment Industry Gets Back to Business, COVID-19 Compliance Officers to Have a Starring Role

On June 5, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released statewide guidance for music, film, and television production to restart.  This guidance is the latest development in the reopening of the entertainment industry in California as the state continues to advance through its roadmap for reopening, following the submission to Governor Newsom on June 3 of a white paper with recommendations on this topic from representatives of producers and the unions of the motion picture and television industries (White Paper).

In this new guidance, the CDPH recommends that music, TV, and film production resume no sooner than June 12 and abide by safety protocols agreed upon by labor and management, which may be further enhanced by county public health officers.  The CDPH also recommends that back-office staff and management adhere to the office workspace guidelines published by the CDPH and the California Department of Industrial Relations.…

Continue Reading California Allows Production to Resume June 12, Subject to County Rules

On June 1, the Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee Task Force (Task Force), composed of representatives of producers and the unions of the motion picture and television industries, submitted to the governors of California and New York a white paper proposing guidelines for the resumption of motion picture, television, and streaming production (White Paper). The White Paper presents the consensus of the Task Force regarding the circumstances under which content production can safely resume, with an emphasis on regular testing, sanitation, physical distancing, and education and training. The White Paper also addresses unique production-specific concerns, such as preventing infections from equipment that is commonly shared and not feasibly disinfected (e.g., lighting / electrical cables and certain props, costumes, accessories, wigs, and other specialty items), and special guidelines for casts that include minors or animals.
Continue Reading Industry Task Force Proposes Guidelines to Restart Production in California and New York

Recently, California Governor Gavin Newsom raised some eyebrows when he announced that state government officials anticipated publishing guidelines for the reopening of Hollywood production facilities by Memorial Day. The Governor’s announcement took many in the industry by surprise, given that producers and unions continue to wrestle with the legal obligations and operational complexities involved in safely reopening film and television productions with the ever-present threat of COVID-19. Faced with this monumental task and the fluid nature of the pandemic, most production houses do not anticipate any return to work before July 1. Regardless of the precise timing of Hollywood’s return to work, the various union collective bargaining agreements (Basic Agreements) are clear that producers and unions will share responsibility for ensuring a safe and healthy workplace for industry employees. Given the outsized roles that the Hollywood Guilds play in shaping industry employment policy, strategic labor relations will be key to the success or failure of producers’ reopening plans.
Continue Reading Back to Business: Hollywood Producers Navigate the Choppy Waters of Reopening Plans and Labor Relations

On January 28, 2020, Paul Bernstein and Carly Trainor published “Inspiration to Infringement: Copyright Issues in Scripted Entertainment Inspired by Song Lyrics” in Music Connection Magazine. The following is an excerpt:

MGM Television is developing Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, a television series based on the lyrics of Billy Joel’s hits. This is the…

Individuals in the entertainment industry have started coming forward to reveal harassment they have faced throughout their careers. In response to these revelations, filmmakers and showrunners have started depicting such harassment on screen. For example, the web television series The Morning Show explores the backlash that a network faces after a popular anchor on its…

The NCAA has traditionally restricted college athletes from accepting any endorsements or compensation related to their participation in college sports. But less than a month after California enacted the Fair Pay to Play Act, which will prohibit the NCAA from preventing college athletes in the state from profiting off their commercial identities starting in 2023,…