Our second annual law student writing competition.
GENERAL INFO
The Entertainment and Sports Law Section of the State Bar of Texas (TESLAW) announce the second annual law student writing competition for the Lazzari Memorial Prize. The Section will award the Lazzari Memorial Prize to the best student paper on one of the announced artist advocacy topics listed below.
The Lazzari Memorial Prize is a $1,000 cash prize paid to the author and publication of the winning paper in the Texas Entertainment and Sports Law Journal. The winning author also receives their membership facilitated into the Section, a complimentary registration for the 2023 Entertainment Law Institute and Bootcamp (ELI) in Austin to be hosted by the University of Texas School of Law Continuing Legal Education and held at the AT&T Center in Austin on November 8-10, 2023, recognition at ELI, and an invitation to the Institute’s private speakers dinner in Austin. If needed, a travel stipend will be made available.
The Lazzari Memorial Prize is named for the late Cindi Lazzari, a Texas attorney who went far beyond the call of duty in her efforts to protect the rights of artists in the music industry.
Second-year students, third-year students, and third-year students graduating in summer 2003 at ABA-accredited law schools in the State of Texas are eligible to enter. However, second-year students who receive awards may not compete in their third year.
The deadline for entering a paper in the competition is September 1, 2023 and the winner will be announced on October 2, 2023. Manuscript must be at least 5,000 words, including footnotes (no endnotes) but no longer than 10,000 words, double spaced and presented in the Century font. Copyright in the paper will be retained by the author.
If warranted, the Section may announce an “Honorable Mention” for one paper other than the winner.
This year’s topics are:
1. Is it time for an online privacy law in Texas that would apply to any company doing business in Texas?
2. Has TikTok succeeded or failed at protecting children in the US, Germany and China and from what harms?
3. How can artist rights be protected in the US from AI abuses using current law only and what current law remedies are fit for purpose? Compare at least three of the following copyright categories: Actors (including voice over actors), athletes, film directors or record producers, featured recording artists, illustrators, non-featured musicians or vocalists, or photographers.
4. Georgians proposed a ticket resale royalty in reaction to a 2023 failed attempt by StubHub to limit the rights of artists and venues to protect against (1) selling options to buy tickets that are not then on sale, and (2) create a financial incentive for artists to permit tickets to be transferred. The proposal is still under discussion in the Georgia legislation.
(a) Is a ticket resale royalty good public policy for Texas if Texas were to adopt a similar proposal? If so, how would the State of Texas handle the mechanics of that royalty in order for the transactions to run smoothly?
(b) Is the sale of an option to buy a future ticket that is not yet available for sale a violation of Texas securities law (or US securities laws)?
RULES GOVERNING THE LAZZARI MEMORIAL PRIZE WRITING COMPETITION
1. Eligible Students:
All second and third-year students at ABA-accredited law schools in Texas are invited to participate in the Competition. Second-year students who receive awards may not compete in their third year.
2. Subject Matter:
Topics are listed above (See, General Info).
3. Determination of Awards:
The prizes will be awarded to the eligible student who prepares the best paper in the sole discretion of the Section Council, or such other person or committee as the Section Council may designate. The Section Council may, in its discretion, withhold the award entirely if in its determination no worthy paper is submitted.
4. Award:
$1,000. The winning author also receives facilitation of membership into the Section, a complimentary registration for the 2022 Entertainment Law Institute and Bootcamp in Austin, recognition at the Institute, and an invitation to the Institute’s private speakers’ dinner in Austin.
5. Requirements as to the Length and Form of Manuscript:
Papers must comply with the following requirements to be considered:
(a) Manuscript must be typewritten (double-spaced) on 8 ó” x 11″ paper format, margin all around. Manuscripts must be presented in the Century font, 12 point font for body text and page numbers, 10 point font for footnotes.
(b) Citations must otherwise be in the law review form specified in the latest edition of the Harvard Blue Book: A Uniform System of Citation.
(c) Manuscript must be at least 5,000 words, including footnotes (no endnotes) but no more than 10,000 words.
(d) One copy of the manuscript shall be submitted in digital form, Microsoft Word format preferred, no pdfs.
(e) The manuscript must be labeled with the title of the paper, the author’s name, permanent address and telephone number.
6. Submissions of Papers and Publication:
(a) A paper that has been previously published anywhere in the same or substantially similar form is not eligible.
(b) Subsequent to entry in the Competition, papers may be published in law reviews, provided their entry in the Competition is duly noted.
(c) Each student-author shall retain the copyright in his or her paper.
(d) Each student-author shall, by entry in the Competition and agreeing to comply with these Rules, grant to the Section a nonexclusive license to publish his or her paper in the Texas Entertainment and Sports Law Journal in any form (including by electronic means).
(e) An original signed statement from the student-author shall be scanned by the student-author and included with the submitted manuscript, as follows:
I, [student-author’s name], certify that my manuscript is my original research and writing. I have read the Rules Governing the Competition and agree to comply in all respects with those Rules. [Signature of student-author]
7. Individual Study:
Papers must represent individual study and collaboration with others in their preparation is not permitted. However, papers prepared in fulfillment of requirements for a law school class under the supervision of a law school faculty member may be submitted.
8. Closing Date:
Papers must be time stamped and emailed to the Section no later than 5pm Central Time on September 1, 2023.
