About ALAS

An excellent first-step for creators in search of legal advice.

ALAS is operated by volunteer entertainment and intellectual property lawyers, fellow creators, and law students from the University of Toronto who generously donate their time to help provide advice to those who may not be able to access more expensive alternatives.

ALAS assists creators in three main ways: our educational sessions, our bi-weekly legal clinic, and our legal database. Our Events each focus on different areas of law and art, and seek to provide creators with guidance directly from industry and legal experts. The ALAS Legal Clinic is offered virtually on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and provides creators with an opportunity to meet one-on-one with legal practitioners who will offer relevant summary legal advice and information. Our Legal Database includes an ever-growing number of articles and resources that provide summary information on legal topics that may be relevant to you.

How ALAS can help you

Our legal database, clinics, and educational sessions provide the legal support you need.

The Legal Database serves as an excellent first-step for creators wishing to understand their legal rights or deal with specific problems, but who are unsure about how to proceed. ALAS has prepared a number of resources and articles containing legal information that may be helpful to you depending on your situation. Feel free to browse our database of legal information, organized by different types of legal issues and the different types of creators who may face those issues. Please note that the Legal Database includes summary legal information only, and is not legal advice – you should consult a lawyer about your particular situation before relying on any information you find in the database.

If you are not able to find the information you need in the Legal Database then you may wish to speak with one of ALAS’ volunteer lawyers at the Legal Clinic. ALAS offers a by-appointment only legal clinic each week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to provide free summary legal advice and information to creators operating in Ontario. There are no drop-ins available, so if you wish to speak with a lawyer then please fill out our online appointment form or call (647) 977-0024.

Finally, if you are unsure where to start, or if you simply wish to learn, then you may wish to attend one of our educational Events. Each of ALAS’ informational sessions focus on different areas of law and art, and seek to provide creators with guidance directly from industry and legal experts. Visit our events page to learn more about upcoming educational seminars and panel discussions.

Our Values

ALAS' vision, mission & mandate are as follows:

Our Vision

Ontario’s creative community shall be able to harness legal knowledge to further their artistic endeavours, regardless of means.

Our Mission

To empower Ontario’s creative community by providing access to summary legal advice, information and education.

ALAS Mandate

  • To operate a summary legal advice and information service in Ontario, accessible to creators in all artistic disciplines.
  • To organize panels, workshops, information sessions and other events to share legal information and education.
  • To research, develop, create and disseminate resources on legal topics.
  • To provide law students with opportunities to develop legal skills, as well as to network with and contribute to the Ontario community through volunteer initiatives.
  • To raise funds to support activities noted above.

Our People

Emmanuel Evdemon, Chair

Emmanuel is videogame geek turned entertainment lawyer with a practice which focuses in the Interactive Digital Media and Videogame fields.  His practice has, spanned across the entertainment industry, beginning with television, through  events, music, music video production, commercial production, visual arts, and even culinary arts.  Emmanuel’s clients have also been equally diverse, spanning from individual talent to talent agents and managers, to production companies, interactive/digital media and video game developers, record labels, and social media platforms.  Emmanuel is actively involved in the incredible transitions our media industries are going through, and takes great pleasure and pride in guiding the next generation of creators through the legal considerations surrounding these dynamic industries.  Outside of the office, you will typically find Emmanuel listening to vinyl music while cooking, playing sports with his kids,or playing video games with his kids.  Emmanuel had been an active board member of ALAS since 2008.

Max Rothschild, Vice-Chair, Publications Committee Coordinator

Max is an associate at Stohn Hay Cafazzo Dembroski Richmond LLP, where he practises in the areas of entertainment law, copyright, and cultural policy. He previously worked as an associate at an intellectual property law firm, and acted as counsel for a copyright collective operating on behalf of music publishers and songwriters. Max’s areas of expertise include music publishing, licensing, digital media transactions and general intellectual property law. In addition to ALAS, Max also serves as Secretary for Interactive Ontario, a not-for-profit trade association that represents Ontario’s interactive digital media community.

Tony Duarte, Secretary and Treasurer

Tony is an entertainment lawyer practicing in Toronto, and represents producers, institutional investors, distributors, writers and others in the film and television industry. He has been recognized in both the Who’s Who legal directory and the Lexpert legal directory as one of Canada’s leading entertainment lawyers. Tony is also the author of Canadian Film & Television Business & Legal Practice, published by Carswell, and an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School where he teaches the Entertainment and Sports Law course. He began his career articling with the legal department of Telefilm Canada and with Strathy, Archibald and Seagram (now part of the Gowlings firm). Tony was the Vice-President of Business and Legal Affairs of Allegro Films Inc., and served as the founding President of Allegro’s domestic theatrical distribution subsidiary. Tony was also Legal Counsel to The Ontario Film Development Corporation (now called Ontario Creates).

Daniel Pink, Volunteer/Events Committee Coordinator

Daniel is a Toronto-based lawyer with a keen interest in the arts, copyright, and the Internet. He currents works in-house at Rogers Communications Inc., focusing on copyright and content piracy. Previously, Daniel worked as an associate at the law firm Wickwire Holm, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he focused on corporate, intellectual property, and financing and lending work. In addition to ALAS, Daniel is the Chair of the board of directors for the Paprika Theatre Festival, a youth-led professional performing arts organization that runs year round professional training and mentorship programs that culminate in a performing arts festival showcasing new work by young artists.

Marian Hebb

Marian is a co-founder of ALAS, and practises arts, entertainment and copyright law. She received an honours B.A. from the University of Toronto, a M.Sc.(Econ.) from the London School of Economics and, in 1976, her LL.B. from the University of Toronto. Prior to practising law she worked for ten years as a book and magazine editor. Marian has advised authors and artists for more than four decades and has written self-help guides, which include, “Help Yourself to a Better Contract” and “Ghost Writing”. Marian has also represented the Writers’ Union of Canada and other professional creator organizations. She is a past chair of ALAS, a governor of the Canadian Copyright Institute and a member of the Copyright Technical Committee of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada. The Access Copyright Foundation offers the Marian Hebb Research Grant to support inquiry and exploration relevant to Canadian publishing, writing and visual arts.

Catherine Lovrics

Catherine is a partner with Marks & Clerk Canada. She is head of the firm’s Copyright and Digital groups, and a senior member of the Trademarks group. Her practice focuses on copyright, trademarks, personality and publicity rights, as well as marketing and advertising law, consumer protection and privacy law. Catherine advises on legal issues related to the Internet and digital media, including social media and apps. She is Chair of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada’s (IPIC) Copyright Policy Committee, and a member of IPIC’s Internet Committee. Catherine is also a Trustee of the Copyright Society of the USA (CSUSA). In 2018 she was named a Lexpert Rising Star. She is also the general editor of Startup Law 101: A Practical Guide, a comprehensive legal guide for Canada’s startup community published by Lexis Nexis.

Paul Sanderson

Paul is a co-founder of ALAS, and has exclusively served clients in arts and entertainment for over 35 years. He has counseled music clients including major music publishers, large independent record companies and gold and platinum recording artists in all aspects of the music business, and has worked on domestic and international licensing and distribution contracts. Paul has also advised visual artists, art galleries and arts associations on contract and copyright matters, and has assisted in the establishment of and provided ongoing legal advice for copyright collectives in the visual art field. Additionally, Paul has two ground breaking legal texts to his credit: Musicians and the Law in Canada (published by Carswell Legal Publications), and Artists’ Contracts: Agreements for Visual and Media Artists (published by CARFAC Ontario).