1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to employment; regulating entertainment 
  1.3             agencies; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 
  1.4             184A.01, subdivision 5; 184A.03; 184A.04, subdivision 
  1.5             3; 184A.05; 184A.06, subdivisions 1, 2, by adding a 
  1.6             subdivision; 184A.09; 184A.12; 184A.18, subdivision 4; 
  1.7             184A.20. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 184A.01, 
  1.10  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 5.  [ENTERTAINMENT AGENCY.] "Entertainment agency" 
  1.12  means a person or persons who engage in the occupation of 
  1.13  procuring, offering, promising, or attempting to procure 
  1.14  employment or for engagements, who are under written contract, 
  1.15  for three or more artists or groups of artists at any one time, 
  1.16  or who have a written contract or continuing verbal agreement 
  1.17  with an establishment or an individual to provide artists or 
  1.18  groups of artists for one or more engagements.  Entertainment 
  1.19  agencies may, in addition, counsel or direct artists in the 
  1.20  development of their professional careers.  
  1.21     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 184A.03, is 
  1.22  amended to read: 
  1.23     184A.03 [EXISTING AGENCIES.] 
  1.24     Entertainment agents who are actually engaged in or acting 
  1.25  as entertainment agents or counselors and members, shareholders, 
  1.26  officers, and directors of a firm, partnership, association, or 
  2.1   corporation actively engaged in the business of an entertainment 
  2.2   agency on August 1, 1984 2001, shall be deemed to comply with 
  2.3   its provisions provided they shall obtain a license as provided 
  2.4   by sections 184A.04 to 184A.10 within a period of six months 
  2.5   from August 1, 1984 2001. 
  2.6      Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 184A.04, 
  2.7   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  2.8      Subd. 3.  [AFFIDAVITS.] The application must be accompanied 
  2.9   by affidavits of at least two reputable persons, neither of whom 
  2.10  is related to the applicant, attesting to the applicant's 
  2.11  experience in the music industry and fitness to serve as an 
  2.12  entertainment agency.  
  2.13     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 184A.05, is 
  2.14  amended to read: 
  2.15     184A.05 [FEE SCHEDULES.] 
  2.16     Applicants for a license to engage in the business of an 
  2.17  entertainment agent shall, at the time of making application, 
  2.18  file with the department a schedule of fees or range of fees to 
  2.19  be charged and collected in the conduct of this occupation, 
  2.20  together with a statement of the applicant's policies, rules and 
  2.21  regulations that may affect, or practices, which determine the 
  2.22  fees charged or to be charged by the applicant for service.  
  2.23  Changes in the schedule may be made from time to time, but no 
  2.24  change shall become effective until seven days after the date of 
  2.25  its filing with the department.  It shall be unlawful for an 
  2.26  entertainment agency to charge, demand, collect, or receive a 
  2.27  greater compensation for service performed than is specified in 
  2.28  the schedule filed with the department.  
  2.29     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 184A.06, 
  2.30  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.31     Subdivision 1.  [DEPARTMENT APPROVAL.] Entertainment 
  2.32  agencies shall submit to the department a form or forms of 
  2.33  contract to be utilized in entering into written contracts with 
  2.34  artists for the employment of the services of the entertainment 
  2.35  agency by the artists and the contract to be utilized for 
  2.36  employment engagements secured by the agency for the artist. 
  3.1   Approval by the department of the proposed contract form shall 
  3.2   not be withheld unless the contract is unfair, unjust, or 
  3.3   oppressive to the artist, or otherwise fails to contain the 
  3.4   provisions required by subdivisions 2, 3, and 4.  
  3.5      Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 184A.06, 
  3.6   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.7      Subd. 2.  [ARBITRATION.] Contract forms shall contain a 
  3.8   provision setting forth a procedure for resolution of disputes 
  3.9   before an arbitrator mutually agreed upon by the 
  3.10  parties. notifying the parties to the contract that arbitration, 
  3.11  before an arbitrator mutually agreed upon by the parties, is an 
  3.12  option for resolution of disputes.  This option shall not remove 
  3.13  the parties' right to resolve disputes.  If the parties elect to 
  3.14  utilize the arbitration procedure, the arbitrator's decision 
  3.15  shall be final and binding upon the parties.  
  3.16     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 184A.06, is 
  3.17  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  3.18     Subd. 4.  [DISCLOSURE OF AGENT RELATIONSHIP.] Contract 
  3.19  forms shall contain language disclosing to the parties to the 
  3.20  contract whether the agency is serving as an agent for the music 
  3.21  entertainer, for the purchaser of the music services, or for 
  3.22  both.  
  3.23     Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 184A.09, is 
  3.24  amended to read: 
  3.25     184A.09 [LICENSE FEES.] 
  3.26     Before a license shall be granted to an applicant, the 
  3.27  applicant shall pay a filing fee of $25 and a license fee of 
  3.28  $250 $300.  
  3.29     An application for consent to transfer or assign a license 
  3.30  shall be accompanied by a $25 filing fee. 
  3.31     Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 184A.12, is 
  3.32  amended to read: 
  3.33     184A.12 [ISSUANCE; REFUSAL; REVOCATION; SUSPENSION.] 
  3.34     The department shall issue a license as an entertainment 
  3.35  agent, to a person who qualifies for the license under the terms 
  3.36  of sections 184A.04 to 184A.10.  The department may refuse to 
  4.1   issue an entertainment agency license when, after due 
  4.2   investigation, the department finds that the applicant is of 
  4.3   unfit character to be an entertainment agent, or when the 
  4.4   premises for conducting the business of an entertainment agent 
  4.5   is found upon investigation to be unfit for this use.  No agency 
  4.6   license shall be issued to a person, firm, corporation, or 
  4.7   association that has, within the past three years, been 
  4.8   convicted of fraud or felony.  No license shall be issued to an 
  4.9   attorney whose license to practice law has been suspended or 
  4.10  revoked, for a period of three years after the date of the 
  4.11  suspension or revocation.  The department may refuse to issue a 
  4.12  license to a person or may suspend or revoke the license of a 
  4.13  entertainment agent when it finds that any of the following 
  4.14  conditions exist:  
  4.15     (a) the entertainment agent has violated a condition of the 
  4.16  bond required by section 184A.10; 
  4.17     (b) the person or entertainment agent has personally 
  4.18  engaged in a fraudulent, deceptive, or dishonest practice; 
  4.19     (c) the person or entertainment agent has violated any 
  4.20  provisions of sections 184A.02 to 184A.19; or 
  4.21     (d) the person or entertainment agent has been legally 
  4.22  adjudicated incompetent and has not been restored to capacity.  
  4.23     This section shall not be construed to relieve a person 
  4.24  from civil liability or from criminal prosecution under the laws 
  4.25  of this state.  A violation of this section shall be treated as 
  4.26  a violation of section 325F.69.  
  4.27     The department may adopt rules concerning the issuance, 
  4.28  revocation, and suspension of a license, and means of informing 
  4.29  entertainment agencies of their obligations under this chapter.  
  4.30  The department may appoint an advisory committee for the purpose 
  4.31  of making recommendations concerning the rules.  The advisory 
  4.32  committee shall be made up of one entertainment agent, one 
  4.33  professional musician who is not an entertainment agent, and one 
  4.34  person in the music industry who is neither an entertainment 
  4.35  agent nor a professional musician.  
  4.36     Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 184A.18, 
  5.1   subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  5.2      Subd. 4.  [ACTIONS; DOUBLE DAMAGES.] Any person damaged by 
  5.3   the conduct of an entertainment agency that has failed to obtain 
  5.4   a license as required by sections 184A.01 to 184A.20, and any 
  5.5   person damaged by a breach of contract by an unlicensed agency, 
  5.6   may bring an action for double the amount of the damages arising 
  5.7   from the unlicensed agency's conduct.  Actions brought in any 
  5.8   court against a licensee or an unlicensed agency may be brought 
  5.9   in the name of the person damaged upon the bond deposited with 
  5.10  the state by the licensee, and may be transferred and assigned 
  5.11  as other claims for damages.  The amount of damages claimed by 
  5.12  plaintiff, and not the penalty named in the bond, determines the 
  5.13  jurisdiction of the court in which the action is brought.  
  5.14     Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 184A.20, is 
  5.15  amended to read: 
  5.16     184A.20 [PENALTY.] 
  5.17     A person, agent, or officer of an agent agency, who 
  5.18  violates any provision of sections 184A.01 to 184A.20 is guilty 
  5.19  of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than $25 $50 
  5.20  nor more than $250 $500 or imprisonment for a period of not more 
  5.21  than 60 days, or both.  
  5.22     A person, firm, or corporation who shall split, divide, or 
  5.23  share, directly or indirectly, a fee, charge, or compensation 
  5.24  received from an employee with an employer, or person in any way 
  5.25  connected with the business, shall be punished by a fine of not 
  5.26  less than $500, and not more than $3,000, or, on failure to pay 
  5.27  the fine, by imprisonment for a period not to exceed one year, 
  5.28  or both, at the discretion of the court.