The Starving Artist: Legal Counsel From Entertainment Attorneys

If the music business was not about the music business, then it would have been called the record business, unfortunately the music industry's only purpose is to gain profit at all costs, even if it's at the artists expense. Business over music is the motto in the industry whether an artist likes it or not, it is the reason why many musicians and entertainment professionals should understand entertainment law in respect to the field they are in. Since the entertainment is in the dog eat dog arena, I was able to find pertinent advice from Entertainment Attorneys Greg Eveline, Michael C. Donaldson, and Mike Young.
In a seminar conducted by Attorney Greg Eveline, he lectures a course specifically discussing the importance of copyrights and why publishing is where majority of money can be made for artists. According to Greg, his advice to songwriters and artists are to make sure that all material is copyrighted. In particular, he mentions that signed artists should always register the performing arts form because typically a record label will have rights to the sound recording and the video recording copyright. He stresses properly registering arts of work is a must for all artists because if not done, the record label will cheat artists out of royalties. Greg states artists should think about copyrighting as owning property because it allows the artist to rent or sell their music. Attorney Eveline also points out that copyrights do not mean artists owns music they register, but that it is merely a claim stating that their music material was created at a certain date and time.

On the other end of the spectrum, directors of documentaries are having a hard time visually explaining a story without using the appropriate music to compliment points they try to make. Entertainment lawyer Michael Donaldson says the reason why it's so hard for directors of documentaries to create stories is because of clip licensing fees. For instance, if a director wants to use 30 seconds of a song clip and use it in two parts of the film, it would cost production at least $6000 to $8000 for permission to license music. In order to lower the costs, Donaldson says he always advise his clients to implement fair use. Fair use is like freedom of speech, it allows film makers to express their ideas through film without having to pay licensing fees. In a way, fair use is like a loop hole for filmmakers to use as a defense in the court of law. Donaldson explains as long as the filmmaker is able to illustrate the point and doing so by only using what they need to get the message across to viewers, then there is a line for defense in court. Lastly, Donaldson says that it is imperative for filmmakers not to take advantage of fair use, he believes filmmakers need to maintain relationships by offering to pay a price they can afford, before using unauthorized material believing they don't have to pay because of fair use.

In another interview, lawyer Mike Long gives advice on how to protect a website without a lawyer. Considering the growth in social networking and digital media, Mike Long's advice for online business owners are very important. In the interview Long states the first rule of thumb in protecting a business is by forming a separate business entity to shield assets such as cars, by forming a registered business like an LLC, or corporation. He states its essential because the company becomes a person shielding the owner from having to worry about loosing personal property. Long goes on to mention every website should have a privacy policy that states what customers rights are and to ensure customer privacy when using the website, if they choose to use their information on the website. finally, Long mentions the importance to watch out for copyright trolls, copyright trolls are people that make a profit purchasing domain names that already belong to businesses.

Listening to all of the interviews gave a lot of insight on where the entertainment industry is headed in the future. in particular, I find information on fair use to be the most helpful for my business because my company creates videos that will need to use music in order to illustrate a point. Also another key point shared by lawyer Mike Young, is to always protect your business by registering intellectual property and safeguarding your online business by purchasing a domain name. To see full length interviews please watch attached videos below.