Legal Tips From An Expert

As I am preparing to create my business plan for my production company, I am seeking professional legal counsel. I admit I am a little nervous!! I want to have enough money to pay for the legal counsel and I want to do things right for the protection of my work. Gratefully, one of my sisters reminded me of an organization that can help me feel secure. The Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, provides legal counsel to low-income artists and non-profit arts and cultural organizations, which cannot afford standard legal fees. As of 1969, VLA is the first arts-related legal aid organization and is now the model to similar organizations around the world.

I visited their office this week and got some tips from their Senior Staff Attorney, Eric Tam. Eric has been serving at VLA since September 2011. As noted in Eric’s bio, he graduated summa cum laude from McMaster University with a combined honors degree from the Arts and Science Program and the Department of Philosophy, and earned a Master’s degree studying political theory at Yale University prior to obtaining his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2007. Eric has worked with emerging artists who cannot pay the standard fees. His professional advice to qualifying clients has touched areas of copyright, trademark, defamation, small scale licensing, contracts for production, artist management and more. I asked Eric to give me the top 3 tips for new artists dealing with copyright and trademark issues. Here they are:

1) Although you obtain a copyright on any original work that you create in fixed form—such as an electronic file created by a word processing program or a song recorded on tape—you should strongly consider registering your copyright in any work that may have value with the U.S. Copyright Office. Registration of your copyright (assuming it was created in the U.S.) is necessary for enforcing it in court, and it provides evidence of your ownership of the work, as well as other legal advantages. You can conveniently register your copyright online, for $35 per work, via the Copyright Office’s website.

2) Copyright generally only protects expression, rather than ideas. For example, your copyright would enable you to keep someone from publishing or copying significant parts of your novel or film script without your permission, or recording a cover of your song without compensating you. However, your copyright generally would not enable you to keep someone else from writing a novel or script with a similar plotline or characters (but different dialogue), nor would your copyright give you the power to prevent someone else from publishing or recording a song on the same theme or that used a similar mix of instruments (but different lyrics and composition). If you think you have a highly valuable artistic idea, your main option for protecting the idea would be to try to obtain non-disclosure/non-competition-type agreements from anyone with whom you share your idea. (Unfortunately, doing so may be difficult for newer artists who want to work with more established businesses and individuals, because new artists often lack the power to negotiate the terms of collaboration.)

3) Get important agreements and promises in writing and be careful to pay attention to anything you sign. Make sure everything is clear to you in a contract before you sign it. If you are trying to write your own contract, you may be able to find examples online that can give you an idea of your options or provide you with a starting point. But if the contract might have any important consequences for you, you should definitely consult with a lawyer to look it over before finalizing it.

I have personally made business mistakes in my past due to poor knowledge and lack of personal legal counsel. I am convinced that legal counsel will be clearly mapped out in various areas of my business plan. My legal counsel will help set the standard of how I conduct all agreements for my music business going forward. This will definitely help me not make the same mistakes again.

More About Me - Love

I was reminded yesterday how important it is to KNOW God loves me. Like really "KNOW". The scriptures in Ephesians 3:14-21 talk about being rooted and grounded in this love in order to be strong. Gratefully, I have been reminded almost daily thru a personal sign from God that He loves me. Whenever I see the Wrangler Jeep, that God saved my life from on October 4, 1992, I receive it as the indicator, it is time for me to take a moment and thank God for my life. I have learned to acknowledge God's love for me at that moment as well. Sometimes I see the Wrangler Jeep 4 times a day and think, wow God you really love me. The point is for me to guard my thoughts from taking a negative turn on that day.

Daily disappointment can strip our sense of love really quickly. If we are not reminded with a hug from someone or the words I love you, our hearts can start to become hard, our attitude gets a little bitter and our thoughts are in a serious battle for affirmations. Suddenly, we can find our faith getting weak, our ability to love diminish and our joy stolen.

I have had to work hard at healing, restoring my joy and overall balance. I am so grateful I heard the message last night preached by Creflo Dollar, encouraging me to meditate more often on the truth that God loves me so my faith will work to conquer whatever necessary. Pastor Dollar suggests meditating on this truth at least 15 minutes per day. If God can care & provide for a sparrow, that is worth less than one penny, how much more will God care & provide for me. This mindset will allow me to remain in position for powerful results and victories in every area of my life. Click here to read more about me.

I wish that you discover God's love for you and never give it up!

Analyzing Law in the Music Industry

I recently was challenged to pay closer attention to legal controversies in the music industry that might relate to me. I want to accomplish success with my music business, so I do not mind the extra preparation. I was shocked to learn that managers, songwriters and solo artists were still being wrongfully treated and pulled into cases that could have been prevented. For the purpose of this topic I will provide three examples of recent legal controversies.

I will first look at the case with the gospel song “Nobody Greater”. According to Examiner.com in August 2011, a singer/songwriter filed a copyright infringement claim against another songwriter who was noted as the sole creator of the chart topping gospel song Nobody Greater, sung by Vashawn Mitchell. The plaintiff claimed that he was a co-writer and should have received credit and royalties. The attorney of the case expressed his doubts of how the music was created, but resolved to let the court decide who wrote the music. Apparently the plaintiff lost the case. According to Elev8.com, as of July 2012, this case was dismissed. I wonder what the details were that led the court to decide the plaintiff did not create the music. I can imagine however being on both sides of this situation. I have collaborated officially and unofficially in the studio with singers. It is tricky to create music for a singer who already has their lyrics and melody because if we do not write down what just took place on to a split sheet, then there is room for me, the musician, to not get credit for the song. I also can imagine what it would feel like to create the lyrics and melody as a testimony of a hard experience I went through only to have the musician who played music while I was in the studio working on my song with to claim the song was not written by me alone. That is a little tricky. All the more reason why I prefer to sign a contract first or at least complete a split sheet before we leave the studio.


The second example is a case due to lack of right counsel. A guy, who happens to be the son of an industry executive, claims that he discovered the chart topping rap artist Drake and has not received credit or royalties for it from the manager who allegedly went behind the plaintiff’s back and signed an exclusive management agreement with the artist, Drake. According to NewsOne.com, the plaintiff contended in the court document that he and the defendant made a deal to divvy up all of Drake’s profits. The fact that stands out to me is that they had a verbal agreement. This is a big mistake, no matter who you are in the industry. According to Billboard.com, this case took a turn in the right direction when the plaintiff and defendant negotiated a Settlement Agreement & General Release Agreement. However, the defendant has breached this agreement. The case has become more complicated. The attorneys and the management company have upset Drake to the point where he has addressed them with a formal written notice. The business between Drake, the management, as the case defendant and the plaintiff is not resolved yet. The plaintiff is suing several parties in this case now in addition to seeking money and official overseers of how the profits are handled going forward. In my opinion, this could have all been avoided if there was a written agreement from the beginning under the guidance of professional counsel. I realize the agreement could have still been breached, but at least the written agreement would have been proof to resolve this case sooner than later. I am aware there are different reasons why people trust in verbal agreements. Sometimes it feels better to trust a business relationship without the hassle of contracts. When it comes to making money, it is better to consult and advise with the wise.

The third example is a case that is unique. It involves superstar pop singer Lady Gaga, a children’s toy and entertainment product manufacturer, the Universal Music Group merchandising company and her management company. According to the New York Daily News in July 2012, the toy product manufacturer claimed that Lady Gaga and her management company needs to provide final approval of an upcoming doll product to promote Lady Gaga in order to accommodate the $1 million payment the manufacturer made to the Universal Music Group merchandising company. The unique part is that $1 million should not have been paid to the UMG merchandising company without Lady Gaga’s approval of the doll. The manufacturer is arguing that they were told by the UMG merchandising company that Lady Gaga did approve. Did somebody lie or did two people just miscommunicate? This is a major blow for anyone who spends $1 million with expectation of getting a return on their investment only to find that they have been lied to, misled or failed at taking advantage of a business venture. I look forward to having products manufactured to help promote my brand. This case alerts me to remember people are not perfect and going over and beyond in communication might be necessary to get things right. If I were involved in this situation, I would have had the final approval in writing before submitting a $1 million payment. That is a lot of money! There is a way to avoid misunderstanding and litigation.