Stop & Listen!

In the entertainment industry protecting your business and everything within your business is key. It is definitely not all glitz and glamour. There are so many liabilities that come along with any business but within the entertainment industry everything that you create, intellectual property to be more specific, has to be protected. It all depends on what type of intellectual property you are trying to protect in order to know the right steps to take to protect it. Intellectual property includes symbols, images, inventions, and many others. So, with the help of several podcasts I will discuss the liabilities that you and I may encounter within our business.

The first podcast I reviewed, Registering Trademarks & Copyrights with U.S. Customs, discussed registering your trademarks and copyright with the U.S. Customs. This podcast really opened my eyes to something that I hadn’t been exposed to before. I thought once you registered a trademark and/or a copyright it was protected from any kind of infringement. Counterfeiting takes over $200 billion dollars from businesses I guess the saying is true that you learn something new everyday! I learned that after registering your trademark with the USPTO you must record your marks with the Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This provides you with the right to sue people on the black market selling your registered works. It also allows right holders to electronically file an Intellectual Property Rights recordation application. I never thought about the black market sellers who might infringe upon works that have been registered with the USPTO and now I know how to protect them if ever that problem arises.

The second podcast , Copyright Infringement and Damages, basically reiterated what I already learned in my Advanced Entertainment Law class. This podcast discussed rights of copyright owners, copyright infringement, and remedies for infringement. Copyright owners have the right to reproduce, distribute, adapt, etc. their copyrighted work. This is also important because it gives the copyright owners the right to sue someone for infringing on their work. Now copyright infringement is taking someone else’s work and using it as if you hold the copyright to it. That is illegal and if caught, you will be sued for it. You will be liable for any damages, both compensatory and statutory. You will also have to pay attorney fees and costs. Copyright infringement is serious business and if you’re found guilty you will pay! It’s just not worth it. Be original!

The third podcast, Trademarks and Domain Names, gave insight into how to protect your trademarked domain name and remedies to handle someone infringing on your domain name. It discusses what you need in order to trademark your domain name. Your domain name has to serve as more than just your address. Now, if you suspect someone is/has infringed on your domain name you can refer to the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). This policy contains three elements they look at to see if your domain name is being infringed upon. One, the domain name has to be identical to your trademark, two, the person who registered the domain name isn’t utilizing it, and three, the domain name has to be used in bad faith. The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) also provides remedies. It may take longer with the ACPA as opposed to the UDRP but the benefits from going the ACPA will definitely be worth it! 

Proceed With Caution....

When deciding to become a part of this ever-changing entertainment industry, be prepared to wear your boxing gloves daily. You will have to fight everyday to make it in this industry. Around every corner, if you are not extremely careful, someone is going to want to sue you for something. Some things more obvious than others but now it has become increasingly hard to decide what is safe and what is not. I read an article discussing trademark “wars” and it was a very interesting read. It discussed the fact that more and more companies are trying to trademark everything under the sun. First it was Christian Louboutin trademarking their red soles so no other shoe company can have red-soled shoes. It is kind of understandable why companies are trying to trademark everything they can because there is a lot of revenue from licensing trademarks and it is all about earning money and staying relevant at the end of the day. Celebrities are trademarking their children’s names to catchphrases. That is why you have to stay on top of these things because you do not want to create or use something that has already been trademarked by someone else. Always do your research! That way you can stay out of the courts and continue to handle your business. As I was reading this other article about artists sampling other artist’s music and not giving them the proper credit, I thought to myself that people really go out of their way to try and receive a payday! The reason I say that is because TufAmerica, a record label, sued the Beastie Boys for sampling their artist’s music, and not give them the proper credit. The thing is that TufAmerica admitted that the casual observer would not notice it, so I say then why even go ahead with the lawsuit if the sample is not even recognizable by basically anyone. Madonna went through the same thing with her song, “Vogue.” I understand people want to be compensated and recognized for their hard work but if no one can even notice that your work was being sampled besides the accuser then what is the point? So, in a world where social media reigns supreme companies have social media policies in their employee handbooks to give employees a guideline to what they can or cannot do regarding the company on social media sites. So, in a new article posted on The Hollywood Reporter, Dish Network has been ordered by the National Labor Relations Board to make revisions to their social media policy. In the current policy Dish employees are not allowed to commentate on the company while at work or in their free time. They felt it was a little overboard. I totally agree! Companies today really try to take away employees free will to do what they want to do. It is like employees are living for the company and not themselves. I would understand if the statements that are made by employees about their respective companies were false, but if they are true then why try and stop them from venting or expressing how they truly feel. If it is not interfering in the employees doing their job then it should not be a problem. That’s my opinion and I am sticking to it. Point. Blank. Period. 

Dawn Richard Soars With "Armor On"

Dawn Richard exploded onto the scene in 2004 when P. Diddy returned with the third season of Making The Band. Diddy was looking to form a girl group and Dawn made the cut. The group was formed and named Danity Kane. A native of New Orleans, Lousiana, Dawn had the undeniable talent and charisma of a star. But after just two albums, successful ones I might add, the group disbanded. Some members blamed her for the breakup because after they were disbanded she was the only group member to continue a working relationship with Diddy. Diddy even recruited Dawn to join a group that he was putting together called Dirty Money. That group consisted of Diddy, Dawn, and another female artist by name of Kaleena. The group released a pretty successful album and toured the world! But after the tour this group also disbanded. So, Dawn was not ready to give up. She asked to be released from her contract so she could start work on her solo career independently. This is when her true artistry and star power started to emerge. She was without a record label and was doing her music on her own terms and was being quite successful at it. She released an EP entitled Armor On earlier this year and it shot straight to number one on the Itunes R&B chart in just three hours. That’s a great feat to achieve and just goes to show when you stick to your guns and stay true to who you are you can achieve the unimaginable. With the success of Armor On Dawn has became kind of in demand and she went on a small tour of the U.S. and performed at small venues. The tour was successful and afterwards she went hard to work on her debut album, Goldenheart, as a solo artist. Still with no label backing Dawn was determined to get her music out there and was planning to release Goldenheart on October 16, 2012. The album was pushed back however and for a great reason. Dawn was able to secure a major distribution deal with Altavoz Distribution. That is a huge deal for an independent artist. Dawn will be able to have her music available to the buying public both physically and digitally while retaining most of the profit. Since she received this deal, Goldenheart,  was pushed back to January 15, 2013 so they could package the album correctly for the physical release. I’m so looking forward to Dawn's Goldenheart album because Dawn brings something fresh and new to the R&B scene and she stands out among the familiar!

photo credit: necolebitchie.com

Rihanna Remains "Unapologetic"

Rihanna has become a force to be reckoned with since her debut onto the music scene in 2005. Since then she has become a global superstar! She has platinum albums, sold out tours, countless endorsements, and a major social presence. With over sixty-two million fans on Facebook, over twenty-six million followers on Twitter, and Billboard's #1 top 40 pop song artist since 1992! She has all that and one still wonders how has she never achieved a number one album in her career? It is baffling to say the least! She has all these “fans” and her loyal fanbase that she calls the “Navy” but not enough of them go out to buy her album to secure her a number one album. So I wonder if they are more intrigued by Rihanna, the person, than Rihanna, the artist? Something that baffles me even more is that she is set to release her seventh studio album in seven years, Unapologetic, on November 19, 2012; the deluxe set of the album is selling at an astounding retail price of  $250. The deluxe set will feature things like a collectible vinyl record of remixes of her song “Diamonds” the first single off of the new album, a flash drive, and a handwritten book of lyrics and whatnot! I have no idea what her team was thinking when they came up with this! If she is not able to sell albums that are priced at $10, what makes them think someone is going to shell out a whole 250 bucks for a “deluxe” set? They really dropped the ball on this one and I hope they have not mass-produced this “deluxe” set because I really feel they will lose a lot of money if they do. I wonder what the distribution strategy for this will be like because I just do not see many people, if any, purchasing this “deluxe” set. I guess all will be revealed in the coming weeks and we will see if she scores her first number one album with Unapologetic! I know I will getting my copy because whether you like the girl or not there is no denying that she puts out good music and that’s what I’m here for!

photo credit: mtv.com

666: Liabilities

            Starting a business in the entertainment industry sounds like it would be a lot of fun. If there is a passion for it then eventually it will be fun and you will get to do what you love everyday. First though you have to really do your homework and find out what goes along with starting a business. It is grueling work and you definitely have to figure out the liability issues that come along with your business. That is exactly what I am going to talk about! I will discuss, with the review of several podcasts, liability issues in entertainment-based businesses. The first podcast I listened to was about copyright infringement. Copyright infringement is the violation of rights secured by a copyright. In this podcast the hosts talked about different cases dealing with copyright infringement. It focused on Republican presidential candidates unauthorized uses of copy written musical works in their campaign. This is a liability that would be associated with my business! I want to start an artist management company and I might have an artist whose musical works are infringed upon and will have to take the necessary steps to get that taken care of. In the case of the Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich who was sued by Rude Music, Inc. for the use of the song, “Eye of the Tiger” during his campaign trail. Rude Music wanted the court to award actual and statutory damages. This podcast really solidified what I had already learned about copyright infringement in my current Advanced Entertainment Law class! Shout-out to Cassi!!! Whoop! Whoop!

            The second podcast I listened to dealt with trademark infringement. This podcast really outlined what trademark infringement is and how to deal with it. Trademark infringement is when somebody else is using a protected trademark without permission. Protected trademarks includes, but not limited to, names, logos, and slogans. The most typical form of trademark infringement, according to the podcast, is likelihood of confusion. When defining that it means the comparison of two trademarks that may be confusing to the public and figuring out which one was trademarked first. The other form of trademark infringement is dilution. Dilution is when someone infringes upon a famous trademark without the proper consent. Since my business WILL be a famous one (see what I did there J) then if I ever had to deal with trademark infringement it would fall under dilution.  This podcast gave great ways to handle trademark infringement which most of it I learned in class.

            The last and final podcast I listened to discussed artist contracts. Now, this is a heavy subject and a lot goes into any business contract. As a manager I want to get the best deal for my potential client and myself. The speaker Daniel Friedman also talked what he called an upstream provision in a recording agreement. What this entails is that independent labels that are subsidiaries of major labels can have their artist be pulled from their label to the major label per a predetermined agreement. That was something that I had never heard of before and just goes to show you that you really have to be on top of everything! You cannot let anything slip through the cracks. With that type of agreement you have to make sure that you have some type of liability clause set in to cover your artist. I could go on and on about the subject of liabilities but I think I will end it here! I hope that you who are reading this learned something or at least enjoyed reading it!