Entertainment Law Essay

The issue at hand is whether Mary, through a contract with Mr. Shifty, Dream Works Picture’s Vice President of Production, is entitled to compensation. (Rule) By meeting the standards of the six elements an agreement, consisting of an offer and acceptance; consideration; capacity; legal purpose; genuine assent; and writing, if any. Mary Asher has a valid, contract with Mr. Shifty, a representative of Dream Works Pictures. Agreement, the first of the six relevant elements, is a meeting of two or more minds in regard to the terms of a contract. The process of agreement usually involves two steps. The first step is offer. An offer is a promise or commitment to perform or refrain from performing some specified future act made by the offer. Secondly ,is acceptance by the offeree either in the form of words or of conduct, which indicate agreement to the terms of the offer. An offer may be made to the general public, but no person can accept such an offer unless he knows that the off er exists. Mr. Shifty indeed entered into an agreement with Mary. His offer was indication of willingness to enter into a contract with her. The agreement consisted of him to observing her story’s synopsis. Consideration is the second of the mention elements. Consideration is Value given in return for a promise. Consideration must be (1) legally sufficient and (2) bargained for by the party receiving it. Legally sufficient is a consideration may take promising, performing and refraining. Consideration is bargained for if it is sought by the promisor in the exchange for the promisor’s promise and the given the promise in exchange for the promisor’s promise. A bilateral contract is an exchange of promises. Thus, each party is both a promisor and a promisee. The promises are binding provided there is either a legal benefit to the promisor or a legal detriment to the promisee. Each promise is the consideration for the other, which is referred to as mutuality of obligation. Mary and Mr. Shifty made a bilateral contract to one another. Therefore, they had Mr. Shifty had an obligation to Mary. Capacity, is three relevant elements, is challenged in terms of Mary’s age. However, her age has no effect on the validity of the contract. According to the law, a minor or a person who is under the age of legal majority, eighteen in most jurisdictions, is considered to possess legal capacity. Liability is any contract involving a minor is voidable. Further, the contract is only voidable by one of the parties, the minor entering into the contract. . The exercise of a minor’s power to void a contract is known as disaffir ¬mance. As mentioned, a minor has the ability to void a contract at his or her own discretion. A minor may disaffirm a contract at any time before reaching the age of majority. Also, unless already ratified. The individual has reasonable time after he or she becomes of age to void the contract. Ratification can occur in three ways: (1) express, (2) implied Liability for necessaries deals with items that reasonably supply a person’s needs. Minors are liable for the reasonable value of necessary items, which may be different fro m the contract or selling price. Necessaries include products that the minor needs to maintain a reasonable lifestyle†. By offering to look at her synopsis of a story, Mr. Shifty indeed entered into an agreement with Mary. His offer was indication of willingness to enter into a contract with her. Both parties agreed on an oral agreement. Legal purposes, is the fourth element. It falls under unconscionable contract and substantive unconscionability. Unconscionable contract is contracts that contain terms that are unfairly burdensome to one party and unfairly beneficial to the other. Substantive unconscionability arises when the contract contains term that deprives one party of the benefit of its bargain or of any meaningful remedy in the event of breach by the other party. Mr. Shift took all of the beneficial advantages of Mary synopsis story. Leaving Mary with unfair burdensome. Genuineness of assent the last relevant element is a party who demonstrates that he or she did not genuinely assent to the terms of a contract may avoid the contract. Genuine assent may be lacking due to mistake, fraudulent misrepresentation, undue influence, or duress. The true contracts entered is a lacking contractual capacity, contracts lacking genuine assent are voidable, not void. (Application) In this problem, Mary was a minor at the time she and Mr. Shifty made an agreement. The agreement consisted of him to observing her story’s synopsis. He accepted by grabbing her hand, giving her a wink, and saying, â€Å"anything you send I accept.† The next day she mailed the synopsis to him. A year later he produced a movie by Dream Works that was identical to Mary’s story involving the scientist’s experience in the Arctic. Now she has reached the age of majority and can ratify the contract with Dream Works Pictures. As a result, Mr. Shifty is entitled to compensation through a contract with Mary. (Conclusion) Therefore, since they both parties agreed on the oral agreement and she was a minor at that time there is a valid contract with Mary and Mr. Shifty.