Lawline: I Watch Movies for a Living (And You Can Too!): A Beginner’s Guide to Content Clearance and Review
CLE 
Jon Mechanic · 
Mark S. Lee · March 27, 2025
In his latest Lawline course, Rimon Partner Jon Mechanic provides a practical introduction to the legal issues that arise in content production offering valuable insights for attorneys working in entertainment, media, and intellectual property law.
Overview of the Course
From documentaries to blockbuster films, all content that reaches an audience has undergone – or should undergo legal review – to mitigate risks. Whether it is ensuring compliance with copyright law or avoiding a defamation claim, content clearance is a critical part of filmmaking as well as entertainment, media, and IP law.
In this presentation, Jon Mechanic will provide a high-level crash course in content clearance and review, with a focus on documentary filmmaking-the source of some of the most compelling and complex case studies. While our primary lens will be on documentary film, the principles we explore apply across different media.
First, we will break down errors and omissions (E&O) insurance-what it is, what legal risks it covers, and why it is a key deliverable for distribution. Second, we will walk through key legal concerns in content clearance, including Defamation, Copyright infringement, licensing, fair use/fair dealing, “Idiosyncratic” rules, the evolving landscape of deepfakes, and life story rights
Throughout the session, we will refer to a fictitious case study involving documentary filmmaking, graphic novels, and Shih Tzus – don’t worry, no Shih Tzus were harmed in the making of this CLE presentation!
Jon Mechanic’s practice focuses on all aspects of entertainment law. Mr. Mechanic advises his film and television producer clients, based in the United States, Canada and Europe, on all aspects of development, financing, tax credit structuring, production legal, distribution, and errors and omissions and clearance matters. He also represents lenders (both institutional and non-institutional) active in the entertainment industry, advising them on film and television financing transactions, including tax credit, pre-sales, and gap financing. Mr. Mechanic provides outside general counsel to many of his entertainment industry clients, assisting them on matters relating to employment, privacy, regulatory compliance, French language laws, and compliance with changes to the law, among other things. Read more here