Legal Solutions for the Business Problems of Magicians and Other Professional Entertainers

The Cowan Law Firm has significant experience representing professional magicians and other entertainers. Our more than 25 years of experience in show business – both as a working magician and representing magicians -- give us a unique understanding of the legal issues that professional entertainers face. This background has allowed us to devise and deploy strategies ranging from legal theories never before applied to the magic industry to more traditional legal solutions.

We have helped performers and other entertainment industry professional in a variety of ways, including the following:

Resolving disputes over unpaid fees
Litigating disputes arising from magic-related business ventures
Preparing, analyzing and revising contracts for performances
Counseling clients about how to avoid litigation
Creating confidentiality agreements
Licensing “trade secret” magic tricks – including the Fitch-Kohler Holdout – thereby helping to protect against not only their exposure on television but also “knock offs”
Creating releases for spectators appearing in magic videos
Curbing the unlawful distribution of pirated videotapes, and
Analyzing unfair competition and intellectual property rights issues that affect creators, manufacturers and wholesalers of magic.

Magicians and magic-related businesses whom we have represented include the following:

Bob Kohler
Mark Wilson
Chris Korn
Steve Spill
The Academy of Magical Arts, Inc., (operator of the Magic Castle nightclub in Hollywood, California)
Magicopolis (in Santa Monica, California)

Apollo Robbins
Dan Sylvester, aka Sylvester the Jester
Armando Lucero
James Lewis
Michael Forbes
John George
Doug Brewer

Whether you are a magician, comedian, singer, actor, or other entertainer; whether you need to explore litigation or want to use the prudent “ounce of prevention” approach to better protect against such risks later – we are ready and able to help. If your legal needs end up falling outside of our areas of expertise, we will try to refer you to talented lawyers in those practice areas.