Caroline and Max take on the job of talent agents on the April 27, 2015 episode of 2 Broke Girls in "2 Broke Girls and the Look of the Irish." They decide to try to help newly hired Nash (Austin Falk) become a model (and they'll pocket some cash in exchange). There's only one problem: the episode gives no indication that either one of the members of our dynamic business duo is licensed under state law to represent talent in the state of New York. Under New York law, one needs a license to act as a talent agent. See Article 11 of the NY General Business Law, which applies to those representing actors and models, among other clients.
Under Article 11, Section 171:
2. a. "Employment agency" means any person (as hereinafter defined)
who, for a fee, procures or attempts to procure:
(1) employment or engagements for persons seeking employment or
engagements, or
(2) employees for employers seeking the services of employees.
b. "Employment agency" shall include any person engaged in the
practice of law who regularly and as part of a pattern of conduct,
directly or indirectly, recruits, supplies, or attempts or offers to
recruit or supply, an employee who resides outside the continental
United States (as defined in section one hundred eighty-four-a of this
article) for employment in this state and who receives a fee in
connection with the arrangement for the admission into this country of
such workers for employment.
c. "Employment agency" shall include any person who, for a fee,
renders vocational guidance or counselling services and who directly or
indirectly:
(1) procures or attempts to procure or represents that he can procure
employment or engagements for persons seeking employment or engagements;
(2) represents that he has access, or has the capacity to gain access,
to jobs not otherwise available to those not purchasing his services; or
(3) provides information or service of any kind purporting to promote,
lead to or result in employment for the applicant with any employer
other than himself.
...
3. "Fee" means anything of value, including any money or other
valuable consideration charged, collected, received, paid or promised
for any service, or act rendered or to be rendered by an employment
agency, including but not limited to money received by such agency or
its emigrant agent which is more than the amount paid by it for
transportation, transfer of baggage, or board and lodging on behalf of
any applicant for employment.
4. "Agency manager" means the person designated by the applicant for a
license who is responsible for the direction and operation of the
placement activities of the agency at the premises covered by the
license.
5. "Placement employee" shall mean any agency manager, director,
counsellor, interviewer, or any other person employed by an employment
agency who spends a substantial part of his time interviewing,
counselling or conferring with job applicants or employers for the
purpose of placing or procuring job applicants, but shall not include employees of an employment agency who are primarily engaged in clerical occupations.
...
7. "Person" means any individual, company, society, association,
corporation, manager, contractor, subcontractor, partnership, bureau,
agency, service, office or the agent or employee of the foregoing.
8. "Theatrical employment agency" means any person (as defined in
subdivision seven of this section) who procures or attempts to procure
employment or engagements for an artist, but such term does not include
the business of managing entertainments, exhibitions or performances, or
the artists or attractions constituting the same, where such business
only incidentally involves the seeking of employment therefor.
8-a. "Artist" shall mean actors and actresses rendering services on
the legitimate stage and in the production of motion pictures, radio
artists, musical artists, musical organizations, directors of legitimate
stage, motion picture and radio productions, musical directors, writers,
cinematographers, composers, lyricists, arrangers, models, and other
artists and persons rendering professional services in motion picture,
theatrical, radio, television and other entertainment enterprises.
9. "Theatrical engagement" means any engagement or employment of an
artist.
Continuing with Section 172:
License required. No person shall open, keep, maintain, own,
operate or carry on any employment agency unless such person shall have
first procured a license therefor as provided in this article. Such
license shall be issued by the commissioner of labor, except that if the
employment agency is to be conducted in the city of New York such
license shall be issued by the commissioner of consumer affairs of such
city. Such license shall be posted in a conspicuous place in said
agency.
Boldface added by the editor of the L & H Blog (ahem, me).
True, Nash refers to Caroline as his "manager" at one point in the episode. If Caroline and Max actually act as Nash's personal managers, then NY law does not require them to obtain talent agent licenses under the "incidental employment" exception (Section 171 (8)) but they cannot "procure employment" for him. Their behavior in the episode indicates that they are not doing so "incidentally." They go to an audition with him purposefully (although they leave when they discover the audition is for a sexually explicit film). When a friend of their new employer indicates she wants to hire Nash as a model, Caroline eagerly demonstrates that she wants to take the businesswoman up on that offer. Caroline (and Max) probably are not pursuing employment for Nash incidentally. They have a goal in mind: finding modelling work for Nash. For that, they need to be licensed as talent agents.
On "incidental" representation, see Section 171(8) above and Mandel v. Liebman, 303 N.Y. 88 (1951) (plaintiff attorney sued defendant author, because defendant refused to pay plaintiff commissions agreed upon in contract, arguing contract by which defendant employed plaintiff to represent him as personal manager was void because plaintiff was not licensed as talent agent under NY law).
Under Article 11, Section 171:
2. a. "Employment agency" means any person (as hereinafter defined)
who, for a fee, procures or attempts to procure:
(1) employment or engagements for persons seeking employment or
engagements, or
(2) employees for employers seeking the services of employees.
b. "Employment agency" shall include any person engaged in the
practice of law who regularly and as part of a pattern of conduct,
directly or indirectly, recruits, supplies, or attempts or offers to
recruit or supply, an employee who resides outside the continental
United States (as defined in section one hundred eighty-four-a of this
article) for employment in this state and who receives a fee in
connection with the arrangement for the admission into this country of
such workers for employment.
c. "Employment agency" shall include any person who, for a fee,
renders vocational guidance or counselling services and who directly or
indirectly:
(1) procures or attempts to procure or represents that he can procure
employment or engagements for persons seeking employment or engagements;
(2) represents that he has access, or has the capacity to gain access,
to jobs not otherwise available to those not purchasing his services; or
(3) provides information or service of any kind purporting to promote,
lead to or result in employment for the applicant with any employer
other than himself.
...
3. "Fee" means anything of value, including any money or other
valuable consideration charged, collected, received, paid or promised
for any service, or act rendered or to be rendered by an employment
agency, including but not limited to money received by such agency or
its emigrant agent which is more than the amount paid by it for
transportation, transfer of baggage, or board and lodging on behalf of
any applicant for employment.
4. "Agency manager" means the person designated by the applicant for a
license who is responsible for the direction and operation of the
placement activities of the agency at the premises covered by the
license.
5. "Placement employee" shall mean any agency manager, director,
counsellor, interviewer, or any other person employed by an employment
agency who spends a substantial part of his time interviewing,
counselling or conferring with job applicants or employers for the
purpose of placing or procuring job applicants, but shall not include employees of an employment agency who are primarily engaged in clerical occupations.
...
7. "Person" means any individual, company, society, association,
corporation, manager, contractor, subcontractor, partnership, bureau,
agency, service, office or the agent or employee of the foregoing.
8. "Theatrical employment agency" means any person (as defined in
subdivision seven of this section) who procures or attempts to procure
employment or engagements for an artist, but such term does not include
the business of managing entertainments, exhibitions or performances, or
the artists or attractions constituting the same, where such business
only incidentally involves the seeking of employment therefor.
8-a. "Artist" shall mean actors and actresses rendering services on
the legitimate stage and in the production of motion pictures, radio
artists, musical artists, musical organizations, directors of legitimate
stage, motion picture and radio productions, musical directors, writers,
cinematographers, composers, lyricists, arrangers, models, and other
artists and persons rendering professional services in motion picture,
theatrical, radio, television and other entertainment enterprises.
9. "Theatrical engagement" means any engagement or employment of an
artist.
Continuing with Section 172:
License required. No person shall open, keep, maintain, own,
operate or carry on any employment agency unless such person shall have
first procured a license therefor as provided in this article. Such
license shall be issued by the commissioner of labor, except that if the
employment agency is to be conducted in the city of New York such
license shall be issued by the commissioner of consumer affairs of such
city. Such license shall be posted in a conspicuous place in said
agency.
Boldface added by the editor of the L & H Blog (ahem, me).
True, Nash refers to Caroline as his "manager" at one point in the episode. If Caroline and Max actually act as Nash's personal managers, then NY law does not require them to obtain talent agent licenses under the "incidental employment" exception (Section 171 (8)) but they cannot "procure employment" for him. Their behavior in the episode indicates that they are not doing so "incidentally." They go to an audition with him purposefully (although they leave when they discover the audition is for a sexually explicit film). When a friend of their new employer indicates she wants to hire Nash as a model, Caroline eagerly demonstrates that she wants to take the businesswoman up on that offer. Caroline (and Max) probably are not pursuing employment for Nash incidentally. They have a goal in mind: finding modelling work for Nash. For that, they need to be licensed as talent agents.
On "incidental" representation, see Section 171(8) above and Mandel v. Liebman, 303 N.Y. 88 (1951) (plaintiff attorney sued defendant author, because defendant refused to pay plaintiff commissions agreed upon in contract, arguing contract by which defendant employed plaintiff to represent him as personal manager was void because plaintiff was not licensed as talent agent under NY law).
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