LES Toronto LES Toronto Minutes of LES Toronto Meeting held September 11, 1997.
Contents
The annual meeting is being held in San Diego in November, 1997.
The topic of the next seasonal meeting will be "Environmentally Fiendly Licensing of Technology". It will be held in Vancouver in April, 1988. Any ideas or suggestions for speakers are welcome.
Silver Fox Licensing Network: Mr. Lou Eckebrecht (905-336-0002)
Mr. Lou Eckebrecht, an International Licensing Consultant, gave a presentation on the activities of Silver Fox Licensing Network. Mr. Eckebrecht established the Silver Fox Licensing Network along with other retired executives in 1995 with the goal of providing a database of products available for licensing. The network assists small to medium sized businesses to find and license products that will be successful in the market.
The Licensing of T.V. Productions
Guestspeaker: Eric Birnberg , Atlantis Films (416-462-0246; Fax 416-462-0254)
Eric Birnberg is the Vice President of Legal and Business Affairs for Atlantis Films. Mr. Birnberg has unique experience in the t.v. and movie business. Before working with Atlantis he worked with movie networks, Viewer's Choice and First Choice, as a legal consultant. Mr. Birnberg provided us with highlights and insight on what is involved in licensing t.v. productions.
When a creator sells a t.v. show to a broadcaster, it is more than the actual tape that is being sold. Publicity materials, a transcript, E&O insurance, a trailer, promotions, and an electronic press kit is also be included in the price. There are a bundle of rights attached to every show. As a creator, the more rights one retains, the higher is the potential to make more money. A show is sold in terms of language rights (foreign), global rights (territory), media rights (pay per view or video on demand), t.v. rights (vs. nontheatrical such as in-flight movies), etc.. With the advent of technology, a broadcaster may consider using a basket clause when negotiating media rights, such as "all media now known or hereafter devised" to capture the right to exploit various multi-media in the future.
A licensor tries to limit the rights licenced in each transaction in order to sell the same product to other licensees. The "orderly marketplace" typically dictates that a movie feature be first released in a theatre, then followed by videos, about 45 days after video release would be on pay-per-view, 6 months after that it's on Pay T.V., and then 15 months later that it appears on cable or free t.v.. Other rights that are sold along with a show are the number of play dates in a year and the number of play times in a day.
Output agreements are when broadcasters agree to purchase and broadcast a number of unmade shows from a production company in order to broadcast a blockbuster. There are other unique conditions in a licensing agreement, such as the number of "hold-backs" (restrictions on the licensor to license a second licensee during and after the period in which the first licensee holds the license), completion bonds, advertising rights, remedies (as a licensee broadcastor, one wants to limit remedies available to damages).
In summary, the licensing and selling of t.v. and movie productions involve a lot more than just a tape. A licensor can sell the same show over and over by specifying exactly what is being sold.
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