Steven C. Schechter is an entertainment lawyer. His practice includes corporate and partnership formations, film and television finance and distributing agreements, publishing industry agreements and copyright and trademark registration. Schechter was one of several New Jersey attorneys who recently led a business of music seminar through the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the education arm of the New Jersey State Bar Association. He spoke recently about the trends he's seeing in the music and film worlds. His practice is in Fair Lawn.
What is the primary focus of your practice?
I have a general entertainment practice. I do work in music and with visual artists, and all sorts of creative people. The bulk of my practice is generally film and television. I've worked in the field for my entire professional career. During law school and right after, I worked full time at a film company in the legal department, then went to a boutique entertainment law firm in New York City. I hung up my own shingle many years ago and I've been swamped ever since.
What makes New Jersey a vibrant place to practice entertainment law?
There is a pretty lively entertainment field in New Jersey for several reasons. We're situated right next to New York, which is one of the strongest media markets in the world, and we get a lot of activity and ancillary work as a result. We have a strong economy and we have a lot of talent living in New Jersey. That means a lot of production and production facilities are here, because of New York, but also because of Philadelphia. We also had a lot of tax breaks for film production. Those have dried up for filmmakers, but the next governor may very well make a difference on that issue. Production activity could increase if those tax breaks are reinstated.
What's going on in the music industry?
The music industry has changed dramatically over the past 10, 15 years. It used to be that the recording industry was focused on records and cds. Those sales are miniscule right now. The vast majority of sales are through downloads and subscriptions to streaming services. On top of that, there has been consolidation among the record companies. You are down to two or three major labels at this point and just a few music publishing companies. The business aspects have changed dramatically. There are fewer places to go for an artist. You used to be able to negotiate with two or three labels at one time. Now there is less bargaining power for the artists. That means there is very little money for the artists through revenues and royalties.