Managers To Appeal
Talent Agencies Decision

The National Conference of Personal Managers announced it will appeal a recent court decision upholding the Talent Agencies Act.

The NCOPM claimed the act violates freedom of speech and association guarantees of the First Amendment, but the suit was granted a motion to dismiss by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The NCOPM says it will take its case to the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.

“Obviously, we disagree with the judge’s conclusions,” NCOPM National President Clinton Ford Billups Jr. said. “For a ruling on a motion to dismiss, the court’s opinion is an abuse of judicial discretion. Appropriately, NCOPM has instructed our legal counsel to proceed with an appeal.”

California’s Talent Agencies Act disallows managers in the state to procure work for their clients. The organization claims California’s act unfairly penalizes managers for allegedly acting as unlicensed talent agencies, and managers sometimes forfeit compensation because of it, the NCOPM claims.