BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Ellen M. Corbett, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
AB 1319
Assemblymember Krekorian
As Amended June 15, 2009
Hearing Date: June 23, 2009
Labor Code
KB:jd
SUBJECT
Talent Services
DESCRIPTION
This bill, sponsored by the Office of the Los Angeles City
Attorney, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Better Business
Bureau of Southland, would recast and revise provisions of
existing law regulating advance-fee talent services.
BACKGROUND
California has long had a comprehensive scheme of regulation for
those talent agents and managers involved in the procuring of
employment for artists. However, prior to 1999, California law
did not regulate persons engaged in the solicitation of
advance-fee payments from an artists prior to employment being
secured. In response to concern that unscrupulous individuals
were posing as talent agents or talent managers and requesting
large payments in exchange for promises of employment that they
could never deliver, the Legislature enacted AB 884 (Kuehl,
Chapter 626, Statutes of 1999).
AB 884 required, among other things, a contract between an
advance-fee talent service and an artist to be in writing and to
contain specified provisions, including a right to cancel the
contract and to receive a refund. The bill also required an
advance-fee talent service to file a bond or deposit in the
amount of $10,000 with the Labor Commissioner. In addition, AB
884 prohibited an advance-fee talent service from engaging in
specified activities, including making false, misleading, or
deceptive advertisements, giving an artist false information, or
(more)
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charging a fee for registering or listing an artist for
employment in the entertainment industry.
AB 884, in addition to authorizing an aggrieved person to bring
a private action and recover treble damages, also provided that
a person who willfully violates any provision of the law was
guilty of a misdemeanor and authorized the Attorney General, a
District Attorney, or a city attorney to bring an action for
violation of the law.
This bill would recast and revise these provisions of existing
law to prohibit advance-fee talent services, and expand the
regulations for other fee-related talent services.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law generally regulates the licensing and operation of
talent services within the entertainment industry. These
provisions govern the making and canceling of contracts, fees to
be charged for services, records to be maintained by talent
services, bonding requirements, and remedies for violations of
these provisions, a violation of which constitutes a crime.
(Lab. Code Sec. 1701-1701.16.)
This bill would define an "advance-fee talent representation
service" as a person that, for a fee, provides, holds themselves
out as providing, offers to provide, or represents it will make
a referral to another person who will provide an artist with any
of the following services: (1) procuring or attempting to
procure employment or an engagement as an artist; (2) procuring
or attempting to procure an audition for an artist; (3) managing
or directing the development of an artist's career; or (4)
procuring or attempting to procure a talent agent or talent
manager, including an associate, representative or designee
thereof. "Advance-fee talent representation" would also mean a
person that charges an artist a fee for any other product or
service in order for the artist to obtain, from or through the
person, any of the services listed above.
This bill would prohibit a person from owning, acting in the
capacity of, advertising for or soliciting for, or knowingly
referring any person to such services.
This bill would establish a definition for fee-related "talent
services" as either a "talent counseling service," a "talent
listing service," or a "talent training service."
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This bill would define a "talent counseling service" as a person
who is not otherwise any artist's talent manager and who, for a
fee, provides or offers to provide, holds themselves out as
providing, or represents it will make a referral to another
person who will provide an artist with career counseling, career
consulting, vocational guidance, aptitude testing, career
evaluation, or career planning as an artist.
This bill would define a "talent listing service" as a person
who, for a fee, provides or offers to provide, holds themselves
out as providing, or represents it will make a referral to
another person who will provide an artist with any of the
following: (1) a list of one or more auditions or employment
opportunities; (2) a list of one or more talent agents or talent
managers, including an associate, representative, or designee
thereof; (3) a search, or providing the artist with the ability
to perform a self-directed search, of any database for an
audition or employment opportunity, or a database of talent
agents or talent managers, or an associate, representative, or
designee thereof; or (4) storage or maintenance of any of the
following for distribution or disclosure to a talent agent,
talent manager, or an associate, representative, or designee
thereof, or to a person represented as offering an audition or
employment opportunity: the artist's name, photograph, Internet
Web site, filmstrip, videotape, audition tape, demonstration
reel, resume, portfolio, or other reproduction or promotional
material of the artist, or an artist's schedule of availability
for an audition or employment opportunity.
This bill would define a "talent training service" as a person
who, for a fee, provides or offers to provide, holds themselves
out as providing, or represents it will make a referral to
another person who will provide an artist with lessons,
coaching, seminars, workshops, or similar training as an artist.
This bill would establish a number of specified exemptions from
the requirements of this bill for various entities or
individuals that meet certain conditions.
This bill would prohibit a "talent service," its directors,
officer, agents, and employees from engaging in a number of
specified activities.
This bill would prohibit a "talent training service" and a
"talent counseling service," and its officers, directors,
agents, and employees from operating or having a direct or
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indirect financial interest in a talent listing service.
This bill would provide that a "talent listing service," and its
officers, directors, agents, and employees shall not do either
of the following: (1) own, operate, or have a
direct or indirect financial interest in a "talent training
service" or a "talent counseling service"; or (2) provide a
listing of an audition, job, or employment opportunity without
written permission for the listing. A talent listing service
would have to keep and maintain a copy of all original listings;
the name, business address, and business telephone number of the
person granting permission to the talent listing service to use
the listing; and the date the permission was granted.
This bill would revise requirements related to language and
other provisions for contracts between artists and talent
services.
This bill would prohibit a contract for fee-related talent
services from having a term of more than one year and being
automatically renewed.
This bill would amend procedures related to the cancellation of
contracts and refunds.
This bill would revise and expand existing recordkeeping
requirements.
This bill would increase a bond requirement for talent services
from $10,000 to $50,000.
This bill would provide that a person, including an officer,
director agent, or employee who violates these provisions is
guilty of a misdemeanor, and eliminates a requirement that
violation be "willful" to constitute a misdemeanor.
This bill would provide that damages for violations shall be no
less than three times the amount paid by the artist to the
talent service.
COMMENT
1. Stated need for the bill
The author states:
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With the unprecedented popularity of "American Idol" and other
reality television programming, the false promise of instant
stardom has increasingly become a fertile ground for talent
peddlers to scam the public, victimizing children and young
adults in particular. This fraud is accomplished through
deceptive newspaper, Internet and radio advertisements and by
phony "talent scouts," who descend upon parents at shopping
malls and community fairs, offer the unsolicited opinion that
their child has star potential, and invite them to an
"audition" - which turns out to be a "bait and switch" attempt
to sell photographs, classes and listing services. While the
number of consumers swindled multiplies, talent scams run
rampant because our current laws do not address the types of
fraud they employ and do not provide law enforcement with the
tools to address the problem.
The author further states that AB 1319 is a comprehensive
solution to the problem of abusive business practices and fraud,
and is not intended to affect legitimate talent agents or talent
managers who earn money strictly through commissions and do not
charge their client's advance fees.
2. Prohibition of advance-fee talent services
This bill would define an "advance-fee talent representation
service" as a person that, for a fee, provides, holds themselves
out as providing, offers to provide, or represents it will make
a referral to another person who will provide an artist with any
of the following services: (1) procuring or attempting to
procure employment or an engagement as an artist; (2) procuring
or attempting to procure an audition for an artist; (3) managing
or directing the development of an artist's career; or (4)
procuring or attempting to procure a talent agent or talent
manager, including an associate, representative, or designee
thereof. "Advance-fee talent representation" would also mean a
person that charges an artist a fee for any other product or
service in order for the artist to obtain, from or through the
person, any of the services listed above.
This bill would completely prohibit "advance-fee representation
services," and would also prohibit a person from owning, acting
in the capacity of, advertising for or soliciting for, or
knowingly referring a person to any advance-fee talent
representation service. In other words, a person could not
charge fees in exchange for procuring an agent or manager for an
artist, or for referring an artist to such a service. However,
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"advance-fee representation services" are distinguished from
other types of "fee-related talent services," which would be
subject to specific regulation as set forth by the bill.
3. "Fee-related talent services" defined
"Fee-related talent services" would be broken up into four basic
categories: talent representation, talent training, talent
counseling, and talent listing.
"Talent counseling service" would be defined as a person who is
not otherwise any artist's talent manager and who, for a fee,
provides or offers to provide, holds themselves out as
providing, or represents it will make a referral to another
person who will provide an artist with career counseling, career
consulting, vocational guidance, aptitude testing, career
evaluation, or career planning as an artist.
"Talent listing service" would be defined as a person who, for a
fee, provides or offers to provide, holds themselves out as
providing, or represents it will make a referral to another
person who will provide an artist with any of the following: (1)
a list of one or more auditions or employment opportunities; (2)
a list of one or more talent agents or talent managers,
including an associate, representative, or designee thereof; (3)
a search, or providing the artist with the ability to perform a
self-directed search, of any database for an audition or
employment opportunity, or a database of talent agents or talent
managers, or an associate, representative, or designee thereof;
or (4) storage or maintenance of specified materials for
distribution or disclosure to a talent agent, talent manager, or
an associate, representative or designee thereof, or to a person
represented as offering an audition or employment opportunity.
"Talent training service" would be defined as a person who, for
a fee, provides or offers to provide, holds themselves out as
providing, or represents it will make a referral to another
person who will provide an artist with lessons, coaching,
seminars, workshops, or similar training as an artist.
"Talent scout" would be defined as an individual employed,
appointed, or authorized by a talent service, who solicits or
attempts to solicit an artist for the purpose of becoming a
client of the service. The bill specifies that the principals
of a service are themselves talent scouts if they solicit on
behalf of the service.
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These "fee-related talent services" would be subject to the
regulations outlined below.
4. Changes to Contract Agreement Provisions
Current law requires every contract between an artist and an
advance-fee talent service to be in writing and contain certain
specified language and provisions. (Lab. Code Sec. 1701.4.)
This bill would make numerous changes to the required elements
of each contract.
Specifically, this bill would require the contract to contain
evidence of compliance with applicable bonding requirements,
including the name of the bonding company and bond number, if
any, and a statement indicating that a $50,000 bond must be
posted with the Labor Commissioner. The new bonding
requirements are discussed in more detail in a subsequent
comment.
This bill would add to the standard language already required
for inclusion in each contract. The contract would have to
specify whether the talent service is a "talent counseling
service," "talent listing service," or "talent training
service." The standard boilerplate language would also state
that only a licensed talent agent can engage in procuring,
offering, promising, or attempting to procure employment or
engagements for an artist, and that a dispute arising out of the
performance of the contract by the talent service that is not
resolved to the satisfaction of the artist should be referred to
a local consumer affairs department or local law enforcement, as
appropriate. Contracts would also be required to include
specified information on cancellation rights, notices, and
processes. The cancellation provisions are discussed in further
detail in a subsequent comment.
This bill would require that for contracts executed over the
Internet, the talent service shall give the artist clear and
conspicuous notice of the contract terms and provide the artist
the ability to acknowledge receipt of the terms before agreeing
to the contract. In any dispute regarding compliance with this
requirement, the talent service would have the burden of proving
that the artist received the terms and acknowledged agreement.
This bill would provide that if a talent service offers to list
or display information about an artist, including a photograph,
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on the service's Internet Web site, or on a Web site that the
service has authority to design or alter, the contract shall
contain a notice that the talent service will remove the listing
and content within 10 days of a request by the artist or, in the
case of a minor, the artist's parent or guardian.
In addition, this bill would prohibit a contract for fee-related
talent services from having a term of more than one year, and
being automatically renewed.
5. Changes to Contract Cancellation/Refund Procedures
Under current law, an artist may cancel a contract for
advance-fee talent services, without any penalty or obligation,
within 10 business days from the date of execution of the
contract. (Lab. Code Sec. 1701.4.) In the event that an artist
cancels the contract, the advance-fee talent service is required
to refund in full any advance fees within 10 days. If payment
is not refunded within 10 days, the advance-fee talent service
is required to pay the artists an additional sum equal to the
amount of the fee. (Id.)
Current law also provides that if the artist does not receive
the services that were promised or that the artist was led to
believe would be performed, fees are to be refunded. (Id.) If
repayment is not made within 48 hours of the demand, the
advance-fee talent service is required to pay the artist an
additional sum equal to the amount of the fee. (Id.)
This bill would amend these cancellation/refund procedures as
follows:
First, the bill would provide that an artist may cancel a
contract for talent training services within 10 business days of
execution of the contract by mailing or delivering or sending by
facsimile to the talent service a signed and dated copy of the
cancellation notice or any other written notice of cancellation,
or by sending a notice of cancellation by the Internet if the
contract was executed in part or in whole through the Internet.
The bill would require a talent service to refund all fees paid
by, or on behalf of an artist within 10 business days after
delivery of the cancellation notice.
Second, unless a talent service conspicuously discloses in the
contract that cancellation is prohibited after the 10-day
cancellation period, this bill would provide that an artist may
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cancel a contract for talent services at any time after the
10-day cancellation period and receive a refund on a pro rata
basis by sending to the talent service a signed and dated copy
of the cancellation notice. A talent service would have to
refund all fees paid by, or on behalf of an artist on a pro rata
basis within 10 business days after delivery of the cancellation
notice.
As discussed in the previous comment, this bill would require
each contract for talent services to include information on
cancellation rights, notices, and processes. Specifically, this
bill would require, among others, the following statement:
"You may cancel this contract and obtain a full refund, without
any penalty or obligation, if notice of cancellation is given,
in writing, within 10 business days or after the artist utilizes
the services under the contract, whichever is longer."
This is inconsistent with the actual cancellation rights and
procedures created by the bill. Further, this statement could
be interpreted as giving an artist a right to a full refund even
when they have already obtained the full extent of the services
under the contract. According to the author, the intent is to
allow an artist to obtain a refund within 10 days of the
execution of the contract or commencement of services, which
ever is later. This committee may wish to consider whether the
required contract provision, and general cancellation provisions
in this bill should clarified accordingly.
Suggested amendment :
On page 8, line 3, after "days" insert "from the above date or
the date on which you commence utilizing"
On page 8, line 4, strike "after the artist utilizes"
On page 9, line 13, after "contract" insert:
"or within 10 business days from the date he or she commences
to utilize the services under the contract. An artist shall
notify the talent service of the cancellation"
6. Changes to Prohibited Acts
Existing law contains a list of prohibited acts for "advance-fee
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talent services." This bill would generally expand on the
existing prohibitions to include the following acts: (1)
advertising auditions for employment without maintaining for
inspection and copying specified written information supporting
the authenticity of the audition; (2) advertising successful
alumni stories without maintaining for inspection proof of the
same; (3) charging for auditions or employment; (4) requiring an
artist, as a condition of use of the service or to obtain
preferential treatment, to pay for creating or providing photos
or promotional materials; (5) charging fees not disclosed in the
contract; (6) referring an artist for auditions or photos to a
place where the service has a financial interest; (7) requiring
an artist, as a condition of the use of the service or to obtain
preferential treatment, to pay any fee to a place where the
service has a financial interest; (8) accepting compensation for
referring an artist to a person charging the artist a fee; (9)
failing to remove information about, or photographs of, an
artist displayed on an Internet Web sites that talent service
has the authority to design or alter; and (10) falsely or
misleadingly advertising logos or trademarks of, among others, a
studio production company, talent agency, or labor organization.
In addition, to the prohibitions enumerated above, this bill
would prohibit talent training and counseling services from
operating a talent listing service, and vice versa. Talent
listing services would also be prohibited from listing jobs or
auditions unless they have written permission for each listing.
7. Required disclosures in advertisements and solicitations
This bill provides that a solicitation or advertisement for an
artist to perform or demonstrate any talent for the talent
service, or to appear for an interview, shall clearly and
conspicuously state, "This is not an audition for employment or
for obtaining a talent agent or talent management."
As currently drafted, it is unclear how this disclosure would
work in instances where a person receives a verbal solicitation.
This committee may wish to consider whether this bill should be
clarified to ensure that the disclosure is made in both verbal
and written solicitations.
Suggested amendment:
On page 11, line 17, after "A" insert "written or verbal"
On page 11, line 19, after "shall" insert "include the following
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clear and conspicuous statement"
On page 11, line 19, strike "clearly and conspicuously"
On page 11, line 20, strike "state"
8. Recordkeeping Requirements
Existing law requires every person engaging in the business of
an advance-fee talent service to keep and maintain records as
specified. (Lab. Code Sec. 1701.5.)
This bill revises those recordkeeping requirements to specify
that these records shall include all of the following: (1) the
name and address of each artist contracting with that talent
service; (2) the amount of the fees paid by or for the artist
during the term of the contract with the talent service; (3) The
name, address, date of birth, social security number, federal
tax identification number, and driver's license number and state
of issuance thereof, of the owner of the service, and the
corporate officers if the service is owned by a corporation; (4)
the legal name, principal residence address, date of birth, and
driver's license number and state of issuance thereof, of every
talent scout, and the name(s) each talent scout uses while
soliciting; (5) records pertaining to deposits made in lieu of a
bond with the Labor Commissioner; (6) all executed contracts;
(7) records pertaining to auditions; (8) and records documenting
alumni success stories.
This bill also requires that all books, records, and other
papers kept by a talent service shall be open during the hours
of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except legal
holidays to inspection by any peace officer or to any
representative from the Labor Commissioner, Attorney General,
district attorney, or any city attorney. The bill also requires
every talent service to furnish to the Labor Commissioner,
police, Attorney General, district attorney, or city attorney,
upon request, a true copy of those books, records, and papers,
or any portion thereof, and to make reports as the Labor
Commissioner requires. This is consistent with the inspection
requirements in existing law. (Lab. Code Sec. 1701.5.)
Because the new recordkeeping provisions would require talent
services to maintain detailed records that include the
personally identifying information of various individuals, this
committee may wish to consider whether this bill should be
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amended to ensure that this information is used strictly for the
purposes of law enforcement or Labor Commissioner
investigations, and is not otherwise disseminated to third
parties.
Suggested amendment :
On page 11, line 15, after the period insert:
"The inspecting party shall maintain the confidentiality of any
personally identifying information contained in the records
maintained pursuant to this section, and shall not share, sell,
or transfer the information to any third party unless it is
otherwise authorized by state or federal law."
9. Changes to Bond Requirements and Fees
Existing law provides that, prior to "engaging in the business
or acting in the capacity of an advance-fee talent service," a
person shall file with the Labor Commissioner a bond in the
amount of $10,000 or a deposit in lieu of the bond, as
specified. (Lab. Code Sec. 1701.10.)
This bill would increase the amount of the bond required from
$10,000 to $50,000, and require the bond to be filed prior to
advertising or engaging in business.
Existing law also provides, whenever a bond is made in lieu of a
deposit, a person asserting the claim against the deposit shall
establish the claim by furnishing evidence to the Labor
Commissioner of a money judgment entered by a court, and
evidence that the person was injured as a result of an unlawful
act by a talent service. (Id.) This bill would instead provide
that a person asserting a claim shall establish the claim by
furnishing evidence of either an injury resulting from an
unlawful act or omission by a talent service or of a money
judgment entered by the court. Thus, a person would not have to
furnish evidence of a money judgment in order to establish a
claim on the deposit.
10. Changes to Remedies
Existing law provides that a person who willfully violates these
provisions of law is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by
imprisonment or a $10,000 fine or both. (Lab. Code Sec.
1701.13.)
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This bill would instead provide that a person, "including an
owner, officer, director, agent, or employee of a talent
service" who violates the law is guilty of a misdemeanor. The
current version of this bill also eliminates the requirement
that the violation be "willful." However, the author has
offered an author's amendment, which would reinsert the
requirement that the violation be willful.
Author's Amendment :
On page 17, line 4, after "who" insert "willfully"
Current law provides that the amount awarded for damages may be
up to three times the damages actually incurred, but not less
than the amount paid by the artist to the advance-fee talent
service. The authorization of treble damages permits a court to
triple the amount of the actual/compensatory damages to be
awarded to a prevailing plaintiff, generally in order to punish
the losing party for willful conduct. Treble damages are a
multiple of, and not an addition to, actual damages. Thus,
where a person received an award of $100 for an injury, a court
applying treble damages would raise the award to $300.
This bill changes the damages available in civil actions to "not
less than three times the amount paid by the artist, or on
behalf of the artist, to the talent service or the advance-fee
talent representation service." Thus, this bill would provide a
minimum, rather than a maximum, award of treble damages in civil
actions.
Committee staff notes that although there are statutory remedies
which mandate awards of treble damages for various causes of
action, they are rarely combined with an additional
authorization of punitive damages. In light of the fact that
existing law already authorizes an injured party to recover
actual damages, treble damages, and punitive damages, in
addition to attorney's fees and costs, this committee may wish
to consider whether it is appropriate to set a minimum award of
treble damages in each civil action. The following suggested
amended would permit rather than require an award of treble
damages in each civil action.
Suggested amendment :
On page 17, line 22, after "chapter" insert "may be up to three
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times the damages actually incurred, but"
On page 17, line 22, strike "three times"
11. Exempted entities
This bill contains a number of exemptions for specified
provisions. First, this bill exempts the following entities
from the prohibition on advance-fee talent representation
services: public educational institutions, non-profit
corporations that meet specified requirements, labor
organizations, bona fide journalism publications, and public
institutions.
Second, this bill would exempt the following entities from the
regulations imposed on other talent services: private
educational institutions established solely for educational
purposes and licensed psychologists who provide career or
occupational counseling within the scope of their practice.
Talent listing services are also exempt if a majority interest
in the service is owned by one or more colleges, universities,
or alumni associations, the services are provided exclusively
for alumni artists, and the service does not require an
applicant to have completed courses beyond that required for
graduation from the college or university.
A private educational institution would only be able to claim an
exemption if more than 90 percent of its student body is
comprised of students who have completed or terminated their
secondary education or are beyond the age of compulsory high
school attendance. It must also maintain adequate records to
establish the age of its students, including the name, date of
birth, principal residence address, principal telephone number,
driver's license number and state of issuance thereof, and dates
of attendance. These records would have to be made available
for inspection and copying within 24 hours of a written request
by the Labor Commissioner, the Attorney General, a district
attorney, a city attorney, or a state or local law enforcement
agency.
In light of the extensive amount of students' personally
identifying information which this bill requires to be
maintained, this committee may wish to consider whether this
bill should be amended to ensure that this information is used
strictly for the purposes of law enforcement or Labor
Commissioner investigations, and is not otherwise disseminated
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to third parties.
Suggested amendment :
On page 16, line 7, after the period insert:
"The inspecting party shall maintain the confidentiality of any
personally identifying information contained in the records
maintained pursuant to this section, and shall not share, sell,
or transfer the information to any third party unless it is
otherwise authorized by state or federal law."
12. Opposition
In opposition the Association of Talent and Modeling Agencies
(Association) writes:
While the Association is committed to regulatory reforms to
enhance consumer protection against unscrupulous companies and
individuals, certain provisions within AB 1319 are
unreasonable, unnecessary, and extremely burdensome to
law-abiding talent and modeling service agencies.
First, the Association is concerned that the definition of
"advance-fee talent representation service" may be interpreted
to cover talent conventions/competitions such as those hosted by
International Modeling and Talent Association (IMAT) and the
International Presentation of Performers (iPOP). According to
the Association, acting and modeling schools offer their
students an opportunity to go to these talent
conventions/competitions for a fee, which includes the cost of
transportation, hotel, tickets to the convention, and the cost
of the tickets to the awards banquet. The Association is
concerned that if this bill prohibits referring artists to these
conventions, iPOP, IMAT, and other convention hosts will move to
other venues. The Association suggests amending the bill to
permit that advance-fee services be provided to students already
enrolled with a modeling or talent service.
In response, the author states that AB 1319 does not prohibit
competitions or conventions, but instead generally prohibits
charging fees for procuring an agent or manager. Committee
staff also notes that this bill does not appear to target
legitimate talent conventions or competitions which students
purchase tickets to attend. Rather, this bill seeks to stop
more unscrupulous practices where individuals charge advance
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fees with the promise to obtain representation or employment for
the artist, which are ultimately never fulfilled.
Second, the Association is concerned with the bill's requirement
that a talent service remove information about, or photographs
of, an artist displayed on the talent service's Internet Web
site within 10 days of a request from the artist. The
Association asserts that this would allow an artist to
unilaterally breach a negotiated agreement with an acting or
modeling school where the school offers to train the artist for
a fee and the right to use their name and likeness as someone
who has attended the school. Further, the Association is
concerned that talent services would not be permitted to
advertise artist success stories unless they have a written
contract for that artist. The Association states that some
talent training services, such as John Robert Powers, were
established at a time when written contracts were either not
issued or maintained and thus do not have actual signed
contracts with many of their pre-1960 artist. The Association
asserts that these talent service providers should not be
precluded from continuing to advertise those artists. The
Association suggests amending the bill to allow for an exception
if the artist and talent training service have a valid contract
where the artist agrees to allow the use his/her name and
likeness by the talent training service.
In response, the author states that this bill would require that
each contract contain a clause allowing the artist to request
removal of his/her information and/or photographs from a talent
service's Internet Web site. Thus, the artist removal rights
would already be part of each standard contract. The author
further contends that talent services should not be advertising
artist success stories unless they can prove the artists
actually utilized their services.
Third, the Association states that the increased bond
requirement from $10,000 to $50,000 is excessive and
unreasonable. It suggests maintaining the $10,000 bond
requirement for companies with a physical presence in
California, and requiring a $50,000 bond for those companies who
do not have a physical presence in the state.
In response, the author states that it is not difficult to post
a bond, nor it is required to post $50,000 in order to obtain
one. According to the author, a talent service would only be
required to pay between 1.5 percent and 5 percent of the bond
AB 1319 (Krekorian)
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amount per year ($500 to $2500), depending on the service's
credit score.
Fourth, the Association is concerned that this bill would give
the artist the right to cancel a contract and obtain a full
refund after the artist has fully benefited from the talent
training. The suggested amendments in Comment 5 may address
these concerns.
Finally, the Association states that the minimum award of treble
damages in civil actions is unreasonable and excessive because
it does not distinguish minor, insignificant breach of contract
claims from those that are serious in nature. The suggested
amendment in Comment 10 may address these concerns.
Support : Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.; Office of
the District Attorney, Marin County; Office of the San Diego
City Attorney; BizParentz Foundation; California District
Attorneys Association
Opposition : Association of Talent and Modeling Agencies
HISTORY
Source : Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney; Screen Actors
Guild; Better Business Bureau of Southland
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation :
AB 884 (Kuehl, Chapter 626, Statutes of 1999). See Background.
AB 2860 (Kuehl, Chapter 878, Statutes of 2000) corrected a
drafting error to narrow the law to avoid regulating individuals
who served merely as photographers, costume designers, drama
coaches, or in similar occupations but not engaging in
advance-fee talent services.
SB 1687 (Murray, Chapter 288, Statutes of 2004) closed a
loophole for those who charging up-front fees for photographs or
"casting kits" while indicating that these services will lead to
employment.
Prior Vote :
AB 1319 (Krekorian)
Page 18 of ?
Assembly Labor and Employment Committee (Ayes 5, Noes 1)
Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet
Media Committee (Ayes 7, Noes 2)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (Ayes 5, Noes 4)
Assembly Floor (Ayes 58, Noes 21)
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