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Sound Advice Your inside source to the world of entertainment law with Peter Vaughn Shaver, Esq. Dear Sound Advice: An excellent question, Lawless. Generally, like police and doctors, lawyers are best avoided at most times. However, when you really need one, they can help you avoid problems and dangers. Entertainment attorneys cover a lot of areas: copyrights, trademarks, creating and negotiating contracts, setting up publishing companies, shopping demos, dealing with performance venues, merchandising companies, licensing deals, - basically anything related to the business of music. Entertainment attorneys can also help musicians with marketing advice and connections to others in the music business, including labels, producers, booking agents, publicists, etc. As far as "when" you need an attorney, that is up to you. You might need help once you get beyond your garage and are playing out in clubs, putting out music for sale or in a band that needs an agreement on how to run your band's affairs. Like it or not, at some point, your music "hobby" might become a "business" and, as such, it is important to understand the legal issues that impact running a business of any kind. The sooner you start dealing with business issues professionally, the better off you will be in terms of avoiding bad deals and getting screwed over. Ask any musician who has been around for awhile about some of the rip-offs they have encountered in their careers. It will quickly become apparent how an entertainment attorney could have helped them avoid problems. Many musicians often get into trouble by signing agreements without fully understanding them. Don't rely on the friendly record company person, or their legal counsel, to explain documents to you. Their interests will not be biased toward protecting your best interests. You should obtain an advocate who can negotiate with these parties and look out for you. Attorneys that specialize in entertainment and music law have more knowledge than other attorneys outside of this area of specialization. There is a danger is using your uncle Ernie, the divorce attorney, for advice on recording deals or music publishing agreements. He may be an "attorney", but will likely not be aware of industry terms in such contracts or things to avoid. The expertise of a qualified music attorney is very important in this regard. As an alternative to hiring an entertainment attorney, there are a lot of books and websites that have forms you can use for many things that you might need an attorney for. There are some very good books out there as far as general advice goes, but because each situation is unique, you should not rely on pre-produced contracts or general information. Often these pre-produced contracts or other forms are just a "one-size-fits-all" answer and using outdated, incomplete, or flat-out improper forms and contracts can hurt you, or, at the very least, make you look like an idiot. Problems often arise from not just what is in a contract, but rather what is missing from a contract. You don't see many "do it yourself" home surgery books and sources of D. Y .I. legal advice can be just as dangerous and harmful to your mental and financial health. A book also won't help you negotiate with other parties that might try to intimidate you into signing bad contracts. A good entertainment attorney can help you avoid the land mines in bad agreements and can negotiate language that protects your interests. Send your legal questions to pvshaver@hotmail.com, with “SOUND ADVICE” as the subject. Disclaimer: The advice and opinions offered in this column are meant to be educational only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Every situation is different and you are cautioned to seek advice from qualified counsel regarding the specific facts of your matter. Neither the attorney nor Music Liberation Project accepts any responsibility for any reader's reliance on the contents of this article. |
