This article written by Artem Fokin (LL.M.), a New York tax attorney practicing in the area of international taxation, taxation of mergers and acquisitions, and taxation of derivatives, discusses the interplay between U.S. international tax law and other areas of American law as well as foreign law. In particular, the article focuses on how the U.S. tax law uses characterization of transactions prescribed by other areas of law. The author has chosen the distinction between royalties and remuneration for services as the basis for his article. He walks readers through the importance of proper characterization of transactions by the U.S. tax law and how such characterization could be different from characterization and titles elected by taxpayers and illustrates his points by discussing benchmark court decisions in the area of the U S international taxation.