Showbiz Managers Tell Court: Law is Unconstitutional
ri...@marathonent.com
association representing personal managers for entertainers has told
the California Supreme Court that the state's controversial law
regulating talent agents discriminates against interstate commerce and
should not be applied to their profession.
"The California Talent Agency Act deprives out-of-state personal
managers access to the California talent market on equal terms, which
constitutes explicit discrimination against interstate commerce," said
Clinton Ford Billups Jr., president of the National Conference of
Personal Managers (NCOPM).
"This discriminatory law constitutes simple economic protectionism,
which burdens out-of-state personal managers and benefits in-state
talent agents," added Billups.
Marathon v. Blasi
NCOPM's claims were made in their amicus curiae brief filed today in
Marathon v. Blasi, a case in which Los Angeles personal manager Rick
Siegel petitioned the State Supreme Court to rule on whether the
Talent Agency Act (TAA) applies to personal managers.
Amidst a decades-long controversy over whether managers are subject to
TAA, Siegel claims the California Legislature expressly considered and
chose to exclude personal managers from the law when it was enacted in
1979.
'Economic Protectionism'
In addition to supporting Siegel's claims that the law does not apply
to managers, NCOPM's brief also claimed the law "materially burdens
and discriminates against interstate commerce, impedes the flow of
trade across state lines and deprives out-of-state competitors of
access to local markets."
"TAA discriminates in favor of California economic activity and
against out-of-state personal managers. This protectionist measure has
wrongly insulated California economic interests in talent
representation from interstate competition," NCOPM told the Court.
NCOPM's brief also claimed, "California's Labor Commissioner and
courts have erroneously applied the TAA to personal managers in an
unfair and disproportionate fashion."
In summary, the brief stated, "The TAA does not, by its own terms, or
in accordance with appropriate standards of statutory construction
apply to personal managers. Moreover, the TAA should be held
inapplicable to personal managers on the grounds that the statute is
invalid as a violation of the Commerce Clause of the U.S.
Constitution."
"It is respectfully urged that this Court use this case to prohibit
such abuse and forbid any further misapplication of the TAA,"
concluded the brief.
NCOPM is the nation's oldest and largest trade association of personal
managers representing artists in entertainment, media and performing
arts. NCOPM is committed to the advancement of personal managers and
their clients through education, public affairs and ethical trade
practices.