Entertainment Law Update Podcasts

Monkeying Around with Copyright Law

 Many people find themselves in trouble when proper procedures are not followed when it comes to understanding copyright laws and the legalities involved. Copyright owners are fighting back when their materials and trademark names are being used without the proper authorizations. It was interesting to learn how Shaq the basketball player who played at the time for the Phoenix Suns in 2008 filed a lawsuit against a man named Michael Calmese for trademark infringement. Mr. Calmese improperly used Shaq’s trademark name “Shaqtus” on different items sold on his website called True Fan Logo Inc. According to Nick Divito, “Shaquille O'Neal's company wants a businessman to stop selling items over the Internet that feature a cartoon character of the basketball star in the form of a cactus. The character plays on O'Neal's nickname as "The Big Shaqtus" after his move to the Phoenix Suns in 2008” (Divito, N., 2010). The Nevada court ruled in Shaq’s favor based on the 8 factors of trademark confusion. The Nevada court determined that Mr. Calmese purposely meant to cause confusion to the public. The final decision by the court demanded Mr. Calmese from continuing to sell Shaq’s trademark name made on items over the Internet, and ceasing the domain name shaqtus.net.  

Preparing for my own business plan of an artist management company, it is important to know the laws to follow for proper authorized permission from a copyright owner when I want to use an owner’s copy written material. An artist management company many times uses promotional advertisements using photos, videos and music on their websites advertising materials of artists to inquire customers from the music business. On the Internet I have found information from a company called Verdict Management who has a professional staff in helping entertainment businesses like mines with services helping with legal issues, business plans, and all other genre’s needed. An important advice I will follow is staying on top of current IP laws when it comes to my business. (Episode #23)

Divito, N. (2010). Shaq wants man to quit using “Shaqtus” mark. Retrieved September 24, 2011 from http://www.clublakers.com/nba-discussion/shaq-wants-man-quit-using-shaqtus-mark-t118631.html

Firemark, G.P., (2011).  Entertainment Law Podcast Episode #23. Monkeying around with copyright law. Retrieved September 24, 2011 from http://www.entertainmentlawupdate.com/

Record Labels to pay $47.5 Million

            It sounds strange to hear record labels preparing trust accounts to pay legal fees for possible future lawsuits against them for illegal copyright infringement usage. In Canada the courts have had several incidents where some Canadian record labels have taken on a new type of action to prepare themselves for possible lawsuits from copyright owners. The record labels would put away a substantial amount of money in a bank trust account in case their appellants would win. Additionally, the labels would try to settle for $47.5 million if their company was ever taken to court for using other songwriters music unauthorized and not paying out royalties. The courts saw this as being unethical as a business, and had determined that the labels did not do a good job in locating the copyright owners. The question had risen “should this type of action be allowed without some kind of repercussion behind it”? The courts in the U.S. also had seen this same type of behavior from record labels doing the same unethical action. In 2008 the United States courts had implemented a new penalty called “Timely Paying Mechanics” penalizing record labels from their intentional copyright infringements. The U.S. courts feel also that copyright owners need to stay on top of their materials to keep the unethical actions from continuously rising.

Good advice would be to always keep up with any copy written materials a business or person copyrights. A business or a person never knows whom maybe taking advantage of their works and making money that really belong to the rightful owner. I will make sure that anything that I copyright for my business will be properly registered and implemented in my business plan. What I’ve learned online is that there are plenty of lawyers who are knowledgeable in helping me with my business to stay in compliance with the law. (Episode #17)

Firemark, G.P., (2011). Entertainment Law Podcast Episode #17. Record labels to pay $47.5 million. Retrieved September 24, 2011 from http://www.entertainmentlawupdate.com/

Tribute Band Names

            Popular artists from around the world have been imitated for their style and music. Las Vegas is the capital where a person can go see some of their most favorite look alike artists or band being played by other people who can sound and look like the original artists. However, some artists do not allow their name brand to be paraded out in the limelight without proper consent. For example, a popular band called Aba notified all tribute bands to stop using their trademark name, and change the tribute band name writing cease and desist letters at this point. Another band who had been against their trademark name being used were the world famous Beatles. The Beatles heard about a show they hated called “The Beatles Mania”. The Beatles filed a lawsuit against Apple v. Liber who created the tribute show in 1986 for publicity violations and unfair competition. The defendants claimed that the first amendment gave them the right for fair usage. The courts examined the reasoning and laws that helped support the defendants claims and found that the show Beatles Mania was not allowed to use the name Beatles due to commercial exploitation.

The best advice I believe in this kind of situation is that no business should allow anyone to use his or her brand name any kind of way. Protecting a name of a business by an owner helps keep it’s value and identity free from possible defamation damages.  For my business plan, I will make sure my business name and logo is properly protected. It is best in making sure anyone who wants to use my business name for promotional purposes will have to get my consent. The Internet is full of prying hackers waiting to find people who have no knowledge in understanding the laws. For me, my business name is who I am, and I must represent my business in the most professional and honest company my customers can trust. (Episode #12)

Firemark, G.P., (2010). Entertainment Law Podcast Episode #12. YouTube, Hurt Locker, Idea Theft & More. Retrieved on September 24, 2011 from http://www.entertainmentlawupdate.com/

 

 

Industry Liabilities

 How Jay-Z and Kanye West Beat the Leakers With 'Watch the Throne'

Practically everyone who listens to music realizes that most of his or her favorite artist music has been downloaded before it is released to buy. Music Piracy has been the biggest issue in the music industry for over at least two decades. Piracy is a crime and is connected to copyright infringement. More rap artists has dealt with this kind of problem the most. Record labels have tried to think of many ways to slow down music piracy but have not been too successful to ending it. It is unfortunate that sites such as LimeWire who is no longer in existence have caused damages to artist and record labels. LimeWire is currently under a court order for not getting proper permission for music downloads they allowed their customers to obtain. Rap artists such as Jay-Z and Kanye West have taken extra pre-cautions in keeping their recently released album “Watch the Throne” under tight security measures with the CIA before it’s release date into stores. According to Steven Horowitz from The Hollywood Reporter “the duo successfully staved off hackers with a leak-proof strategy -- an anomaly for an industry consistently brought to its knees by web-savvy individuals eager to share unreleased material with the world” (Horowitz, J.S., 2011, Para 2). Both artists wanted their listeners to get that first experience in opening the CD and listening to it for the first time with amazement like back in the day. The engineers Mike Dean, Anthony Kilhoffer and Noah Goldstein had the music’s hard drive secured in one engineer’s brief case. The engineers had disabling their Wi-Fi on their computers so hackers could not get to the sessions for leakage. To open the brief case one has to use their finger that is registered with high profile software and have it scanned to open it! Some record executives believe that this could be a measure that other artists may take with their music.

My Opinion: I believe if this is a way an artist and record labels can protect the music from illegal copyright infringements then I say it is worth it. After all, music piracy has caused artists and labels to loose a lot of money due to some people who have no respect for artist’s hard work. Maybe this can even work in the film industry as well. This goes for me getting permission with my business when I want to promote using an artist picture or music on my website.

Horowitz, J.S., (2011). How Jay-Z and Kanye West Beat the Leakers With "Watch The Throne"

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-jay-z-kanye-west-222723

 

Why Music Producer Dr. Luke Sues People Who Claim He Copies Songs (Analysis)

It has been known in the past for artists and music producers taking other artist work and using loops of the original work in their own song. Rap music is big on this kind of accusation. However, the law had implemented in the late 80’s and early 90’s a clause that artists must get proper permission from the original artists to keep from being accused of copyright infringement. The original artist can cease and desist the activity sales to recover damages for the profits made on the song or film. Producer Dr. Luke is all too familiar with being accused of copyright infringement for other artist’s music. For instance, he was accused by the Bellamy Brothers for plagiarizing the same music tune for the song he produced for Britney spears hit song called “Hold It Against Me” in march of 2011. He was found in court not guilty. Many artists compare their music with his songs on YouTube and it is why Dr. Luke is called to court on many occasions. However, Dr. Luke has decided to strike back at artist with a term called “defamation” of his character in court. According to Eric Gardner of Hollywood Esq., “Dr. Luke is also currently engaged in a similar kind of dispute with the songwriter Chrissy over claims of copying her song, "My Slushy" to create Ke$ha's "Tik Tok” (Gardner, E., 2011, Para. 11). Dr. Luke states "These days, anyone can put two songs up and make a mash-up by changing the key of this one and say, 'Oh, these songs are similar.' A lot of things are similar. But you don’t get sued for being similar. It needs to be the same thing. Almost doesn’t count. Close but no cigar. People are suing for close” (Dr. Luke, 2011, Para. 12). Dr. Luke believes it has caused damage to the new song Tik Tok Ke$ha’s, and fans will hold back from buying the single because of it. You hear of this kind of accusations quite often, and it is why the law allows the original artist or songwriter to sue for large financial damages.

My Opinion: I understand why some of the artists have accused Dr. Luke of copyright infringement, but I also believe that it is important to know that a person would not continue to be believed of this wrongful act knowing it would jeopardize their career. I also feel the artist should really get legal representation to listen to their song and compare the song being misrepresented with their original work. I feel this kind of strategy will save the accusing artist time and money.

Gardner, E., (2011). Why Music producer Dr. Luke Sues People Who Claim He Copies Songs

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/why-music-producer-dr-luke-229428

Digital drives music sales up 4.8%

It has been reported that digital music sales have increased making artists and record labels happy. Music Piracy has caused artist and record labels to loose money. Record labels have tried coming up with ways to stop the music piracy but continue to brainstorm for answers. According to Christopher Morris an editor at Variety Magazine “The digital side now accounts for 32% of all album sales, with electronic music the leading genre, taking 49% of the pie” (Morris, Christopher, 2011, Para. 5). More artists are using the digital music websites such as iTunes and CD Baby to have their fans purchase their albums and singles. Artist believe this gives them better control of their sales and having their own online store on their websites will slow down the music piracy. Websites such as LimeWire that allowed unauthorized downloading are continuously being taken off the Internet by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and anyone found guilty still downloading illegally will be prosecuted. The rise in digital sales reported in 2011 has been gospel, classical, new age, country, electronic and rock, which means true fans are following the guidelines to proper downloading. Entertainment Analytics David Bakula states, "I think the year will end very positively" (Bakula, D., 2011, Para. 15). Currently the trend is more artists are allowing their fans to listen to snippets of their songs on the album on their websites, and setting a lower price for the digital copy and a little increased price on the physical CD for them to purchase. Also, more artist are putting out singles than albums because they feel their fans are buying what they want instead of picking certain songs off their album to illegally download. Due to this kind of strategic planning by artists, it has actually slowed down some of the illegal down loading and loss of revenues.

My Opinion: I believe that it is a good way to slow down music piracy for the music industry to allow more singles to be put out by artists. The main reason people illegally down load is because they’re looking for only their favorite song or selective songs if the album is not meeting their expectations. I do believe also by the music industry using this strategy that artists are going to have to work harder for better albums for their fans demands to increase their album sales. Whether it is digital or physical sales of artist’s music, I feel digital sales may take over.

Bakula, D., (2011). Digital drives music sales up 4.8%.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118041820?refCatId=16