Kings-Suns Game Pic

Hey guys! Hope everyone is enjoying their summers. I just wanted to update the blog with the picture of our group on the court at the Kings-Suns game back in March. The Kings are here to stay, so make sure to come to our event next year! Another big thanks to everyone who came out. 

Culture Week Recap

Welcome back from Spring Break everyone! We wanted to thank everyone who came out to our culture week events the week before spring break, it was a big success.

On Monday, we had two events. First, at lunch, James Rothbart spoke to us about working his way up from the mail room to an assistant for an agent at UTA. He is currently the Director of Business and Legal Affairs at Twentieth Television. He shared some amazing stories with us, many sounded right out of an Entourage script! Mr. Rothbart ultimately told us that working in the entertainment business require a lot of hard work and dedication-- as is clear from his choice to work in the mail room after leaving his job in litigation. His talk was a great start to the week!

Second, on Monday we also had a screening of a documentary from the Freedom Writers Foundation about the true story of their time at Wilson High School in Long Beach. Erin Gruwell came to King Hall to show us a rough cut of the documentary, "Stories from an Undeclared War." Ms. Gruwell and her students wrote a book called "The Freedom Writers Diary" which is a compilation of her students' stories written as journal entries. The book became a bestseller, and inspired the movie starring Hilary Swank, "Freedom Writers." If you haven't read the book or seen the movie, check them out, it is a really inspiring story! The documentary was composed of actual footage of the student in their classroom and writing the journals that eventually became a part of the book. The Foundation is hoping to get the film out to festivals soon, so keep an eye out for the new documentary.

On Wednesday, we had USC law professor Lance Grode talk about how to make yourself a better candidate for a job in entertainment law. Mr. Grode had a lot of valuable advice in how to approach an interview (hint: anticipate questions and know how to differentiate yourself from the other candidates). He made some great points about being informed as to what is going on in the industry you want to be a part of, whether that be film, TV, music, or intellectual property, etc. Since Mr. Grode has significant experience in music law and entertainment in general, he told us we should read the "weeklies"-- even just the headlines-- to become more versed in current developments. These include: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, The Wrap, and Variety.

Lastly, on Thursday, we had Russell Naymark come to talk about IP issues as they relate to the entertainment industry. Mr. Naymark worked at SAG (Screen Actors Guild) for several years on union issues.  He talked about how new platforms for viewing (such as online content providers like Hulu) affected the way networks looked at their programs. It was a significant issue for actors as well, as to how they would be given residuals.  Mr. Naymark also talked about how copyright infringement and illegal downloading is being combated by the unions.

As you can see, we had an awesome culture week! Thanks again to everyone who came out. We hope to see you on Sunday, April 7th for the Dr. Ives Basketball Tournament.

Sacramento Kings Game

On March 8th, ESLS went to the Sacramento Kings-Phoenix Suns game for a close game between the two western conference teams. In the end, the Kings edged out the Suns for a win of 121-112.

We took over a few rows in our section. Sammy was the lone Suns fan. Joel and DJ were really into the wave. And thanks to Jen, we were able to get a photo on the court at the end of the game!

We wanted to thank everyone who came out for the game! We had so much fun and look forward to going to another game next year (provided the Kings stay in Sacramento).

Come to the Kings-Suns Game!

We're doing another ESLS sponsored Kings game! Come out and support the hometown Sacramento Kings play the Phoenix Suns, in what should be an interesting game-- considering they are rounding out the bottom two positions of the Western Conference.

A bunch of us have already bought tickets in Section 207, so we advise calling Michael Ramos at (916) 928-3634 and asking to sit in that section with ESLS so that all the law students can be relatively close to one another.

Hope to see you there!

Pick up your tickets!

If you signed up for tickets to the UC Davis basketball game this weekend, don't forget to come by the table at 12 tomorrow to pick them up! If you already picked them up, we'll see you on Saturday for the game.

ESPN Bracket Buster

• Saturday February 23rd ESPN Bracket Buster Game 


• Schedule 
• Pre-Men's Game Chalk-Talk @ 12:30 p.m.
  Men's Game vs. Northern Colorado @ 1:30 p.m.
  Women's Game vs. Cal State Fullerton @ 4 p.m.
• Want to come? Check out our facebook event!
• https://www.facebook.com/events/125467614296216/?ref=ts&fref=t

15th Annual Entertainment Law Initiative Luncheon

A few of our board members attended a conference in LA last week sponsored by the GRAMMY Foundation. Read below to see how it went!

Dear Fellow Students:

On Friday, February 8, 2013, three members of the UC Davis Entertainment & Sports Law Society (Luca Ognibene (1L), Danielle Skornik (2L), and Brian Tauber (3L)) had the unique opportunity to attend the 15th Annual Entertainment Law Initiative (ELI) Luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Presented by the GRAMMY Foundation and co- sponsored by the ABA Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries, various entertainment law firms, record labels, and music companies, the conference—which took place just two days before, and just across town from, the GRAMMYs—sought to facilitate discussion about the most compelling legal issues facing the music industry today. In addition, the conference presented a great opportunity to network with music law professionals and other law students from across the country and around the world (literally—two of the people at our table had come all the way from Australia). In attendance at the Luncheon were Recording Academy and GRAMMY Foundation President Neil Portnow (who, two nights later alongside Ryan Seacrest and Justin Timberlake at the GRAMMYs, announced the new GRAMMY Foundation Music Educator Award), and entertainers Pharrell, MC Hammer, and Will.i.am. In addition, NBC News’ Tom Brokaw, angel investor Ron Conway, and interactive content consultant Andie Simon led an interesting keynote panel discussion. 

The discussion focused on ways in which technological advances are changing the entertainment industry and, more generally, our culture. The Luncheon also recognized the winners of this year’s national legal writing contest. The contest winners were law students who had submitted essays regarding important issues facing the music industry. After attending the ELI Luncheon, we hope that King Hall will have some student participation in the ELI national legal writing contest in the future. This contest is a great way for students not only to learn about important legal issues facing the music industry, but also to have a shot at winning a scholarship and a trip to the GRAMMYs while networking with some of the most knowledgeable individuals in the profession. Finally, we wish to thank King Hall and LSA for helping make our attendance at the ELI Luncheon possible.

Sincerely,

Luca Ognibene
Danielle Skornik
Brian Tauber

IP and Sports Panel at McGeorge

The Intellectual Property Student Association over at McGeorge School of Law was kind enough to invite our group to their IP and Sports Panel back in October. The guests were some big names including: Keir Beading, Ryan Hilbert, and Jon Velie. [bios below are taken from the IPSA event's promotional flyer].

The event was an interesting look at the differing jobs in sports law. The panelists talked about everything from athletes trademarking various slogans ("Fear the Brow") to classifying ski instructors as "experts" to obtain the proper non-immigrant visa (either O or P) to allow them to remain in the US.  Read on for bios of the panelists.

Keir Beading is the the founder and CEO of Evolve Sports, LLC where he has managed the careers of athletes at the pinnacle of their sports careers. He is also the co-founder and Managing Partner of Mavericks Surf Ventures, LLC, where he transformed an elusive, regional surfing event into an international media property.

Ryan Hilbert is the special counsel at Sheppard Mullin in the Intellectual Property and Litigation Practice Groups in the firm's Palo Alto office and is a member of the firm's Sports Industry Team. Mr. Hilbert practices in the areas of sports, intellectual property, and commercial litigation. Mr. Hilbert has extensive experience in all aspects of complex civil litigation, especially in the areas of trademark and unfair competition, copyright, trade dress, rights of publicity, domain names, and consumer protection. He has litigated disputes in federal and state courts nationwide, as well as before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Jon Velie is licensed as a sports agent who specializes in sports-related immigration law. He has over 30 international clients in the sports and entertainment industry competing and performing across the United States. Mr. Velie has testified in court as an expert in immigration law and has authored expert letters for immigrations cases. He was featured in: Lawyer's Weekly in July 201 "Taking the Law Firm Website to the Next Level," International Gymnast Magazine "Immigration Men" and in Rugby Magazine, "Rugby Immigration Experts." Mr. Velie authored the article, "Immigration Issues and Solutions for the Ski Industry." Mr. Velie launched onlinevisas.com, was awarded the ABA's Louis M. Brown Legal Access to Justice Award, and was declared an innovator in the legal industry.

Past Events

First, let me apologize for the lack of updates about our events last semester. Second, we have a TON of upcoming events that I will dedicate another post too. And third, let me talk about a few things we did last semester before we move on to this semester.

While college football has been over for a few weeks now, back in October we hosted a tailgate for the UC Davis-Portland State game. Unfortunately, the Aggies lost, but we had a good time barbequing some burgers and hot dogs.