Legal Question in Entertainment Law in New York

Re: Commercial Advertising

In addition to the legal exposure for infringement of others' trademarks and copyrights in the materials you may borrow for your ads commented on by the previous attorney (and, I would add, for violating publicity and privacy rights of others), you would want to take care of the following:

1. protect your own IP rights in the works you create (unless they are commissioned by your clients and fall into the category of "works for hire");

2. protect yourself against the risk of being liable for false/misleading advertising of your clients as well as defamation claims(using indemnification clauses and reviewing client's proposal for legal compliance -- especially in regulated industries);

3. protect yourself against not being paid by your own client for the work you did.

Most of these risks can be minimized/managed through contract and insurance so getting a good agreement customized to your business (stay away from forms) as a a starting point for negotiating with your clients is essential. Knowing your clients (basic due diligence) and their respective industries is another good practice.

Re: Commercial Advertising

There are a number of concerns that you should have based upon the business that you have described. You should be concerned primarily with the intellectual property rights of your client and of others. When you create the images or digital content, who owns those materials and when does that party begin to own those materials? Are you using trademarks? What about the copyrighted images of third parties? What about clothing with logos? are you inviting litigation? have you set up contracts which deal with these issues? Can you use the digital content for your own purposes or to show future clients what you have done? Will your logo appear in the content? The list is endless...it is a good idea to begin a relationship with an attorney who can help you to head off any problems...NOW...before anything goes wrong...this approach can save your company time and money and will show your clients that you are professional and seek to provide the best services while protecting the rights of all involved!