Add “force majeure” to your list of new words and phrases to learn along with “social distancing,” “coronavirus,” “COVID-19,” “PPE” and “N95 masks.”
The coronavirus pandemic has turned the world upside down, and like so many other aspects of our previously normal lives, the entertainment industry is not only looking for answers to already asked questions, it is adding new questions every day.
And, as Jonathan Susman, special events manager for the city of Chattanooga said, “We haven’t even started talking to the tort and liability lawyers yet. Not just with our legal department, but with the organizers – how this could affect insurance requirements, etc.”
Right now, most in the entertainment world are struggling with questions like when live music might return and what it might look like. How do you hold a concert in a venue that normally holds 500, 5,000 or 50,000 people when social distancing and 50% capacity are required?
Another of the questions now to be asked and answered has to do with the force majeure clause now in many, though not all, contracts involving events such as concerts, festivals and sporting events.