Entertainment

The entertainment industry moves at a rapid pace. New exhibition platforms, media industry consolidation, shifting tax incentives, evolving regulatory requirements, Generative AI, user generated content – the only constant is change.

The Goodmans Entertainment Law Group provides both our Canadian and international clients with expert legal counsel and strategic guidance to help them stay ahead.

We assist film, TV and digital media producers, broadcasters, studios and streamers, producers’ associations and talent guilds, format owners and film financiers, videogame and book publishers, and writers, directors, actors, celebrities and social media influencers with all their Canadian legal needs. We also provide Canadian copyright law advice and counsel entertainment companies on merger and acquisition transactions and related Canadian tax and regulatory requirements, including the Income Tax Act, the Investment Canada Act and the Competition Act.

As a full-service team, we help our entertainment clients succeed by taking a holistic approach to our legal advice. We assist clients with:

• Optioning underlying rights and reviewing the chain-of-title
• Developing projects, including contracting writers, researchers and others
• Structuring and optimizing production financing
• Negotiating license and distribution agreements with broadcasters, streamers, distributors, and sales agents
• Advising on Canadian film tax credits, Canadian withholding tax and other tax matters
• Preparing and negotiating talent contracts and providing legal production support, including clearance and errors & omissions advice
• Advising on Canadian foreign investment rules and domestic Canadian broadcast Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regulatory requirements
• Advising on acquisitions and dispositions of entertainment companies and related corporations, tax and regulatory advice
• Liaising with Canadian guilds and unions and dealing with Visual Effects (VFX) services
• Documenting production services engagements and preparing and registering Canadian security documents

Goodmans entertainment lawyers combine tremendous industry-leading expertise and experience with passion and energy to create comprehensive future-oriented strategies that help our clients succeed.