SCHRODER FIDLOW, PLC

Kirk T. Schroder, Esq.

kschroder@schroderfidlow.com

804 225-0505 (Richmond)
434 977-7888 (Charlottesville)
804 225-0507 (facsimile)

Kirk T. Schroder has an extensive entertainment and arts law practice. Kirk has been named to the 2008 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for the field of entertainment law. In October, 2007, Kirk was elected by his national peers in the entertainment and sports law profession to be the Chair-Elect of the American Bar Association Entertainment & Sports Law section. His law practice draws entertainment and arts related clients from all over the United States and the World. Here is a brief summary of the areas covered in his law practice:

Motion Picture/Television/Radio Broadcast

Kirk serves as counsel for production companies and film financiers who have distribution agreements with major Hollywood studios for theatrical motion pictures. He represents a significant number of award-winning independent filmmakers and producers and has extensive working knowledge of the many legal and business aspects of filmmaking (including production matters, applicable union and guild collective bargaining agreements, financing and distribution arrangements). He continues to serve as counsel on numerous major studio productions for Universal Pictures and has done so for more than a decade. Other production clients come from Europe and the Middle East. Many of his clients have production deals with cable networks such as the Discovery Channel, HBO and Showtime. He also handles a variety of talent issues on behalf of radio and television personalities, several of whom are nationally syndicated and have some of the highest rated television shows on cable networks.

Literary Publishing/Book Deals

Kirk represents a variety of authors in the literary publishing field from beginning authors to well-established authors who command advances well into the six figures and above range. He is very experienced with major literary publishing house deals and other publishing deals with regional and acadamic presses and niche publishing houses. Kirk can negotiate all aspects of literary publishing deals, including agent-author relationships, book publishing contracts and ancillary rights matters. Kirk also represents magazine publishers in legal matters concerning the publication of several magazines. He also represents several syndicated writers who publish in major magazines and newspapers.

Music/Music Publishing

Kirk's work in music is primarily talent-oriented, but he also represents various regionally known record labels. Representative clients currently include a variety of artists with major or independent record label deals. An example of the Kirk's successful work in this area was when he served as the principal author of The Virginia Music Licensing Act (Virginia Code Sections 59.1-460 to 59.1-466). This landmark piece of legislation was the first to be in enacted in the United States. This statute affects the conduct and activities of music performing rights societies (ASCAP, BMI and SESAC). Kirk also handles merchandising agreements, manager-artist relationships and live touring matters.

Multimedia/Internet

Kirk's representative clients include numerous multimedia / internet content providers and web site developers around the country. Kirk represents the CEO of a major meta-search engine on the internet. In the past, Kirk served as lead counsel of one of the most popular game websites. Other clients are involved in all aspects of e-commerce, especially those who are licensing content on some of the most popular internet websites for games and retail.

Theater/Public Speakers/Live Performance

Kirk represents several major live performance promoters and venues. He was instrumental in the formation and provided legal representation for one of the leading public speakers forums in the United States. This involved negotiating public appearances for celebrities such as Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, and many other nationally popular speakers. Kirk also represents various regional theater playhouses and has represented clients in off-Broadway and off-off Broadway related theater matters. 

Advertising and Marketing

Kirk has significant experience in representing several national and regional advertising agencies. For many years, he served as general counsel to a major national advertising agency, The Martin Agency. Kirk is very familiar with a wide range of legal issues related to advertising and marketing and has negotiated numerous deals related to advertising, promotional and marketing industry clients.

Visual Arts

Kirk is one of the few practitioners in the Mid-Atlantic with a significant practice involving public and private art. Kirk Schroder is past chairman of the Virginia State Bar's Lawyers for the Arts Committee and has been honored for his legal work for the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts. He is a frequent lecturer on arts and law related topics.

Personalities Involved in Alternative Arts

There are many people who work in the field of Alternative Arts who have issues similar to the entertainment field. Kirk's practice includes professional psychic mediums who are well established in the national media, feng shui experts who consult in a variety of capacities, astrologers active in the field of commerce and others in similar activities.

Entertainment and Art Law Teaching Experience

Kirk has taught entertainment law courses in such prestigious institutions like the University of Virginia School of Law and the University of Richmond School of Law. In addition, for three years, Kirk served as a co-chairman of the Harvard Law School Entertainment Law Symposium. Kirk has taught graduate leve art law classes at Virginia Commonwealth University's Graduate School of Arts, consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report magazine as one of the top 5 art programs in the country.

Entertainment Bar Activities and Publications

Kirk currently serves on the Governing Committee of the American Bar Association entertainment law section alongside some of the most distinguished entertainment law practitioners in the country. In addition, Kirk has published articles in prominent entertainment law related publications and served as an assistant editor of The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer for several years.

On A Personal Level

Kirk is very active and passionate about education and children's issues. While maintaining his private law practice, Kirk served as president of the Virginia Board of Education from 1998 - 2002 along with other distinguished education institutions such as the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in Atlanta. He is the first president of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Public Education Fund and also holds a Ph.D in education from the University of Virginia. Kirk is also the chair of the education policy committee for the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and serves on the board of directors of Communities In Schools of Virginia. Kirk was also named to the 2007 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for the field of education law. A very limited portion of his practice involves education policy issues.