Weekly Column: Entertainment Lawyers Now Negotiating Technology Deals

In this week’s column, California Sports Lawyer® CEO and Managing Attorney Jeremy M. Evans discusses how advances in AI and technology are changing entertainment and sports law practices and reshaping the modern practice of law.

The pace of the practice of law is also changing. Contracts are evolving faster than traditional legal standards.

You can read the full column below. (Past columns can be found, here).

The practice of law is changing and has changed much already. Advances in communication, technology, and generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) are providing opportunities for attorneys to be focused more on strategic and novel ways of practicing law. Time will always be important, but more important on how time is spent.

Generative AI through large language models ("LLMs") and AI agents have become assistants to lawyers and law firms and in many ways have made research and learning much easier. The question is not whether there is information available to learn, but again whether the time spent is valuable and geared towards learning and application. Governments and companies using AI technology is also making its way into contracts, policies, and in proprietary development.

Specifically in entertainment and sports law practices, contracts being negotiated now include AI provisions that simultaneously deal with streaming platforms, data, and digital rights. Talent agreements and union negotiations and deals now include AI and likeness protections. Clients now expect attorneys to understand AI, data privacy, platform monetization, streaming business models, advertisement revenue, and algorithms.

Legal practices are also beginning to blend together. Entertainment, media, sports, privacy, and technology law increasingly overlap. For example, a sponsorship deal may now involve name, image, and likeness ("NIL") rights, content licensing, and AI-generated marketing.

The pace of the practice of law is also changing. Contracts are evolving faster than traditional legal standards. The time in which projects are being completed are also faster. Attorneys are essentially negotiating AI clauses and intellectual property (“IP”) ownership before courts and laws have fully defined the rules.

Entertainment and sports attorneys are no longer contained to contract and IP law. Attorneys are advising on technology, business strategy, digital risks, and risk management. Technology and AI specifically have not only changed entertainment deals, it has changed the practice of law.

AI has changed and will continue to change how attorneys practice law. An attorney is no longer operating only as a legal technician. The role is becoming more strategic and interdisciplinary. In many ways, attorneys are becoming more what they were meant to be: advisors, counselors, and strategy partners.

AI and technology are dissolving the traditional boundaries between legal practice areas. AI and technology are accelerating the pace of legal adaptation itself. Attorneys need to be educated and trained in interpreting AI inputs and outputs. Attorneys also need to know how to use AI and how it can affect their clients.

About Jeremy M. Evans:

Jeremy M. Evans is the Chief Entrepreneur Officer, Founder & Managing Attorney at California Sports Lawyer®, representing entertainment, media, and sports clients in contractual, intellectual property, and dealmaking matters. An award-winning attorney and industry leader, Evans is based in Los Angeles and Newport Beach, California. He can be reached at Jeremy@CSLlegal.com. www.CSLlegal.com.