Pay or Play Blog

Authored by the attorneys in the firm’s Entertainment & Sports Department, this blog provides a legal perspective on the latest issues and trends affecting the entertainment industry, including digital content, multichannel networks, celebrity branding and artist and performer management as well as commentary on music law and media distribution law.

Recent Blog Posts

A Whole New World (of Copyright): Implications of Vetter and Beyond

Last week, units of Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and BMG took the highly unusual step of purchasing a copyright for the express purpose of filing a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari. The copyright in question is the musical composition “Double Shot (Of My Baby’s... Continue Reading…More

B1G Time Coaching – A Look Into Matt Campbell’s Contract with Penn State

The college football coach carousel is in full swing and in this era of college football, each school competes in an arms race of sorts for not only the top players, but also the top football coaches. This blog post focuses on the modern era of a college football coaching contracts. Penn State publicly released... Continue Reading…More

Don’t Bet On It: NCAA Votes to Rescind Rule Change

On November 21, 2025, Division I member schools voted to rescind the proposed rule change that would have allowed student-athletes and athletics department staff members to legally participate in sports betting on professional sports. This decision will cascade through all three NCAA divisions, and gambling at any level will remain prohibited across the NCAA. See... Continue Reading…More

The Dream “TEAM” – Talent, Esquire, Agent, and Manager

Athletes, entertainers, musicians and other individuals at the vanguard of their fields (whether it be the next Super Bowl MVP quarterback, Grammy-winning artist, or Oscar-winning director), often surround themselves with a team of advisors. That team often includes an attorney, agent and manager. While their roles can sometimes overlap, each brings distinct value. Knowing the... Continue Reading…More

Clapback and Pay Up?: New Jersey Court Issues $50,000 Attorneys’ Fee Award Against Fan Under Anti-SLAPP Statute

New York Jets Star Cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner (“Gardner”) engaged in a back-and-forth exchange with a Buffalo Bills fan (the “Fan”) on X (formerly Twitter) prompting a civil suit for defamation and emotional distress against Gardner. The dispute arose after Gardner posted a picture of boxes, a ladder, and construction equipment for a golf simulator,... Continue Reading…More

Betting On It: NCAA To Permit Professional Sports Gambling

UPDATE (November 21, 2025): This Proposed Change has been rescinded by Division I member schools, and therefore gambling will remain prohibited in all divisions of the NCAA. Gambling and sports have been intertwined since the inception of athletic competition. However, when money enters the equation, particularly in games with unpredictable outcomes, fairness and sportsmanship become... Continue Reading…More

The Bat Flip Heard Around the World: Rocco v. Little League Baseball, Inc.

In the world of youth sports, few moments are as exhilarating as a home run in a championship game. For 12-year-old M.R. of Haddonfield, New Jersey, that moment became the center of a legal controversy that captured national attention and raised important questions about fairness, due process, and the role of the courts in youth... Continue Reading…More

The NO FAKES Act: Including the Potential Federal Right of Publicity in Catalog Acquisitions

Among the most dominant trends in the music industry over the past decade has been the proliferation of investment in catalogs of musical compositions and sound recordings. While many investors’ theses focus solely on the evergreen value of royalties generated from these copyrights over the span of many years, some buyers have reportedly purchased the rights to recording artists’ names, images, and likenesses with a specific focus on these artists’ digital replicas. Recent examples include Pophouse buying assets relating to…More

Gambling on Guarantees

The current dispute between the Las Vegas Raiders (“Raiders”) and Christian Wilkins (“Wilkins”) is more than a football headline; it underscores how fragile the concept of “guaranteed” money can be—not only in sports but also in entertainment law more broadly. Whether you’re an athlete, artist, or entertainer, guarantees are only as strong as the language... Continue Reading…More

DEAL OR NO DEAL

Not just the name of the television show on NBC, Deal or No Deal is the question many attorneys are asking, as well as being asked by their clients, regarding transactions that are being made with companies and other individuals.  Most of my practice involves representing entertainers and athletes engaged in multi-year transactions with companies,... Continue Reading…More