A Moral Compass—A Guide to Celebrity-Focused Morals Clauses
The use of so-called “morals” clauses in services agreements, licenses, and other contracts is one of the primary means by which corporations that do business with high-profile performers seek to protect their investments against the talent’s appetites, foibles, weaknesses and, in certain cases, criminal impulses, points out Bloomberg Law.
In drafting the agreements, advises Steven S. Sidman, of counsel in Carlton Fields’ Atlanta office, “the parties should prepare agreements that not only clearly state what constitutes a violation (accusation of a crime versus actual conviction; what constitutes actionable public contempt or image tarnishing, and can it be measured objectively?), but also the remedies available to an aggrieved party.”
