NOVEL NEXT Exploiting Hollywood 1980.
Chapter 77 The Strategy of Attorney Lindsay Dole
Chapter 77 The Strategy of Attorney Lindsay Dole
Ronald looked through his business card book and address book again, looking for people who could help him.He still wants to find a qualified lawyer for careful consultation. As a young man with no connections in New York, encountering things is so painful.
If it doesn't work, you can only try your luck by looking for some law firms in the phone book.
The business card I found was Eddie, the agent introduced by casting director Julia Taylor.I talked to him once, and I have the impression that he is a rare and honest person in the entertainment industry.He has a very wild way, signing many low-cost actors and models.Maybe ask him what connections he has.
"Eddie? I'm Ronald, Ronald Lee, remember me? ... I need some legal advice, do you know any lawyers in the entertainment industry, or intellectual property? Yes ... don't be too The expensive kind..."
"I have a good friend who grew up with a lawyer, who is also Jewish. His name is Bobby Donnell. You can go to him and try."
Ronald stood in front of this unremarkable law firm. It seemed that only a fluorescent light was turned on inside, and the door was dark.After confirming the name "Robert Donnell & Associates Law Firm" on the door plate, Ronald pushed the door open and entered.
"Hi, I want to consult with attorney Bobby Donnell about the dispute over the authorship of the script. Eddie introduced me. I called in advance, but you couldn't get through on the phone, so you had to come directly to the door."
There was a young black lady at the front desk. She came forward to receive Ronald: "Oh, Bell is repairing the telephone line, so the phone is temporarily unavailable. Attorney Bobby has appeared in court. What do you want to consult? We also have Two senior attorneys, Eugene Young and Elena Fruit, are available to serve you."
"I have a dispute over the signature of the movie script. I want to consult." Ronald was a little suspicious. Could it be that the phone bill was not paid and was cut off by Bell Company?And why is it so dark here, only one light is on.
"What's the specific situation? Can you tell me first? I also graduated from law school and am taking the bar exam."
Ronald looked at the front desk lady: "Well, my name is Ronald Lee,
"Rebecca" the black receptionist reached out and shook his hand.
"I worked on Hot Lunch at MGM, and I had a verbal agreement with the director, ... but in the end they didn't give me my credit, and here's some evidence I collected, and here's the final draft of the script, and here's what I wrote Draft, these are the list of possible witnesses."
"Ha, Mr. Li, you are the most well-prepared client in our law firm, and you are a model client."
"I approached the Kirkland & Peterson law firm before, and they told me that there was no way. But I was not reconciled, and I wanted to ask another lawyer. I can afford the consulting fee. I have a formal job, a portrait photographer. "
The lady at the front desk saw that she was so young, and she was a little doubtful whether she could afford the consultation fee.Ronald quickly affirmed his ability to pay, and handed over his business card.
"Okay, I'll ask Lawyer Fruit, who is free and who can talk to you with Lawyer Yang." The front desk lady went into the room to call the lawyer for the sake of the consulting fee.
"I have to go to court." A fat white woman, Attorney Fruit walked away with her bag on her back.
"Petersen's people say it's over? Oral contract, not a union member, tell him not to waste money, I have to work on that intentional homicide case," Eugene Yang, a big black lawyer, said to the front desk.
"I happen to be fine. I've been here for two months. I'm always doing research for you guys. It's time for me to take on a case of my own."
A young white female lawyer took the business card from the front desk and expressed her willingness to accept the consultation, "Ronald Lee, audition portrait photographer."
"I am the official lawyer of the firm, named Lindsay Dole. What you want to consult is a dispute over the authorship of the movie script, right?"
Ronald sat on a chair in the conference room and looked at each other.Lawyer Dole is very young, with a baby face and two cute little rabbit teeth, very beautiful.But it seems that the age of just graduating from university, as a lawyer, is it a suitable person for consultation and advice?
Lindsay seemed to see Ronald's suspicion, and took out a business card and handed it to him, "I graduated from Harvard Law School and passed the New York State Bar Examination after only one exam. You can trust my professionalism .”
"Sorry, Lawyer Dole, I shouldn't have doubted you." Ronald took the business card, on which Harvard's school badge and the title of lawyer dispelled his doubts.
"If you have no objection, we can start. My consulting fee is $150 per hour." Lindsay pressed the lawyer's clock.
After listening to Ronald's narration and checking all the documents, Attorney Lindsay Dole frowned, picked up the yellow pencil, and tapped the paper with the eraser on the other end.
"It should be said that you did something careless, Mr. Li. An oral contract is not legally binding, and it depends on the performance of the contract."
"I'm naive. I haven't dealt with people from big studios before."
"Why don't you let the Screenwriters Union arbitrate for you? As far as I know, as long as you have a draft, their arbitration is relatively fair, and the result is mandatory, and the producer can only accept the result."
"I haven't joined the screenwriter's union yet. It's because the director promised me to sign the script. In order to use this script to apply for the screenwriter's union qualification, I agreed to change it for him for free."
"So that's the case, then Peterson's advice to you is also reasonable."
"Why, do you also suggest that I give up the right of authorship?"
"It's too early to say this, but one thing I don't understand is why they don't want you to sign? As far as I know, a movie can have up to three screenwriter names, and there is only one on the script." Lawyer asked the lady.
"The director said they signed an exclusive signing agreement with the writer."
"This is not normal, I have to look into relevant cases."The lawyer lady got up and went to the library to inquire about related cases over the years.
After a while, Attorney Lindsay Dole returned to the reception room with the pad, "I found it."
With her blonde hair neatly tied back, the lady lawyer's blue eyes sparkled excitedly: "The scriptwriting of a movie is a commissioned creation. After the producer has a story, he commissions the screenwriter to write the script."
"In that case, the property rights of the script belong to the producer. He has the right to decide, and he can put you, who has revised more than one-third of the script, in the signature column. The problem lies in the exclusive agreement he signed. He didn't The reason for signing this way."
"You mean, the producer is lying to me again?"
"No, what I mean is that this exclusive agreement is very unreasonable. The producer must have obtained something before he is willing to pay for this exclusive right."
"I'm a bit confused, Miss Dole"
"In this way", Lindsay Dole wrote two lines on the pad with a pencil, and turned it over to show Ronald.
"Story by"
"Script:" (Screenplay by)
"These two signature methods are two concepts in Hollywood, you know?"
"Yes, story is the person who comes up with a core story concept, and script is the person who actually writes the script."
Lindsay wrote another line
"Writing:" (Written by) = story + script
"If the signature is 'writing', it is the highest level of signature, which means that both the story and the script are written by one person. Only in this case, the screenwriter can only be signed by one person."
Ronald nodded in understanding.
"But this is obviously a script where the producer came up with a story and hired a screenwriter to complete it. The screenwriter just completed a hired creation job. Logically, the signature of this script should be like this:
Lindsay Dole wrote two more lines on the pad:
Story: David Da Silva
Screenplay: Christopher Gore
But why is there only this screenwriter's signature on the script? "
"Original Screenplay: Christopher Gore"
Attorney Lindsay Dole, pointing to the line on the cover of the script, looked at Ronald with piercing eyes.
"This? Maybe the producers don't care about credits?"
"Impossible. It is impossible for a producer to voluntarily give up any opportunity that brings him income and fame, unless he has greater interests."
"Look here again." The female lawyer pointed to the cover of the script again.
Ronald leaned forward slightly and read out: "Original script?"
"Yes, the term "original script" is not a customary labeling of the script, but the name of the nomination for the Oscar. Perhaps the producer is using the exclusive opportunity to be nominated for the Oscar in exchange for some benefits from the screenwriter."
"For example: script transfer fee far below the market price?" The female lawyer threw her pencil on the table and came to a conclusion.
"Your reasoning is very reasonable, Miss Dole, you have convinced me. But I still have a question, are they so confident that this movie will be nominated for an Oscar?"
"This is beyond the scope of my consultation. I am just a lawyer, and I can only analyze the legal issues of the contract for you. I don't understand Hollywood and Oscar's artistic taste."
Lindsay Dole waves a hand.
"This may be your breakthrough point, Mr. Li. If the reason I guess is true, then you will have a card in your hand that will allow you to recover some disadvantages."
"Recover the disadvantage?"
"First of all, you have to separate the producer from the director. Now they still have the same interests. The producer doesn't want to bother to revise the contract with the original author, and the director also hopes that you will sign the contract as soon as possible to help him complete the final revision of the script.
We throw out this card to make their interests inconsistent. As long as one of them thinks that the benefits of solving your signature problem are more troublesome than rewriting the contract with the original author, they will help us convince the other... ..."
Shorthanding down Miss Lawyer's strategy in a notebook, Ronald thought for a while:
"I have another question. The producer said that they have MGM's legal lawyers. I think if I follow your strategy and recruit the producer's army, he will definitely hire a lawyer to deal with it. Regarding the contract issue, I am afraid that they will bury me again in the contract."
"I can accept your employment, contract negotiation plus contract review services, and my working hours, a total of 850 dollars for you." The female lawyer moved her chair forward slightly, staring at Ronald with her blue eyes.
"I still have some income from my portrait studio, which can afford your price."
"That's a deal. I'll wait for your call."
Lawyer Lindsay Dole stood up and shook Ronald's hand.
"You can go to Rebecca to sign a service contract."
Satisfied with the $150 consulting fee, Ronald and Lindsay Dole left the law firm after leaving the phone.The two made an appointment to call her if the negotiation with the producer progressed and a lawyer was needed to intervene.
"Yeah!" Lindsay Dole in the law firm and Rebecca at the front desk hugged each other, and took out the 150 yuan consulting fee that Ronald had just paid: "Hurry up and pay the phone bill, let Bell Company restore the phone .Too much delay.”
(End of this chapter)
Ronald looked through his business card book and address book again, looking for people who could help him.He still wants to find a qualified lawyer for careful consultation. As a young man with no connections in New York, encountering things is so painful.
If it doesn't work, you can only try your luck by looking for some law firms in the phone book.
The business card I found was Eddie, the agent introduced by casting director Julia Taylor.I talked to him once, and I have the impression that he is a rare and honest person in the entertainment industry.He has a very wild way, signing many low-cost actors and models.Maybe ask him what connections he has.
"Eddie? I'm Ronald, Ronald Lee, remember me? ... I need some legal advice, do you know any lawyers in the entertainment industry, or intellectual property? Yes ... don't be too The expensive kind..."
"I have a good friend who grew up with a lawyer, who is also Jewish. His name is Bobby Donnell. You can go to him and try."
Ronald stood in front of this unremarkable law firm. It seemed that only a fluorescent light was turned on inside, and the door was dark.After confirming the name "Robert Donnell & Associates Law Firm" on the door plate, Ronald pushed the door open and entered.
"Hi, I want to consult with attorney Bobby Donnell about the dispute over the authorship of the script. Eddie introduced me. I called in advance, but you couldn't get through on the phone, so you had to come directly to the door."
There was a young black lady at the front desk. She came forward to receive Ronald: "Oh, Bell is repairing the telephone line, so the phone is temporarily unavailable. Attorney Bobby has appeared in court. What do you want to consult? We also have Two senior attorneys, Eugene Young and Elena Fruit, are available to serve you."
"I have a dispute over the signature of the movie script. I want to consult." Ronald was a little suspicious. Could it be that the phone bill was not paid and was cut off by Bell Company?And why is it so dark here, only one light is on.
"What's the specific situation? Can you tell me first? I also graduated from law school and am taking the bar exam."
Ronald looked at the front desk lady: "Well, my name is Ronald Lee,
"Rebecca" the black receptionist reached out and shook his hand.
"I worked on Hot Lunch at MGM, and I had a verbal agreement with the director, ... but in the end they didn't give me my credit, and here's some evidence I collected, and here's the final draft of the script, and here's what I wrote Draft, these are the list of possible witnesses."
"Ha, Mr. Li, you are the most well-prepared client in our law firm, and you are a model client."
"I approached the Kirkland & Peterson law firm before, and they told me that there was no way. But I was not reconciled, and I wanted to ask another lawyer. I can afford the consulting fee. I have a formal job, a portrait photographer. "
The lady at the front desk saw that she was so young, and she was a little doubtful whether she could afford the consultation fee.Ronald quickly affirmed his ability to pay, and handed over his business card.
"Okay, I'll ask Lawyer Fruit, who is free and who can talk to you with Lawyer Yang." The front desk lady went into the room to call the lawyer for the sake of the consulting fee.
"I have to go to court." A fat white woman, Attorney Fruit walked away with her bag on her back.
"Petersen's people say it's over? Oral contract, not a union member, tell him not to waste money, I have to work on that intentional homicide case," Eugene Yang, a big black lawyer, said to the front desk.
"I happen to be fine. I've been here for two months. I'm always doing research for you guys. It's time for me to take on a case of my own."
A young white female lawyer took the business card from the front desk and expressed her willingness to accept the consultation, "Ronald Lee, audition portrait photographer."
"I am the official lawyer of the firm, named Lindsay Dole. What you want to consult is a dispute over the authorship of the movie script, right?"
Ronald sat on a chair in the conference room and looked at each other.Lawyer Dole is very young, with a baby face and two cute little rabbit teeth, very beautiful.But it seems that the age of just graduating from university, as a lawyer, is it a suitable person for consultation and advice?
Lindsay seemed to see Ronald's suspicion, and took out a business card and handed it to him, "I graduated from Harvard Law School and passed the New York State Bar Examination after only one exam. You can trust my professionalism .”
"Sorry, Lawyer Dole, I shouldn't have doubted you." Ronald took the business card, on which Harvard's school badge and the title of lawyer dispelled his doubts.
"If you have no objection, we can start. My consulting fee is $150 per hour." Lindsay pressed the lawyer's clock.
After listening to Ronald's narration and checking all the documents, Attorney Lindsay Dole frowned, picked up the yellow pencil, and tapped the paper with the eraser on the other end.
"It should be said that you did something careless, Mr. Li. An oral contract is not legally binding, and it depends on the performance of the contract."
"I'm naive. I haven't dealt with people from big studios before."
"Why don't you let the Screenwriters Union arbitrate for you? As far as I know, as long as you have a draft, their arbitration is relatively fair, and the result is mandatory, and the producer can only accept the result."
"I haven't joined the screenwriter's union yet. It's because the director promised me to sign the script. In order to use this script to apply for the screenwriter's union qualification, I agreed to change it for him for free."
"So that's the case, then Peterson's advice to you is also reasonable."
"Why, do you also suggest that I give up the right of authorship?"
"It's too early to say this, but one thing I don't understand is why they don't want you to sign? As far as I know, a movie can have up to three screenwriter names, and there is only one on the script." Lawyer asked the lady.
"The director said they signed an exclusive signing agreement with the writer."
"This is not normal, I have to look into relevant cases."The lawyer lady got up and went to the library to inquire about related cases over the years.
After a while, Attorney Lindsay Dole returned to the reception room with the pad, "I found it."
With her blonde hair neatly tied back, the lady lawyer's blue eyes sparkled excitedly: "The scriptwriting of a movie is a commissioned creation. After the producer has a story, he commissions the screenwriter to write the script."
"In that case, the property rights of the script belong to the producer. He has the right to decide, and he can put you, who has revised more than one-third of the script, in the signature column. The problem lies in the exclusive agreement he signed. He didn't The reason for signing this way."
"You mean, the producer is lying to me again?"
"No, what I mean is that this exclusive agreement is very unreasonable. The producer must have obtained something before he is willing to pay for this exclusive right."
"I'm a bit confused, Miss Dole"
"In this way", Lindsay Dole wrote two lines on the pad with a pencil, and turned it over to show Ronald.
"Story by"
"Script:" (Screenplay by)
"These two signature methods are two concepts in Hollywood, you know?"
"Yes, story is the person who comes up with a core story concept, and script is the person who actually writes the script."
Lindsay wrote another line
"Writing:" (Written by) = story + script
"If the signature is 'writing', it is the highest level of signature, which means that both the story and the script are written by one person. Only in this case, the screenwriter can only be signed by one person."
Ronald nodded in understanding.
"But this is obviously a script where the producer came up with a story and hired a screenwriter to complete it. The screenwriter just completed a hired creation job. Logically, the signature of this script should be like this:
Lindsay Dole wrote two more lines on the pad:
Story: David Da Silva
Screenplay: Christopher Gore
But why is there only this screenwriter's signature on the script? "
"Original Screenplay: Christopher Gore"
Attorney Lindsay Dole, pointing to the line on the cover of the script, looked at Ronald with piercing eyes.
"This? Maybe the producers don't care about credits?"
"Impossible. It is impossible for a producer to voluntarily give up any opportunity that brings him income and fame, unless he has greater interests."
"Look here again." The female lawyer pointed to the cover of the script again.
Ronald leaned forward slightly and read out: "Original script?"
"Yes, the term "original script" is not a customary labeling of the script, but the name of the nomination for the Oscar. Perhaps the producer is using the exclusive opportunity to be nominated for the Oscar in exchange for some benefits from the screenwriter."
"For example: script transfer fee far below the market price?" The female lawyer threw her pencil on the table and came to a conclusion.
"Your reasoning is very reasonable, Miss Dole, you have convinced me. But I still have a question, are they so confident that this movie will be nominated for an Oscar?"
"This is beyond the scope of my consultation. I am just a lawyer, and I can only analyze the legal issues of the contract for you. I don't understand Hollywood and Oscar's artistic taste."
Lindsay Dole waves a hand.
"This may be your breakthrough point, Mr. Li. If the reason I guess is true, then you will have a card in your hand that will allow you to recover some disadvantages."
"Recover the disadvantage?"
"First of all, you have to separate the producer from the director. Now they still have the same interests. The producer doesn't want to bother to revise the contract with the original author, and the director also hopes that you will sign the contract as soon as possible to help him complete the final revision of the script.
We throw out this card to make their interests inconsistent. As long as one of them thinks that the benefits of solving your signature problem are more troublesome than rewriting the contract with the original author, they will help us convince the other... ..."
Shorthanding down Miss Lawyer's strategy in a notebook, Ronald thought for a while:
"I have another question. The producer said that they have MGM's legal lawyers. I think if I follow your strategy and recruit the producer's army, he will definitely hire a lawyer to deal with it. Regarding the contract issue, I am afraid that they will bury me again in the contract."
"I can accept your employment, contract negotiation plus contract review services, and my working hours, a total of 850 dollars for you." The female lawyer moved her chair forward slightly, staring at Ronald with her blue eyes.
"I still have some income from my portrait studio, which can afford your price."
"That's a deal. I'll wait for your call."
Lawyer Lindsay Dole stood up and shook Ronald's hand.
"You can go to Rebecca to sign a service contract."
Satisfied with the $150 consulting fee, Ronald and Lindsay Dole left the law firm after leaving the phone.The two made an appointment to call her if the negotiation with the producer progressed and a lawyer was needed to intervene.
"Yeah!" Lindsay Dole in the law firm and Rebecca at the front desk hugged each other, and took out the 150 yuan consulting fee that Ronald had just paid: "Hurry up and pay the phone bill, let Bell Company restore the phone .Too much delay.”
(End of this chapter)
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