• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

FREE 20 MINUTES CONSULTATION for Technology and Media Companies – Find out more

Call us today  0131 222 2939

  • E-mail
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

BTO Becreative

BTO's Music & Creative Industries Team

  • HOME
  • EXPERTISE
  • TEAM
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT US
  • Search
  • HOME
  • EXPERTISE
  • TEAM
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT US
  • Search

Mobile Menu

Call Us Now

Find out how our law firm can help you.

0131 222 2939

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
The-Show-Must-Go-On-v2

“The Show Must Go On”

March 24, 2020 //  by BTO Becreative Team//  Leave a Comment

Ensuring business continuity in these turbulent times is challenging to say the least. The difficulties posed by coronavirus are hitting the economy hard and will continue to do so for some time. One of the worst affected areas is hospitality and entertainment which has seen an immediate and fundamental impact on events and bookings.

Over the past days and weeks, restrictions on movement and trade have caused a significant impact on business with some organisations being unable to meet their obligations and others being left in the lurch. Inevitably, this has an impact on profitability and, in many cases, viability.

Many venues have closed indefinitely and events have been cancelled while custom in bars, restaurants and hotels has been severely hit.

While it might prove possible to tighten belts and cut costs in some areas, most businesses will continue to have obligations in respect of their customers, suppliers and every other party with whom they do business. When it proves difficult or impossible to discharge those obligations, it is important to consider what rights and remedies exist and that usually involves considering the terms of the contract and what was agreed by the parties.

Obviously, this is much easier when the contract is in writing, but many legally binding contracts are not in any recorded form and it is important then to consider what options are available.

Many contracts will contain a force majeure clause. This type of clause will provide that if either of the parties to the contract is unable to perform their obligations due to an event outwith their control for a period of time, that party will not be in breach of contract. As such, the party in “default” will avoid proceedings for breach of contract for their failure to perform, provided the event which has prevented performance falls within the parameters of the force majeure clause – for example, venues are being forced to cancel performances and events while advice is to avoid large social gatherings. But what then?

The effect of many force majeure clauses is that while the party in default avoids liability for a time, the “innocent” party remains liable for payment under the contract. Establishing the extent of that liability and what if any exceptions may exist is vitally important for both parties and businesses faced with such an interruption should carefully consider the terms of their contract.

In other cases, rather than a delay or interruption to business, it may simply become impossible to perform the contract. A contract may become “frustrated” where, after the contract has been agreed, a supervening event occurs which neither party had contemplated. This is slightly different to the situation where a delay or cancellation occurs – the most obvious example being if a venue is hired for a concert and burns down a day before the gig, it will be impossible to hold the event at that venue.

Businesses will have to consider their cancellation and refund policies. Payment of deposits and advances should also be considered and whether those payments were non-refundable or contingent on performance.

In many cases, insurance may cover some of the costs involved, but again it is important to check the terms of cover and, most importantly, to ensure that you do not do anything which may affect or invalidate the terms of your cover.

While uncertainty continues as to how long this situation will persist, it is important to take steps to mitigate potential losses and to establish what rights and relief you may have.

The BTO BeCreative team specialises in providing advice to individuals and organisations in the arts and entertainment industry and on protecting your commercial interests. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:

Contact: 

Paul Motion, Partner and Solicitor Advocate prm@bto.co.uk T: 0131 222 2939
Lynn Richmond, Partner lyr@bto.co.uk T: 0131 222 2939
Jonathan Tait, Solicitor jta@bto.co.uk T: 0131 222 2939

Category: Music IndustryTag: breach of contract, contracts, force majeure

You May Also Be Interested In:

UK Industry Agreement on Music Streaming Metadata – What it Means for Creators

“Heart on my Sleeve” – AI Generated Voices in Music

Louboutin v Amazon – If the shoe fits

Getty Images’ dispute with Stability AI may provide welcome clarity on the legal balance between technological innovation and human creativity

“More Valuable than Gold or Oil” – Commercialising your Copyright

Buyer Beware – Copyright and NFTs

Keeping Secrets – The Benefits of Good Confidentiality Agreements

Hook, line and sinker – How Ed Sheeran won in court.

The publishing industry breathes a collective sigh of relief as UK Government maintains UK’s copyright exhaustion regime – for now at least

View our brochure below or download it here.
Previous Post: « Sampling in the music industry – a hard Kraft to master
Next Post: Are clothing designs too lacking in RAW originality and creativity to be afforded copyright protection? fashion audience clapping»

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Keep Up To Date

If you would like to receive BTO BeCreative updates by email CLICK HERE (opens a new email).  See our Privacy Notice for information on how we process your data.

RECENT POSTS

UK Industry Agreement on Music Streaming Metadata – What it Means for Creators

Background On 31 May 2023, the UK Intellectual Property Office …

“Heart on my Sleeve” – AI Generated Voices in Music

In April this year, the internet went crazy for the song “Heart …

Louboutin v Amazon – If the shoe fits

The recent decision of the Court of Justice of the European …

Getty Images’ dispute with Stability AI may provide welcome clarity on the legal balance between technological innovation and human creativity

In January, stock photo provider Getty Images (“Getty”) …

“More Valuable than Gold or Oil” – Commercialising your Copyright

It is reported (25 January 2023) that pop mega-star Justin …

Footer

Our Team

  • Paul Motion
  • Lynn Richmond
  • Lauren McFarlane

Our Offices

BTO Solicitors LLP
Edinburgh: 0131 222 2939
One Edinburgh Quay
Edinburgh, EH3 9QG
Glasgow: 0141 221 8012
48 St. Vincent Street
Glasgow, G2 5HS

Our Expertise

Find out more about our legal services to the creative industries.
Learn More →

Newsletter

Sign up to receive BTO BeCreative updates by email CLICK HERE (opens a new email).   See our Privacy Notice for information on how we process your data.

  • E-mail
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

© 2023 BTO Solicitors LLP · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Notice · Cookie Policy · Terms & Conditions· Anti-Money Laundering Policy

Manage Cookie Consent
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}