Creative legal solutions for creative people

The US system’s use of performance rights organizations (PROs) to license music is efficient and enables widespread access to music. But that comes at the expense of artist control over the use of their recordings.

Through talent, strategic branding, grit, and adaptability, Dolly Parton rose from poverty in rural Tennessee to become a global icon. Her entertainment career spanned recorded and live music, film, television, and publishing, and she also pursued a wide range of successful commercial ventures, including a theme park, food products, beauty and fragrance products, apparel, and home goods. Parton gave by to her community with her philanthropic initiatives, most notably the Imagination Library, which promotes early childhood literacy. Read our blog to learn how by retaining her copyrights and leveraging technology to promote her projects and expand her reach, Parton sustained her career for more than 60 years, while remaining true to her roots, values, and brand.

A music streaming subscription often doesn't give someone the right to can play that music for customers or at events. Businesses that use recorded music may need to navigate complicated copyright laws, streaming-service terms of service, and licenses from multiple performing rights organizations. Copyright law can treat even a “private” company event or apartment-community gathering as a public performance. A single recording may involve two different copyrights, and a playlist can require dozens of licenses, and licenses that worked in one context might not be sufficient in another. Read our blog to learn what businesses should consider using recorded music at their establishments.

During a recent performance of Bruch’s Violin Concerto in Finland, conductor Matthew Halls accidentally knocked soloist Elina Vähälä’s 18th-century Guadagnini violin out of her hands. The audience gasped. Time seemed to stop as the violin worth millions flew through the air and landed on the stage. Vähälä inspected the instrument and, after a few minutes, tuned it and signaled that the performance could continue. She later explained that the violin wasn't seriously injured because it was constructed so that rather than the wood cracking, a seam will come loose when the violin was under pressure -- the violin had a built-in crisis response plan. Violinmakers know what many teams don't -- that careful upfront planning can prevent a crisis.

Beethoven's late quartets were transformative but not necessarily well-received because they didn't conform to the technical expectations of the time. Law is like music in this respect -- document preparation requires both technical competence and an artful approach to create a structure that meets the clients' and transactions needs — and the artistic part of law is often underappreciated. Some view AI as a replacement for conventional legal advice -- they believe they can rely upon software to write their wills or create basic business documents without the benefit of an attorney. Although AI can be valuable tool that addresses many of the the "scientific" aspects of law and frees attorneys to focus on the art of creating documents customized to their clients' needs, AI isn't yet a replacement for sound legal advice.

Musicians traveling in the US are fortunate that federal law provides rules that help them bring their valuable instruments into the cabin. However, musicians still must navigate through the ticketing process, fare restrictions, and airport security before they even get to the gate. Once on the plane, a musician’s challenges with air travel isn’t over. Their instrument will use their carry-on baggage allotment and is treated the same as all other carry-on baggage and is subject to space limitations.

It's more than an artistic decision when a coffee shop's ad features a simple photo of coffee with the patrons in the shop blurred in the background. Although the shop may have purchased the copyright from the photographer, that doesn't mean the shop can use people's faces in an ad. By blurring the people's images, the shop need not worry about obtaining consents. On the other hand, since a photographer owns the copyrights in photos they take, even a person who is featured in the photo can't post or copy it without consent. Read our newest article to learn about these and other pitfalls individuals, businesses, and music groups may face when they post photos on social media or use them in promotional materials.

People are naturally optimistic when starting a new business relationship or band -- that’s the way it should be. Most people may not have to deal with talented squirrels, but the hard reality is that all relationships changes over time. By working with an experienced attorney who can ask the hard questions at the beginning of a relationship and help develop a solid agreement that can help future-proof the relationship through its successes and challenges.

For most of us, ASAP means to hurry up and rush to completion. In contrast, Cage's organ composition ASLSP means "as slow as possible," which has been taken to an extreme with a performance on the Halberstadt organ will last 639 years. Yet, extremes are rarely the best option. Moving too quickly can leave important questions unanswered. Moving too slowly can turn a useful project into an academic exercise. Attorneys face a similar dilemma when preparing contracts. Contracts aren't one-size-fits-all; they must be customized for each situation and relationship, and finding the amount of detail that's "just right" is what turns contract drafting from a science that can use a form or be performed by AI into an art that requires human input.

An episode of Peacock's Cold War era spy show, PONIES, is set at an Elton John concert in Moscow. Peacock worked closely with Elton John's representatives and used his persona with permission, and everyone knows there is an actor impersonating Elton John. However, the same isn't true with AI generated images. AI is a valuable tool that can speed up many business processes, including speeding up the process of creating images for marketing materials. However, there's no transparency regarding the source of AI-generated images, and when those images resemble an actual individual, it raises right of publicity and copyright concerns. Read our article to learn about these legal concerns, what state laws apply when AI uses someone's image without authorization, and how the NO FAKES Act would create a national standard in this quickly developing area.

The NO FAKES Act, which recently cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee, would be a valuable tool in artists’ arsenal against AI replicas. However, the bill still must pass several hurdles before it becomes law. For now, except in the few states like Tennessee that have laws expressly prohibiting digital “clones,” artists need to continue to rely on state right-of-publicity laws, contract language, copyright and trademark claims, and platform takedown procedures.

Artful contract drafting is best thought of as relationship design. The strongest contract is not the most one-sided, but rather, is one that considers both parties’ needs and goals and makes the relationship work.