Entertainment Law Initiative Writing Competition

Recording Academy is pleased to announce 21st Annual Entertainment Law Initiative Writing Competition. The competition is available to Juris Doctor (JD) or Master of Laws (LLM) candidates currently enrolled at an ABA-accredited law school.

The Entertainment Law Initiative event is the nation’s preeminent gathering for entertainment attorneys, and it provides a forum for the industry to honor its own practitioners, hear from legal thought leaders. It supports promising law students interested in entertainment law.

Who May Eligible:

To eligible, the candidates must be following all the eligibility criteria:

• This contest is open to Juris Doctor (JD) or Master of Laws (LLM) candidates currently enrolled at an ABA-accredited law school.
• Entrants must be an enrolled student as of January 1, 2019.
• Entrants must be legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, 18 years of age or older, who are located in the United States or the Districts of Columbia at the time of entry. The contest is void where prohibited.

How to Apply & Competition Rules:

To participate in the competition Completed Essays and accompanying documents (to be specified below, each an “Entry”) must be submitted via email to eli_submissions@recordingacademy.com

Rules:

• Current regular, full-time, part-time and temporary employees, contractors, interns, Grammy U^® representatives, contractors, directors and officers of Sponsor, its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, distributors, sales representatives, retailers, and advertising, promotion and judging agencies and all other service agencies involved with the Contest, and members of the immediate family (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouse) and household of each such employee are not eligible to participate.
• Previous winners and/or finalists are ineligible.
• Submission checklist
  • One Microsoft Word Document including:
    • Completed essay manuscript;
    • Complete contact info including entrant’s phone, email, and mailing address;
    • Microsoft Word document naming convention “last name.firstname_ELI2019submission”

Submission Requirements:

• Entrants must identify research and write an essay with a proposed solution on a compelling legal issue confronting the music industry (“Essay”).
• All essays must be original works specifically written for the Contest. Previously published works are ineligible.
• The submission of works previously written for academic purposes is acceptable, provided that the work is edited to meet the guidelines of the Contest and is not identical to the prior academic work.
• Co-authorship of the Essay is not permitted. Papers may be reviewed by law school faculty or colleagues for editorial feedback, but such assistance may not rise to the level of co-authorship.
• Essays shall be no longer than 3,000 words not including endnotes/footnotes. Entrants must use The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, for citation style.
• Essays must be in English.
• Essays must conform to the following (collectively, the “Contest Entry Requirements”):
  • The essay cannot be sexually explicit or suggestive, unnecessarily violent or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group, profane or pornographic, contain nudity or any materially dangerous activity;
  • The essay cannot promote alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing), any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous, or any particular political agenda or message;
  • The essay cannot be obscene or offensive, endorse any form of hate or hate group;
  • The essay cannot defame, misrepresent or contain disparaging remarks about Sponsor or its products, or other people, products or companies;
  • The essay cannot promote any brand or product of any kind, or contain any personal identification, such as license plate numbers, personal names, e-mail addresses or street addresses;
  • The essay cannot communicate messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or goodwill to which Sponsor wishes to associate
• Current contact information including address, phone number, and email address must accompany the Essay.
• Entrants’ names shall not appear on the Essay but shall appear on a separate title page to be removed when a number is assigned to the Entry.
• Essay submissions shall be accompanied by a signed and dated copy of these Official Rules.
• All Entries must be submitted with the following formatting requirements:
  • Essays must be in Microsoft Word format in Times New Roman font size 12 – single-spaced
    • Page 1: Title page with all contact information (phone, snail mail, and email)
    • All pages that follow must be anonymous with no mentions of name or school
  • Signed and dated copy of these Official Rules must be in.PDF, .TIFF, or.JPG format
• All documents must be saved with the following naming convention: “Lastname.firstname_ELI2019submission” example: Smith.jane_ELI2019submission.
• All Essays and contact information must be merged into one Microsoft Word document.
• Each author may submit only one Entry.
• Anyone who attempts to enter with multiple email addresses under multiple identities will be disqualified and forfeits any and all prizes won, in Sponsor’s discretion.

Benefits:

The prizes consist of the following:

• The winner receives a Ten Thousand Dollar ($10,000) cash scholarship paid directly to the ABA-accredited law school where the student is enrolled,
• two (2) tickets to and recognition on stage at the 21st Annual ELI event taking place February 8, 2019, in Los Angeles,
• two (2) tickets to MusiCares Person of the Year gala event taking place February 9, 2019, in Los Angeles,
• two (2) tickets to the 61st Annual grammy awards taking place February 10, 2019, in Los Angeles, round-trip coach airfare for two (2) from a major airport near Winner’s residence to Los Angeles for the events,
• Hotel accommodations for two (2) for five (5) days/four (4) nights based on double occupancy.
• Approximate retail value (“ARV”) of Winner prize: $19,000.
• Runner-Up receives a Two Thousand, Five Hundred ($2,500) cash scholarship paid to the ABA-accredited law school where the student is enrolled.

Application Deadline:

Paper submission deadline is Jan. 2, 2019, at 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST)

Apply Now

For questions or more information email eli@recordingacademy.com.