Entertainment Industry IP Disputes

A performer at a major Las Vegas Strip resort spent two years developing an original stage show concept: custom choreography, original music, and a distinctive visual style that audiences recognized immediately. When the resort’s contract expired, the performer moved to a competing venue on Fremont Street. Within three months, the original resort launched a new show that replicated the performer’s concept almost exactly: the same movement sequences, similar music arrangements, and a nearly identical stage design.

The performer called us. The question was straightforward: who owned the creative work?

I’m Evan Dotta, a partner at Mister Wolf, P.C. I work with entertainers, content creators, and production companies as a Nevada intellectual property lawyer. Nevada’s entertainment industry generates billions of dollars annually, concentrated along the Las Vegas Strip and in the growing digital content creation space. The intellectual property disputes that come out of this industry are unlike anything you see in other sectors: show concepts that took years to develop get copied in weeks, performers discover their likeness being used in advertisements they never approved, and digital creators find their content repackaged and monetized by someone else.

This post covers the specific IP protections available to Nevada entertainers and content creators, from copyright and right of publicity to trade secrets and contract law.

Who Owns the Creative Work in a Performer’s Contract?

The Copyright Default Rule

Under federal copyright law (17 U.S.C. Section 201), you own the copyright to any work you create. If you choreograph a dance routine, write an original song, or design a stage set, you own it. Copyright protection exists automatically when the work is fixed in a tangible medium (17 U.S.C. Section 102). You don’t need to register to own it, but registration matters for enforcement.

This changes under a contract. If you’re an employee creating work within the scope of your job, it’s a “work made for hire” (17 U.S.C. Section 101), and your employer owns the copyright. If you’re an independent contractor, the work is only made for hire if it falls into one of nine statutory categories and you sign a written agreement saying so.

Most performers in Las Vegas work under independent contractor agreements, not employment contracts. That distinction matters. A choreographer hired as an independent contractor to create routines for a Cirque-style show on the Strip doesn’t automatically hand over copyright ownership to the production company, unless the contract says otherwise.

Contract Language Controls

Most Las Vegas entertainment contracts include IP assignment clauses that transfer all creative rights to the production company or venue. These clauses are enforceable. If you signed an agreement giving all work created during the contract term to the production company, they own the copyright.

Read your contract before you sign it. If the IP assignment clause is broader than what you’re comfortable with, negotiate. Some performers successfully carve out rights to pre-existing works (material they created before the contract), derivative works they create after the contract ends, and works created entirely outside the scope of the engagement.

Pull out your current entertainment contract right now and find the IP assignment clause. If you can’t find one, or if you don’t understand what it covers, get it reviewed before your next project.

How Does Copyright Registration Help Nevada Entertainers?

The registration requirement for lawsuits

You can’t sue for copyright infringement in federal court without registering your work with the U.S. Copyright Office (17 U.S.C. Section 411(a)). The Supreme Court settled this in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com (2019): you need actual registration, not just an application filed.

Registration also gives you access to statutory damages and attorney’s fees (17 U.S.C. Section 412). Register before the infringement starts or within three months of publication, and you can claim up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement. You can also recover your attorney’s fees from the infringer. Without timely registration, you’re stuck proving actual damages and the infringer’s profits, which are harder to quantify and usually smaller.

What entertainers should register

Original choreography (as a performing arts work, with video)
Musical compositions and sound recordings
Set designs and visual artwork
Scripts, treatments, and written show concepts
Video recordings of performances
Promotional photographs and graphics

Registration costs $65 online. That’s cheap insurance given the statutory damages available. Register before you perform publicly. The three-month window after publication is your safety net, but registering first is the stronger move.

What Is Nevada’s Right of Publicity and How Does It Protect Entertainers?

NRS 597.770 explained

Nevada’s right of publicity statute (NRS 597.770) prohibits using a person’s name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness for commercial purposes without written consent. It applies to living individuals and, for up to 50 years after death, to deceased persons (NRS 597.790).

For Las Vegas entertainers, this statute is a primary defense against unauthorized commercial use of their identity. If a casino uses your photograph in a billboard on Las Vegas Boulevard without your permission, if a promoter puts your name on event flyers for a show you’re not performing in, or if a brand uses your likeness in social media advertising without a licensing agreement, NRS 597.770 and NRS 597.790 give you a cause of action. We address this topic separately in our guide to Nevada right of publicity claims.

Damages and enforcement

You can recover at least $750 or actual damages (whichever is greater), plus any profits from the unauthorized use. Punitive damages are possible for intentional violations. You can also get a court order stopping the use immediately.

Federal claims paired with other IP claims go to the District of Nevada. State-level claims go to Nevada state courts, with the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County handling most entertainment disputes.

One of our clients found a downtown Las Vegas nightclub using her photo (pulled from her Instagram) in paid ads promoting their events. She’d never performed there and had no relationship with them. We sent a demand letter. They took down the ads within 48 hours and settled, covering statutory damages and a cut of the ad revenue.

Search regularly for your name and image on social media, ad databases, and Google Images. If you find unauthorized use, screenshot it with dates and URLs before you contact anyone.

How Do You Protect a Show Concept as a Trade Secret?

Trade secrets in entertainment

Not every creative work is copyrightable. A show concept (the structure, themes, audience interaction, staging innovations, and business model) can be a trade secret instead.

Nevada’s NUTSA (NRS 600A.030) defines a trade secret as information with independent economic value that you’ve kept reasonably confidential. A show concept you’ve kept under wraps and shared only via NDA qualifies.

The catch: public performance kills trade secret status. Once audiences see the staging, choreography, and visual effects, those elements become public knowledge. But behind-the-scenes components keep protection: proprietary technical systems, analytics methods, custom staging software, supplier relationships, and cost structures.

Protecting before you pitch

Get an NDA in place before pitching a show concept to a venue. Share a written treatment, not your full production plan. Register copyrightable elements first. Mark everything confidential.

I’ve watched entertainers walk into pitch meetings at major Strip properties with zero confidentiality agreement and hand over detailed plans. When the venue passes and later launches something suspiciously similar, the entertainer has no legal footing without documentation of what was shared and how.

Before your next pitch: prepare a one-page NDA, register your script or treatment with the Copyright Office, and document exactly what materials you showed to whom and when.

What IP Issues Arise in Digital Content Creation in Las Vegas?

The growing creator economy

Las Vegas is a hub for digital content creation. Streaming from casino floors, branded partnerships with resorts, influencer deals, and podcasts all create IP that needs protection. Las Vegas hosted over 40 million visitors in 2023, and more of the marketing reaching them now comes from independent creators, not agencies.

Ownership of branded content

When a creator partners with a Las Vegas hotel, casino, or nightclub, it’s the same IP question as with performers: who owns what you make?

The answer is in the contract. If it says the brand owns it, they do. If it’s silent, you own it by default (you’re an independent contractor). The real problem: most branded content deals are informal. A DM on Instagram, a handshake, a dinner conversation. Without a written contract on IP ownership, licensing, and usage rights, you’re both guessing.

AI-generated content

Venues increasingly use AI to create promotional images, video edits, and music. Copyright status for AI content depends on human authorship. In its January 2025 AI copyrightability report, the U.S. Copyright Office confirmed that AI-assisted works can be protected when a human author contributes sufficient expressive elements, but mere prompts are not enough.

For Las Vegas businesses using AI: make sure a human is involved in the creative process enough to register the copyright. Don’t assume AI-generated content online is in the public domain; it might contain protected material, and using it without permission creates liability. For a broader explanation, see our post on AI-generated content and IP ownership.

How Does Music Licensing Work for Casino and Resort Shows?

The licensing framework

Live and recorded music in a Las Vegas venue need proper licensing. Performance rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) license public performance rights. Most Strip properties have blanket licenses with all three, covering live performances, background music, and DJ sets.

But blanket licenses have limits. Sync rights (using music in video, ads, streaming) need separate publisher licenses. Mechanical rights (reproducing recordings) need record label or Harry Fox Agency licenses. Grand rights (using a song dramatically, as part of a theatrical storyline) come directly from the publisher and aren’t covered by blanket licenses.

Las Vegas production companies miss this regularly. If your show uses a popular song as a featured, dramatic element (not background music), you need a grand rights license, and it costs.

Original music protections

The composer and lyricist own copyright to original music unless the work was made for hire or assigned by contract. Many Las Vegas shows commission original scores under agreements that assign all rights to the production company. If you’re the composer, negotiate performance royalties, credit, and reversion rights if the show closes.

Check your music licensing status for every piece you use. If you’re relying on the venue’s blanket license, get it in writing that the license covers your specific use.

What Should Nevada Entertainers Do If Their IP Is Stolen?

Immediate steps

If someone copies your show concept, uses your likeness without permission, or steals your work, act fast.

First: preserve evidence. Screenshot everything. Download copies of infringing content. Record dates and URLs. Use the Wayback Machine or a web archiving tool if it’s online, in case the infringer deletes it.

Second: check your registrations. If you registered with the Copyright Office, you can claim statutory damages and attorney’s fees. If not, file an expedited registration. The Copyright Office charges a special handling fee for expedited review when litigation is pending or imminent.

Third: send a DMCA takedown notice if it’s online. The DMCA (17 U.S.C. Section 512) requires platforms to remove infringing content when properly notified. YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitch all have takedown procedures. Our DMCA takedown guide explains what the notice must include.

Fourth: contact an attorney if the infringement justifies litigation or a demand. We handle IP disputes for Nevada entertainers in both the District of Nevada and state courts. We assess the strength of your rights, the scope of infringement, and realistic damages.

Choosing the right forum

Federal court (District of Nevada, with courthouses in Las Vegas at 333 Las Vegas Boulevard South and in Reno) handles copyright infringement, federal trademark claims, and DTSA trade secret claims. State court handles right of publicity claims under NRS 597.770, state trade secret claims under NRS 600A, and breach of contract claims.

You can bring federal and state claims together in federal court via supplemental jurisdiction. The District of Nevada offers broader discovery and federal procedures, which helps in complex IP cases.

If someone is using your work, likeness, or show concept without permission in Nevada, document the infringement and bring your evidence, contracts, and copyright registrations to an intellectual property law attorney. Your creative work is only worth what you enforce. In Las Vegas entertainment, speed matters. The longer unauthorized use continues, the harder damages become to prove and the more your rights erode.

Entertainment Industry IP Disputes: Protecting Creative Work in Nevada