The Best Entertainment Law Books 2025

1. The New Tax Guide for Artists of Every Persuasion (Paperback)

(Limelight). Peter Jason Riley is a CPA who for many years has practiced in the Boston area. His book opens with basic material that applies to everyone, offering a roadmap through today's tax landscape and general discussions of different types of income, various kinds of expenses and IRS-allowed tax deductions. Following are the chapters that deal with the specific tax situation relevant to each category of artist. These range from the cost of acting lessons and makeup through depreciation of guitars and the maintenance of home studios to income from teaching jobs and royalties. In the final sections of the book, Riley considers various ways performers and other arts professionals can reduce their taxes, explains how to prepare for an audit, and suggests ways to locate, evaluate, choose and effectively work with a professional arts-oriented tax advisor.

The New Tax Guide for Artists of Every Persuasion (Paperback)

2. Should Trees Have Standing?: Law, Morality, and the Environment, (Paperback)

Originally published in 1972, Should Trees Have Standing? was a rallying point for the then burgeoning environmental movement, launching a worldwide debate on the basic nature of legal rights that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, in the 35th anniversary edition of this remarkably influential book, Christopher D. Stone updates his original thesis and explores the impact his ideas have had on the courts, the academy, and society as a whole. At the heart of the book is an eminently sensible, legally sound, and compelling argument that the environment should be granted legal rights. For the new edition, Stone explores a variety of recent cases and current events--and related topics such as climate change and protecting the oceans--providing a thoughtful survey of the past and an insightful glimpse at the future of the environmental movement. This enduring work continues to serve as the definitive statement as to why trees, oceans, animals, and the environment as a whole should be bestowed with legal rights, so that the voiceless elements in nature are protected for future generations.

Should Trees Have Standing?: Law, Morality, and the Environment, (Paperback) Author: Oxford University Press ISBN: 9780199736072 Format: Paperback Publication Date: 2010-04-07 Page Count: 264

3. Secrets of Negotiating a Recording Contract : The Musician's Guide to Understanding and Avoiding Sneaky Lawyer Tricks (Edition 2) (Paperback)

Rev. ed. of: Secrets of negotiating a recording contract. c2001. (Music Pro Guide Books & DVDs). The ultimate guide to understanding and avoiding, in the author's words, "sneaky lawyer tricks," Secrets of Negotiating a Record Contract helps artists recognize hidden agendas by exposing the multilayered language of recording agreements crafted by major label lawyers. Clause by clause, the newly updated book deconstructs actual contracts and translates them into "real English," presenting the original and decoded versions side by side. Focusing on artists' issues, such as advances, royalties, and distribution, this revealing handbook explains the need for each clause, offers advice on negotiating fine points, and outlines alternatives for developing new contracts. User-friendly and offering entertaining inside stories, Secrets of Negotiating a Record Contract clarifies common terms uniquely redefined by the music industry to put power back into the hands of those who make the music. Features: * Explains the entire recording contract line by line in plain English * Reveals over 100 key loopholes and double-dips that will cost artists money * Includes a glossary of major label recording-contract jargon

Secrets of Negotiating a Recording Contract: The Musician's Guide to Understanding and Avoiding Sneaky Lawyer Tricks (Other)