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Contracting Speakers for Meetings and Events, by James Goldberg
 James Goldberg, one of the meeting industry's leading attorneys, is a principal in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Goldberg & Associates, which represents associations and independent meeting planners, and is the author of The Meeting Planner's Legal Handbook. He comments specifically on speakers’ contracts, but many of the same principles apply for all types of entertainment.
“When a meeting planner contracts with a speaker, consider the following tips:
- Make sure the party to the contract represents the speaker. Many speakers use agents, or speakers' bureaus, to book their presentations for them. Others work through companies that they own or control. A good contract will recite that the party representing the speaker has the authority to do so, and that the individual signing on behalf of the party has the authority to enter into the agreement. In that way, if something goes awry, the planner has a cause of action against the speaker's representative.
- Understand when the speaker can cancel. Some agreements permit cancellation only for reasons such as acts of God, inclement weather, or other unanticipated occurrences. Other agreements permit a speaker to cancel for such things as "overriding professional obligations," or similar reasons; this is especially true for speakers in the entertainment industry. A good agreement will require prompt notice of such cancellation, the specific reasons therefore, an obligation to offer a comparable substitute at the same price, and the ability of the planner to get a prompt refund of any deposit paid in the event the proposed substitute is unacceptable (which always should be within the discretion of the planner).
- Understand what expenses are covered. In order to properly budget for a speaker's expenses, the contract should specify what expenses are covered. Terms like "first class expenses" should be avoided because they are vague. If a planner expects the speaker to purchase only a coach airline ticket, that should be specified, along with a requirement that the ticket be booked at least 21 days in advance to obtain the lowest possible fare. The number of nights' lodging should also be specified (usually with a requirement to stay in the hotel of the planner's choosing to take advantage of any available complementary rooms). Ancillary expenses, such as ground transportation and meals, should be specified; any personal expenses should be specifically excluded from reimbursement. Submission of supporting documentation such as receipts should be required where they are available.
- Specify the intellectual property "ground rules". A speaker has a copyright interest in the content of his or her presentation. Therefore, a planner cannot make an audio or video recording of the presentation - especially if the planner plans to sell the tape - without the speaker's explicit written permission. The same holds true for any handouts provided by the speaker. Some speakers also prohibit the taking of photographs during the presentation, or seek to limit distribution of handout material only to those who actually attended the presentation. The contract should also state that the speaker's presentation will not infringe on the copyright or other intellectual property rights of any third party, and that the speaker will indemnify the planner in the event of such infringement.
- Agree on the presentation's content. In many cases, a planner is looking for a speaker to address a particular topic. Any content criteria, such as things to be included or excluded, should be spelled out in the contract; it is always a good idea to get a preview videotape from the speaker, or his/her agent, to understand the speaker's presentation style. Some speakers, especially politicians, simply cannot be held to a specific topic. A planner may wish to preclude a speaker from promoting his/or her books or tapes during a presentation. If the speaker is going to discuss a topic for which he/she has been compensated by someone else (especially true in medical meetings), the speaker should be required to make full disclosure to the audience of this outside compensation. As with any contract, the language should be clear and unambiguous. And don't forget the normal legal ‘boilerplate’ about dispute resolution, and indemnification.”
James Goldberg can be emailed at: jimcounsel@aol.com. His office number in Washington DC is (202) 628-2929
The excerpt above taken from the book, "Event Entertainment and Production," by Mark Sonder.
Photo: James Goldberg
Click here for this issue's
Event Tip: Selecting The Right Speaker for your Meetings and Events, 10 Tips
Click here for this issue's
featured artist: Speaker, Nathan M. Schulhof, the inventor of the MP3 Player
 Mark
Sonder, CSEP is the Chief Entertainment Officer of Mark Sonder
Productions, an award-winning entertainment producer, Mark Sonder Productions, Inc. is the national leader in designing event marketing solutions through headline entertainment and production services for facilities, casinos, corporations and associations. Since 1985.
In addition, Mark sits on
the faculty of the University
of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), The George Washington University, Mount Royal University, and Stratford
University.
Event
Entertainment and Production is the book published by
Wiley authored by Sonder.
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