Final Project: Your Own Arguments and Opinions

During my interview with John Ridilla, everything he said made sense to me. He said nothing that made scratch my head and wonder if it was correct or not. He discussed copyrights and how to enforce them and what he said lined up with the textbook. “In the event someone infringes the exclusive right of a copyright owner, the owner is entitled to sue in federal court and ask the court issue orders, award money damages if appropriate, and in some circumstances, award attorney fees.”(Stim) There was one thing he wasn't too sure about and that was if it is illegal to use samples in songs, even if the song doesn't make any money. He thought it may fall under the fair use concept, but from my studies the fair use concept only abides with cases, “…in connection with criticism of or commenting on the work, in the course of news reporting, for teaching purposes, or as a part of scholarship or research activity.” (Stim) Consequently, that is the only thing I would have to dig further into. He gave me good advice like finding a good and reliable business partner. In fact, copyrights can have joint ownership. “Under the Copyright Act of 1976, a joint work is defined as a work prepared by two or more authors who intend to merge their contributions into inseparable or independent parts of the whole.” (Stim) Coauthors are similar to joint ownership. Coauthors are considered, “Two or more people who have contributed significant creative input to a work of expression…” (Stim) Nonetheless, it all starts with protecting my work when I, “Register works with the U.S. Copyright Office.” (Stim) The wonderful world of law is a big place and by going to interview John Ridlla I have a little more guidance in that world. 

Final Project: Rule of Law

You could say I was seeking legal advice on what to know about running a multimedia company. That’s what all my questions were geared towards. One thing that John said that stuck out to me the most was, “…have a good partner, and get a good lawyer.” The latter half stuck out to me because this is a phrase the Professor Pinto preaches in class, and rightfully so. That is what it all boils down to. I would need a lawyers versed in patent law. I would need a person who knew about patent trolls, which is, “…a disparaging term for someone who sues for patent infringement but who does not make or sell any products using the patented technology.”(Stim) I would need this so I could be protect myself from those who are, “…in the business of suing companies, not in the business of making or selling anything.”(Stim) The law is ever changing and it is a lawyer’s job to learn about these changes and be aware of them. For instance, the Copyright Act: 402 apply to my field of study. “This statute governs, how, when, where, and why to place a copyright on a phono-record.”(Stim) A phono-record is, “…the media on which sounds are fixed for the purpose of distribution essentially, and reproduction.”(Stim) John also encouraged me to be aware of the laws, regulations  rights, and protections granted to me. Something as simple as knowing the different type of copyright licenses could be a start. Like the nonexclusive license. “A copyright owner grants a nonexclusive license when the owner authorizes another person or institution to exercise one or more of the rights to the owner under the copyright on a shared basis.” (Stim) Also, it could be something as easy as knowing the notice of copyright. “For works published in the United States after March 1, 1989, no such copyright notice is required for copyright protection within the United States.” (Stim) I learned from John the different business types and what those entail. I also learned more about the fair use concept from the interview. “As a practical matter, fair use is primarily an affirmative defense to a claim of copyright infringement.” (Stim)

Final Project: Reasoning of the Law

As I analyzed John’s way of answering and processing the questions, I observed that he is a very practical thinker. Practicality happens to be good trait for a lawyer to have. Although, he thinks practically, he still knows about the law and how it operates. He was aware if the processes that copyrights go through from the state to federal level and how long copyrights last. In fact, “As a result of the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, most copyrights for works published after January, 1 1978, last for the life of the author plus 70 years.”(Stim) He was also aware that copyrights have their set of rights. “A copyright actually encompasses a bundle of separate exclusive rights, including the exclusive right to: reproduce the work, display or perform the work, distribute the work, and prepare adaptations of the work.” (Stim) His logic, pertaining, to my questions was more that they were business decisions that needed legal backing rather than strict legal issues. He also was aware of patent law, copyright law, and trademark law and he knew which of the three applied. “Intellectual property law consists of several separate and overlapping legal disciplines, each with its own characteristics and terminology.”(Stim) He referred to his previous experience to create points of reference. This helped me put things into perspective. 

Final Project: The Questions

All of my questions were regarding to music and the business side of the music industry. This is mainly because I want to own my own multimedia company someday. It is important that I know the law as it concerns me and my rights in the music industry, since I am going to be working in it soon. One of the questions I asked was is it illegal to conduct business under an acronym that is already used by a different company, but has a separate meaning? John responded by saying it likely isn't possible because it is too similar. However, this problem can be solved by conducting a trademark search for marks or names. “A trademark search is an investigation to discover potential conflicts between a proposed mark and an existing one. Generally, done before or at the beginning of a new mark’s use, a trademark search reduces the possibility of inadvertently infringing a mark belonging to someone else.” (Richard Stim) Another question I asked was regarding to how to protect my creations from being used without my consent and also what legal action could I take. I learned in class that I can copyright something to keep others from using it. “A copyright gives the owner of a creative work the right to keep others from unauthorized use of the work.” (Stim) However, copyrights do have limitations, “ Copyright does not protect ideas or facts; it protects only the unique way in which ideas or facts are expressed.”(Stim) Nonetheless, there is one exception to using a copyrighted work without ones permission. This loop hole is fair use. “The fair use doctrine permits the unauthorized use of a copyrighted material if it is used for certain transformative purposes such as criticism, commentary, or parody.”(Stim) “When determining whether an infringement should be excused on the basis of fair use, a court will use several factors including the purpose and character of the use, amount and substantiality or the portion borrowed, and effect of the use on the market for the copyrighted material.” (Stim)

Final Project: Legal Authority

I recognize that the process of finding a lawyer, let alone, talking to a lawyer can be quite a notion. However, fortunately, my “lawyer” process was fairly simple and easy. At the genesis of the assignment, I did what Professor Pinto suggested, which was to find a list of local lawyers on the internet. To my surprise, I didn't use any of the lawyers on the list I created. I was able to meet a lawyer in his office and interview him face to face. This was pretty exciting for me, especially since I was expecting an over- the -phone interview at the most. The gentleman I interviewed is John Ridilla. He is a Deputy City Attorney at the City of Las Vegas. John doesn't specialize in intellectual property, but he does specialize in contracts. Although, John was not an intellectual property lawyer, he was able to give me valuable input and answers to my questions. I admit, I was pretty nervous about meeting him, but he was a very friendly and helpful individual. He told me to call if I had any more questions, and even offered to contact some of his colleagues if I had any questions he couldn't answer. Needless to say, it was a great interview and experience. I believe John Ridilla was a good choice for my project. He was able to give me educated and practical answers to my questions. He also stated during the interview that, “Not all things are legal decisions, but business deals backed up by the law.”

The person solely responsible for making this interview happen was my aunt. She also works at the City of Las Vegas in the financing department. I simply asked her if she was able to get me some names of some local lawyers and she took it a step further by offering me an interview with one. 

Week 10 EOC: Lawyer Jokes

Q: What's the difference between a female lawyer and a pitbull?
A: Lipstick

Question: Why don't snakes bite attorneys?
Answer: Professional courtesy.

How does an attorney sleep?
First he lies on one side, and then on the other.

How can you tell that an attorney is about to lie? 
His lips begin to move.

Week 9 EOC: Letters of Permission

While doing my research for the letters of permission project, I found an extremely helpful site that I pulled all my forms from. The website is hiphopproduction.com and it features a list of free music contracts for artists, musicians, engineers, and more. The forms I chose were the exclusive agent form, studio charge time contract, talent release contract, and the copyright assignment form. All these documents are things I will potentially use as I advance in my career as an audio professional.  An exclusive agent form is a document where an artist signs and agrees to hire an agent. The agent lists his/her terms on the document and handles the artists’ booking, traveling, and any other part of the artists’ professional career. A studio charge time contract lays out the hourly pay that a studio receives within the time frame (ex: 2 years) specified on the contract. A talent release contract states the guidelines and limits when talent is released to do work for other business. Also, the talent releases rights to any money made to the master owner. Last, but not least, is the copyright assignment form. This document entails who owns the rights of songs produced or any composition made. All of these documents are signed by their respective parties to protect from people who want to get over on them. I picked these four documents because of where I want to go in my career. I want to own a record label eventually, and to do so successfully I will have to be able to read and make all agreements known through contract or release form. As previously stated, the website I used was of much use. There were hundreds of contracts specifically tailored to the music business. I will use this website as a resource in the future.