Published Articles
By Mark Litwak
Practical Guidance, LexisNexis
Film Financing Overview by Mark Litwak (August 2023)
Los Angeles Daily Journal
Blurred Lines: Free Speech and the Right of Publicity (January 29, 2014)
The Court Declines to Accept this Suit (July 23, 2013)
Portraying People in Your Work: Fact vs. Fiction (July 2, 2013)
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Pub (March 4, 2013)
Hobbit Titles: An Unexpected Journey in Confusion (December 26, 2012)
Domestic Film Distribution: Theatrical, Video Release (September 19, 2012)
Domestic Film Distribution 101 (September 12, 2012)
International Film Distribution 101 (September 6, 2012)
JOBS Act Could Boost Filmmakers (May 2, 2012)
Reel Deals (June 2, 2009)
Settling the Score (April 28, 2009)
Pirates Beware: Multimedia Works Protected by Copyright (April 24, 1997)
Rights Minded: Negotiating Multimedia Program Agreements (January 19, 1996)
HD Video Pro Magazine
Markets and Festivals (January 2, 2017)
Risky Business: Financing Your Feature Film, Part One (April 25, 2016)
Risky Business: Financing Your Feature Film, Part 2 (July 27, 2016)
Focus In
When Changing Names is Not Enough (September 2005)
Implications of the Grokster Ruling (August 2005)
Organizing Your Company (July 2005)
Financing Independent Films (June 2005)
The Brave New World of Production Incentives (October 2004)
Filmmaker Self-Defense Checklist (July 2004)
How Distributors Evaluate Films (June 2004)
Protecting Your Stories (May 2004)
Moviemaker Magazine
Soft Money in Hard Time (Winter 2004)
Let the Moviemaker Beware...How to Protect Your Internet Rights (February 2000)
How to Think Like an Investor (December 1999)
Tactics in the Distribution Deal (March/April 1996)
The Independent
Self Defense for Screenwriters (March 2002)
Getting the Goods for Multimedia, Part 1: Licensing Text (August/September 1994)
Getting the Goods for Multimedia, Part 2: Licensing Images & Software (October 1994)
Lessons in Self-Defense: Distribution Contract and Arbitration Clauses (July 1993)
IndieWire
Interview with IndieWire on potential WGA strike March 7, 2017
What Can a Filmmaker Expect to Earn Over a Lifetime?
Attention, Filmmakers: Here's What you Need to Know about Chain of Title.
Here's How the New Crowdfunding Rules Will Change Indie Film Financing
Here's What the Dancing Toddler's Decision Means for Filmmakers
Attention Filmmakers: Here's What You Need to Know About Malpractice Insurance
Do Your Actors Own Your Film?
Other Articles
Desperately Seeking Distribution, Indie Slate (Issue 43, 2006)
When Products Become Stars, Delaware Lawyer (Winter 2005/2006)
Runaway Home, Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine (May 2004)
The Hollywood Shuffle: Protecting Film Investors, Vanderbilt Law Journal (Vol. 2, Number 1, Winter 2000)
Minimizing the Risk for Motion Picture Investors, Los Angeles County Bar Association (April 2001)
Internet Distribution: The Promise and the Pitfalls, Imagine 2000 (July 2000)
Tactics and Strategy in Negotiating the Independent Distribution Agreement: Part 1, Entertainment and Sports Lawyers (Vol. 16, Number 4, Winter 1999)
Investor Advice for Choosing Indie Films, Entertainment Law & Finance (June 1999)
Terms of Engagement: The Scope of Employment in Multimedia, Los Angeles County Bar Association (April 1997)
Negotiating Electronic Publishing Agreements, The Multimedia Law Report (Vol. 2, Number 1, November 1995)
Auteur, Defend Thyself!, The Hollywood Reporter (Independent Producer & Distributors Special Issue 1994)
Licensing Content for Multimedia Applications, IMA Interactive Multimedia News (November/December 1994)
Potholes on the Information Superhighway: A Road Map to Legal Issues in Multimedia Productions, New Matter (1994)
Chasing Money: How to Attract Capital to Your Movie by Thinking Like an Investor, Drama Beat Newspaper
16 Tips For Negotiating International Film Distribution, Law 360, LexisNexis, (June 06, 2014)
Legal Shop Talk: Termination Rights, LatinHeat
Mark Litwak and his books and articles have been cited as an authority in more than 50 law journals and professional publications including:
64 Duke L.J. 605
Duke Law Journal, Hollywood Deals: Soft Contracts For Hard Markets, Jonathan M. Barnett
11 San Diego Int'l L.J. 319
San Diego International Law Journal, Comment: Copyright Or Trademark? Can One Boy Wizard Prevent Film Title Duplication?, Anna Phillips
9 U. Pa. J. Lab. & Emp. L. 879 Through the Looking Glass: Runaway Productions and "Hollywood Economics", Adrian McDonald
14 Chap. L. Rev. 415
Chapman Law Review, The Case for Domestic Box Office Receipt Derivatives, Jeremy A. Gogel
10 UCLA Ent. L. Rev. 19
Revised UCC Article 9 and the Negative Pick-up Deal
13 Va. Sports & Ent. L.J. 211
Virginia Sports & Entertainment Law Journal, Louisiana’s "Motion Picture Investor Tax Credit": A Uniquely Effective Economic Policy
1 J. High Tech. L. 27
The NET Act, Fair Use, and Willfulness - Is Congress Making a Scarecrow of the Law?, Brian P. Heneghan
3 Cardozo Online J. Confl. Resol. 5
Arbitration in the Independent Film Distribution Contract: An Independent Filmmaker's Tool to Battle Large Litigation Budgets, By: Eric Ervin
21 Hastings Comm. & Ent. L.J. 339
Copyright, Culture & Black Music: A Legacy of Unequal Protection, by K.J. Greene
21 Seton Hall J. Sports & Ent. L. 149
Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law, Comment: Financing Films One State At A Time: A Survey Of Successful Film Incentive Programs, Eric Homsi
21 Yale J. on Reg. 317
Antitrust and Pricing in the Motion Picture Industry, Barak Y. Orbach.
52 Stan. L. Rev. 809
Prosecuting Violence/Reconstructing Community, Anthony V. Alfieri.
49 UCLA L. Rev. 225
Article: Not A Spike Lee Joint? Issues In The Authorship Of Motion Pictures Under U.S. Copyright Law, F. Jay Dougherty.
30 Hawaii L. Rev. 401
University of Hawai'i Law Review, Comment: Seed Capital is Not Enough: Lessons from Hawai'i's Attempt to Develop a High-Technology Sector.
