Welcome to the Entertainment Newsletter, containing content related to the people, news and business issues we see in our day-to-day service to the industry.

In This Issue:

• Section 409A – An Important Tax Issue
  In response to the Enron crisis in the early 2000s, Congress enacted Section 409A to punish unethical behavior and to make clear rules regarding the taxation of deferred income. So what does this mean for profit participants? Profit participants must be cautious when structuring compensation agreements to avoid substantial penalties.
• Royalty Risk Assessment
  While royalty and profit participation agreements can provide tremendous income opportunities for many in the entertainment industry, ensuring they are administered fairly can be challenging. Failure to effectively review or audit reports and payments can result in underpayment or even misuse of intellectual property.
• Value of Professional Advisory Network in MPFT
  The Professional Advisory Network (PAN) of the Motion Picture Television Fund (MPTF) is a dynamic group of attorneys, business managers, CPA’s, financial planners, and wealth managers serving clients in the motion picture and television industry. PAN is a valuable resource that enables members to better serve their entertainment industry clients by promoting collaboration and discussion of issues facing the industry.
• Producer Share Participations
  GHJ’ own David Robinson writes about exercising your audit rights in Producer Share Participations in the Winter 2012 edition of Produced By magazine.
• Celador’s Case Against Disney
  Learn what GHJ’ own Steven Sills had to say about Celador’s “self-dealing” case against Disney.