Media & Entertainment Law

I think even attorneys can safely

Posted on December 25, 2008
I think even attorneys can safely agree there are few things as tedious and by the numbers as serving legal papers on someone. In the US notice for legally binding instruments is fundamental, ancient, and sacrosanct. And few things in the law require as much religious devotion in practice...

Is Your Credit Card Merchant PCI Compliant?

Posted on December 23, 2008
For the would be ecommerce startup in this next round of net startups, sometimes PayPal isn?t going to cut it for the ?look and feel? of a pro. So you may want to take a look at the PCI Compliance Guide. This is a best practices and compliance guide that has been adopted in the US (and founded by the credit card bigwigs) for credit card merchant services...

Facebook Apps Now Less Coy with Application Verification Program

Posted on November 27, 2008
Facebook is a serious marketplace for brands looking to capitalize on the productivity lost by your employer, while you post your Monday bender pics at work. But let's face it, you're not going to fall for the ol' tell me about your product and its benefits routine...

New Front Opened Against RIAA

Posted on November 21, 2008
The ebbs and flows of any legal policy battle have little to do with the obvious moral colors of it all. Often, it seems the blacks and whites of rights and wrongs are not reduced to grays but blotted off the canvas altogether. Take the RIAA copyright war on unlawful file sharing...

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Celebrity Baby Spread Gets Copyleft License

Posted on November 19, 2008
Who says celebrities have to be Paris Hilton's or Jane Fonda's, either too stupid or too radical to make a practical impact on the habits of ordinary people? There is a happy medium for the privacy challenged apple of the press? eye, where their actions can influence even the contentious halls of IP licensing...

Lego Hits a Rainbow Colored Brick Wall

Posted on November 17, 2008
Who has not dreamed of building a life size Lego house or the life size Lego statue of oneself? If you don't raise your hand, you are either lying or you were raised by wolves. Everyone loves Lego and it has been a uniquely iconic fixture of the modern childhood...

Even Curmudgeon Lawyers Get Social

Posted on November 06, 2008
The near universal euphoria over social media marketing has even reached the most ad phobic professionals, lawyers. Considering the myriad ethical and professional restraints on the who, what, where, and how of legal marketing, it is both heartening and worrisome (lawyers love structural ambiguity, it keeps us contract attorneys employed) to see us venture into this realm...

Breaking the Code?A Code of Ethics Emerges for Social Media Marketing

Posted on November 05, 2008
In an increasingly social media dominated world where the old ?word of mouth? adage has been steroided up with the power of the net, there is a palpable sense that rules and boundaries are needed. Attempting to step into the void, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) has promulgated a Code of Ethics...

WHERE SHOULD I ORGANIZE / SET UP / MARRY MY CORPORATION OR LLC?

Posted on November 03, 2008
Choosing which state in which to setup your LLC or corporation is like dating 50 people at once and being forced to marry one. As we all know, choosing a mate for life is simply an unscientific affair. And with choosing between states as opposed to mates, there is still the usual sorting through quirks annoyances and whether or not a state may simply look ugly the morning after the ceremony...

Knowing the Trollz? Name?Using the Courts to Identify Online Defamers

Posted on September 07, 2008
There is no question that the final name calling frontier is the internet--the world wide web of mean. No other invention since the Gutenberg press has made it as easy to cast stones from the safety of one's own home. And on the way to work, we even twitter our slurs...

Canada's Hit New Viral Video on Privacy and Social Networks

Posted on July 29, 2008
Star Wars Kid fatigue? Leave Britney Alone Angst? Tired of vids that are viral but not educational? For those of you who are awakening to the awakening of privacy leftists versus the Facebook's of the world, a little known button up office of the Canadian government has just the viral vid for you...

The Single Location Restaurant with the Big Brand Vision can Apply for Federal Trademark Registration

Posted on July 13, 2008
Let?s face it, being in the restaurant biz takes a certain kind of personality with a certain kind of vision. Given all the risks and hurdles, having just one street address is not what they?re in this for. Hence startup restaurants that have a single location often seek federal trademark protection with an eye towards being a chain or a franchise...

Turning Startup Money Down

Posted on June 25, 2008
It is standard issue in my practice to be confronted with strong willed, able bodied, and risk be damned entrepreneurs. As a legal counselor it is my job to make hazards out there look like more than speed bumps to people who are not accustomed to hearing ?that can?t be done...

The Software Reseller Agreement

Posted on April 28, 2008
A common issue facing nearly all software companies is the sales force arrangements to move the software. In terms of complexity, direct branded sales are obviously the most manageable. But that is not always the most practical or cost effective approach...

Itty Bitty License Clauses Should Be Feared

Posted on April 23, 2008
Media license clauses should be scrutinized, even the itty, bitty bits living in sentences longer than a line for free money. The now ubiquitous phrase "now or hereafter known," which innocently modifies the list of formats through which a song, movie, book, etc...

Being Taft-Hartley'ed for a Prodcuction

Posted on April 14, 2008
A common problem faced by producers of anything from indie film to YouTube video is the employment of unionized actors. For example SAG actors add a variety of complications to the mix. One of the foremost issues is the mixing of union and non union talent...

Apple Files TM Opposition Against NYC

Posted on April 04, 2008
NYC has unveiled its ?GreeNYC? apple-shaped logo and filed for registration with the Patent and Trademark Office (?PTO?) and Apple is not digesting it well. Continuing its quest to assure that absolutely no high fiber fruit are used to brand the goods and services of others throughout the known universe, Apple has filed a trademark opposition against the city...

Punished for Punitive Damages--Globalization Has Not Caught On In the Courtroom

Posted on March 31, 2008
As the world becomes increasingly global and markets feel the collective sting of close integration, the legal world is still bragging about its 8-track player in an all digital world. Each nation?s legal system is its own fiefdom that doesn?t play nice with others...

To Delaware or Not to Delaware?-- that is the Incorporation Question

Posted on February 21, 2008
When setting up tech ventures or other businesses that require venture capital, the automatic assumption is that Delaware is the hip place to be. Sometimes, I am asked in lieu of the assumption, should the entrepreneur setup the entity in DE? As the first state in the union (let?s face it, other than that distinction DE is not a top tourist attraction,) DE needs something to keep up with the other 49 states...

HotOrNot? for VC's--TheFunded.com

Posted on February 19, 2008
I often get asked by my clients about how the various venture capital players stack up against each other. It is a difficult question to answer as so many of my clients have differing needs, personalities, and subjective lenses through which they see the startup world...

Forming New York Professional Entities

Posted on February 07, 2008
A New York professional entity (PLLC, P.C.) is a unique intersection of the business law and the licensed professions. In short, if you are a licensed professional in New York State, through the New York State Department of Education, (e.g., doctor, architect, etc...

The Share Tax Boogeyman--Section 180 of the New York Tax Law

Posted on January 28, 2008
Forming a New York state corporation is often the first step that entrepreneurs take before commencing operations. These entrepreneurs often think that a corporation is the structure that favors them for a variety of reasons (IPO, multiple traunches of capital, stock options, etc...

Getting a Business Divorce from your LLC Without and Operating Agreement May Force you to Stay in the Marriage

Posted on January 22, 2008
An LLC is the premiere small business entity for a reason. It is efficient, flexible, and generally easy to run. But as with all entities, an LLC is still a union of partners that are in it for better or for worse. Sometimes however, better gives way to worse and the partners may have to split?they have to divorce...

Free Business Consulting Services

Posted on December 11, 2007
Don?t have any money for a business consultant? If you don?t mind being a student project, then you should turn to the Small Business Consulting Program at Columbia Business School. This is a semester long program that matches up talented business students with businesses in need of guidance...

Anti-Layering Provisions In Convertible Notes

Posted on November 23, 2007
Definition for the day: Anti-Layering Provision. A common scenario in start-up finance involves use of the convertible note. Simply put, an angel puts in money in the venture in the form of debt through a promissory note. That note however, will not be a run of the mill "IOU...

How to Fund a New Media Company

Posted on October 24, 2007
New media companies are always looking for potential investors to take them off the startup ground. In doing some research on the subject, I came across the Peacock Equity Fund ? something to keep in the back of your mind for all you media start-ups out there...

Second Life and Second Jurisprudence

Posted on September 19, 2007
If any one doubts the power of the new Internet look no further than Second Life--that virtual wonderland-where you can thrill to the view of your palatial gated manor and take flight in your jet car to visit the gay, straight or "furry" neighbors. It only seems like a fantasy until you realize that servers populated like small cities complete with laws and all the trappings of society compete for our waking life...

How many Lawyers does it Take to Unscrew a Light Bulb (or a Lawsuit)?

Posted on September 19, 2007
The Answer: None. Adding to the absurd no defense stories of corporate many headed embarrassment, consider the recent suit filed by André Agassi of tennis fame against Target of bourgeois shopping fame. Apparently, Target, with its no doubt sizeable roster of in and outside counsel failed to clear the use of Agassi?s name on a pair of sandals that shipped to a variety of outlets...

Copyright's Fashion Makeover?

Posted on September 08, 2007
W&M partner Olivera Medenica has been covering Congress? recent attempt to give Copyright a stylish makeover for the fashion industry. Knock offs long the bane of high fashion may get relief through a limited expansion of Copyright to fashion designs...

MONOPOLY NINJAS

Posted on August 08, 2007
The technology monopoly game is an interesting range of variations on a single theme, the preservation of control over a market commodity. Intuitively, this would mean control over a proprietary technology, perhaps through patent or trade secret. However, it can also take the form of monopoly/control over the boundaries of the public domain with regard to trademarks and copyright...

Search ?Flinch? in Google and You?ll Likely Get ?Microsoft? as Result #1

Posted on June 20, 2007
Apparently, Microsoft flinched at the prospect of a multibillion dollar Google legal team pushing the Netscape train through its front doors. Essentially, Vista repeated the Netscape play made by Microsoft with XP (Netscape complained that an integrated Internet explorer made it difficult if not impossible for users to install Netscape as their preferred web browser) by making it difficult for users to use Google?s desktop search software, which of course is non-native and third party...

Google Deja Vu at DOJ

Posted on June 12, 2007
The NY Times ran an interesting article on the apparently friendly stance the DOJ has taken towards Microsoft. The article compellingly outlines the shift in the DOJ's composition and tactics towards the now iconic antitrust ruling that nearly tore the software giant asunder...

Log on and Prosper

Posted on May 30, 2007
The chicken and the egg dilemma never looks as daunting as it does in the startup scenario. Where does the aspiring entrepreneur turn to for capital for a business that doesn't exist yet? How does he or she get past the look of sheer skepticism beaming from the face of the loan officer? The traditional routes for startup capital are exactly that, traditional...

A Harvard Education at DSL Prices

Posted on May 19, 2007
The players involved in emerging growth and venture capital often steer their ships by their gut and the light of the stars. The sure truth is that most don't have any monopoly on crystal balls and any discussion of "process" or methodology is thinly veiled marketing speak...

Mob Pyschonnectivity

Posted on May 02, 2007
Mob PyschonnectivityIt?s my new catchphrase (not a genius work I admit, but work with me). It refers to the now common occurrence of repetitive information deluge that begins on the corners of the net and becomes a trillion crows cawing to blot out the sky...

Advising e-Commerce Business Startups: A Crib Sheet Part II

Posted on April 19, 2007
W&M Partner, Olivera Medenica, recently penned an article for the e-Commerce Law & Strategy Newsletter, a publication geared for attorneys to advise their clients. We thought it might be helpful for the readers of this blog. This is the second part...

Advising e-Commerce Business Startups: A Crib Sheet

Posted on April 09, 2007
W&M Partner, Olivera Medenica, recently penned an article for the e-Commerce Law & Strategy Newsletter, a publication geared for attorneys to advise their clients. We thought it might be helpful for the readers of this blog. It is split into two parts...

Where?s my Wiki Pedigree?

Posted on March 09, 2007
If information is the reflection of a society that produces it, shouldn?t we spend some time gazing at the original? Apparently Wikipedia thinks so?now. The twists and gasps keep coming from Wikipedia, the world?s most famous online encyclopedia, oracle, and cyber soap opera...

Right of Publicity in the US a Franken-Mess

Posted on February 23, 2007
The ?right of publicity? in this country is a Frankenstein pastiche of state rules with unique and perverse interpretations abounding. The fact that other major intellectual property rights possess a federal scheme (trade secret as a contractual right notwithstanding), while rights to one?s own persona is a state?s issue is perplexing with a side of vexing...

Warning: Get Yo' Self a New TV

Posted on January 27, 2007
As HDTV becomes a reality, the reality of being forgotten in time by DTV will become apparent to those couch potatoes who buy analog only TV?s. Always vigilant against consumer terror, US Representatives Joe Barton (R-Texas), Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois), and Fred Upton (R-Michigan) have proposed a Surgeon General style sticker...

Freedom of Wiki--1st Amendment Skirmishes over Zyprexa Documents Leaks Online

Posted on January 15, 2007
On January 16, the Eastern District of New York will host the legal battle over the controversial prescription Drug Zyprexa and wiki users? First Amendment right of free speech. The battle revolves around the ?side effect? of an ongoing lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and how some documents, meant to be sealed by court order, found their way to various web servers and a wiki (www...

Kaiser Wahab to Speak on PPM's in Film on an Institute for International Film Financing (IIFF) Panel

Posted on December 19, 2006
Many apologies for the slow pace of entries. The end of the year has gripped all in the legal firmament of the city and I am struggling to free of myself of its many tendriled grasp. One bright spot, I will be giving a lecture on how Private Placement Memoranda work in the film industry...

Customs--Your Intellectual Property Angel at Our Nation's Border

Posted on November 24, 2006
Most businesses know the value of intellectual property, trademarks, service marks, trade names, patents, copyrights and trade secrets (?IP?). However few understand the interplay between those rights and the United States Customs Service and Border Protection Department?s ("Customs") role in enforcing those rights...

Representing the Fashion Client CLE

Posted on November 15, 2006
W&M Partner Olivera Medenica to be part of a CLE panel tonight on IP and business issues in fashion.Representing the Fashion ClientWednesday, November 15, 2006, 6:00 - 9:00PM Member Price: $125 Non-Member Price: $165 Intended Audience: Attorneys in all practice areas seeking to develop the skills necessary to represent their clients more effectively...

Compartmentalizing Risk with Entity Planning

Posted on October 17, 2006
Often clients are overly preoccupied about taxes they will save or incur as a result of a certain business structure, without giving thought as to how to allocate their operating liabilities. This is particularly true where a business operation consists of multiple locations and/or revenue streams...

Fashion Copyright Bill Analysis by WM Partner Published in National Law Journal

Posted on October 11, 2006
Olivera Medenica recently had an article on the impact of a pending Copyright bill on the commercial fashion world published in the National Law Journal. It is an excellent primer on the interplay (or lack thereof) of copyright and fashion in the United States...

Looking at DRM through a Non-CRAP Prism

Posted on September 20, 2006
The focus on digital rights management software not should be viewed only through the prism of greedy copyright owners playing digital dictator. True enough, there are numerous well founded gripes about the state of DRM and the patchwork of control mechanisms that frustrate and undermine the enjoyment of many a title (see ZDNET?s editor talk about DRM as ?CRAP...