Legal Liabilities in Entertainment Business

In the first podcast I reviewed entitled IP Law Concentration, Professor Andrew Beckerman-Rodau discussed various aspects of intellectual property.  He discussed topics such as: patent law, trade secrets, copyright law, etc.  The part of intellectual property that applied directly to my business was the part about copyright law.  Since I am opening up my own dance studio, there will be many artistic works that I need to protect.  Andrew touched on many benefits of getting your work copyrighted.  He explained how once you create your work, it automatically has a right to protection, but it just needs to be registered in case someone attempts to steal the work.  He also mentioned that there are very minimal costs when registering your work and that it is not difficult to do at all.  From this podcast, I took away a lot of information on intellectual property.  I know that once I start up my company, that I will need to have protection on all of my original works and I will need to ensure that anything in my business that I want protected will need to be registered properly.

In the second podcast I reviewed entitled A Seminar in Copyright Law with Entertainment Lawyer Greg Eveline, Greg discusses all of the aspects of copyright law and how it applies to artists.  He discusses the performance rights agencies and what they do, the benefits of a copyright, etc.  In the podcast, he compares copyrights to property rights.  He says that owning the copyright to your work is like owning your home; property is property and it should be equally protected.  He stresses and emphasizes the importance of protecting your works.  He also goes on to talk about First Right of First Use.  When he is discussing this topic, he is referring to musicians, but I can apply this to my dancers.  When they record their performances at my studio, no one else should have the right to use their performances in any way.  This podcast ties back into the fact that I need to protect my works.  Learning about copyright law now will help me protect any and all works I do in the future concerning my studio.

In the third and final podcast I reviewed entitled Whitney Broussard: Entertainment Lawyer withSelverne, Manelbaum, and Mintz, Whitney discusses many aspects of the music industry and the legal issues and struggles that the artists have to face.  One issue that caught my attention was when he was discussing the longevity of an artist’s career and their copyrights.  He talks about how if an artist really wants to pursue a long-term career that they should keep all of their copyrights because they will last longer than the artist.  This applies to my business because at some point, I would like for my studio to partner with a talent agency so the dancers have an opportunity to be managed once they have completed their training.  This information will help me aid my dancers in their careers, especially when they become big stars.

Legal Controversies in the Entertainment Industry

The first legal controversy I’m going to discuss is one about Prince.  Apparently Prince hired the law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Taylor to handle all of his financial responsibilities for him, but then he turned around and didn’t even pay them for the services that they had provided to him.  He owes his lawyers over $700,000, but failure to pay that debt resulted in the firm filing a lawsuit against him in order to obtain that money from him.  In my personal opinion, Prince obviously has more than enough money to pay the law firm, so I believe he should just pay it.  They did a service for him and made his life easier, so he should respond in-kind and at least pay them what they are owed for their services.

The next legal controversy is regarding the group P.O.D.  The record label that P.O.D. is signed to, INO Records, had agreed to pay the group an advance in the amount of $400,000 prior to their next album.  INO failed to pay the group their advance because they felt as if P.O.D. hadn’t met their obligations to the label.  Since this was a direct breach of contract, P.O.D. is suing INO for at least the $400,000, and they will go from there.  I believe that INO should pay what they owe P.O.D.   When there is a contract/agreement involved in any matter, both parties should hold up to their end of the deal.  The article didn’t mention the details of the obligations that the group failed to live up to, so I’m a little on the fence about the issue, but at the same time, their contract did include an advance and it wasn’t paid.  I’m a firm believer of doing things by the book and in this case, INO needs to pay up.

The last controversy that I am going to discuss involves Nicki Minaj and her show, My Time Now.  When filming, they asked one of the street drummers that appeared in their shots if they could air the footage that they had taken of him and he refused.  MTV decided to air the footage despite the street drummer’s lack of consent and now he is suing both MTV and Viacom for the damages to his reputation and appearance.  Besides being a street drummer, he also teaches kids how to drum and his reputation is one for teaching children the good kind of music and not what is portrayed on T.V.  Nicki Minaj doesn’t represent what he is trying to teach his students, therefore, he didn’t want to be apart of the show.  When it was all said and done, he simply wanted to be compensated for the footage they took of him because they damaged his reputation and his business simultaneously.  If I were the street drummer, I would have done the exact same thing.  My morals and values come before any fame or spotlight and if I was trying to do something positive that involved young, impressionable children, then I wouldn’t want to tarnish their view of me either.

Ms. Gibson in the Flesh

Upon looking at one of my favorite websites, Boomkack.com, I learned a lot about my favorite dancer in the industry, Laurieann Gibson.  She is not only an inspiration to me, but to many, many struggling artists, dancers, and performers.  She has come a long way in her dancing career, and now she has moved into the choreographer/creative director title.  She has choreographed many famous dances and she has worked with many famous artists from all over.  Making it to the title of choreographer was a feat in itself, but now she’s directing, and that’s definitely not a small feat.  She has directed videos for big name artists such as, Keri Hilson, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry.  She has done some acting, such as when she played a part in “Honey” with Jessica Alba, and she’s even done some work with Spike Lee.  Ms. Gibson has really been all over the map.  She has taken her talents and really pushed them into another league.  Now, after reviewing the website, I have gotten a much better insight into the life of Laurieann Gibson.  The site goes into great detail about her life in her biography and it also includes all of the work that she has done over the years.  It includes the television shows that she has worked on, such as Born to Dance, the Dance Scene, and her up and coming show, Dream Warriors.  The site gives me an even better glimpse into her life by having videos up of the music videos she has worked on and clips from the shows she has worked on as well.  Before really diving into this website, I didn’t know all that much about Ms. Gibson, besides the fact that she is a world renowned dancer and choreographer, but now I know just how extensive her career is and how famous she really is.

Negotiating in Business

The title of the first podcast I watched was “Entrepreneurship – Part 7: Negotiation”.  The speaker was Jake with The Voluntary Life.  The first concept he covered was the importance of writing everything down in a negotiation.  He believes that negotiations will be more fluid the more you write down so you have an account of everything that happened in the meeting.  He also discussed how important it is to state how you conduct business up front, so there is no miscommunication later.  Laying everything out on the table in the beginning of the negotiation is imperative.  This particular podcast discusses the BATNA as well.  Jake believes that your BATNA is effective in the event that the negotiation fails.  He referred to Getting to Yes when he said, “What determines the fundamental dynamics of a negotiation is your BATNA”. (Jake, The Voluntary Life) He goes on to discuss other topics such as, objective standards and win-win agreements.  What I took away from the podcast was that having a BATNA is critical in a negotiation. I will apply this in my future negotiations in my career by always having a backup plan just in case things to go as planned in my business.

            In the second podcast, entitled “Hardball Negotiating Tactics: Why They Work &How They Can Fail So Badly”, speaker Max Factor III, Esq., Factor Meditation & Arbitration, discusses topics relevant to the ones we’ve discussed in class.  He brings up persuasion tactics, psychological tactics, etc.  One thing that stood out to me was when Mr. Factor said, “One of the top recommended tactics to get a confession was to exploit a relationship of trust by being a good guy when you find out an emotional weakness of an individual, while the other person is on the other side of the issue…you can get them to say exactly what you want.” (Max Factor III, Esq., Factor Meditation & Arbitration) This is one of the interrogation tactics that police use when negotiating with criminals; the good guy bad guy routine.  This is one of the dirty tricks that can be used in a negotiation and Mr. Factor really lays it all out.  I learned that hardball tactics can be effective if that is how you like to negotiate, but if not, then use the best tactics that work for you without compromising your morals and values.  I will apply this style of negotiating in my future business only as a last resort.  I like to be fairer in negotiations rather than use psychological tactics, lies, or pressure to get what I want.

            The last podcast I watched was called “How to Negotiate So Everyone Wins,Especially You” and it relates to mutual benefit.  The speaker, Ronald M. Shapiro, discussed topics such as, getting what you want out of a negotiation, but still keeping good relationships, being concerned about the clients’ needs by listening, and the 3 P’s: Prepare, Probe, & Propose.  He also wrote a book entitled, The Power of Nice: How to Negotiate So Everyone Wins – Especially You!  During the video, Ronald asks this really great question, “Are there ways, when we’re dealing with conflict and we’re dealing with differences between people that we can come up with something that is not of great value, but it is important to someone and allows us to resolve something?” (Ronald M. Shapiro) I thoroughly enjoyed that question because he looks beyond facts and figures in a negotiation and really looks at the underlying interests of both parties and goes after those.  I learned a lot from this podcast, like how important it is to ensure that both parties, no matter what, benefit from the negotiation and that someone’s underlying interests can be more important, at times, than just the numbers and the money.  I will definitely take advice from Ronald in my future business affairs by ensuring that I’m being fair in all of my dealings with people in my business and that mutual gain is always achieved in any and all negotiations.

Financing the Dance: Part II

In order for me to truly pursue opening up and running a successful dance studio, I need a solid financial plan.  I need to break down all of the financial aspects of running a studio and put the numbers down on paper.  I would start with an income statement and then move on to a balance sheet.  An income statement “is like a motion picture: It shows what has happened during the accounting period with regard to the revenues (income) and expenditures (expenses) of the business.” (Entrepreneurial Finance, pg. 65)  This will help me budget my company’s money in a responsible manner that will ensure longevity of my business.  On a typical income statement, you have things such as: gross sales, cost of goods sold, and operating expenses.  Your gross sales are basically just the money you make off of the sales of your product or service.  Your cost of goods sold is the money you spend on acquiring the goods that you plan on selling.  Lastly, your operating expenses are all of the costs you have to pay for in order to run your business efficiently.  Some of these expenses may include: salaries, rent, and utilities.  The importance of having my income statement filled out and ready to go is so I can know exactly how much money my studio is bringing in and how much money is going out.  Keeping a record of all of my business expenses and revenue is critical to the vitality of my company.

            Now, a balance sheet is also very critical.  A balance sheet, also known as “the statement of financial position, lists all assets and liabilities.  It is like a snapshot taken at an instant in time.” (Entrepreneurial Finance, pg. 71) This gives me a record of all of the aspects of my company that are of value and all that are risks.  In the case of building my studio, being knowledgeable of everything that holds value and everything that poses a potential risk is extremely critical to the longevity and success of my business.

Source:

Adelman, P. J., & Marks, A. M. (1997). Financial Management and Planning. Entrepreneurial finance: finance for small business (5th ed., pp. 65, 66, 71). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Financing the Dance: Part I

To finance the dance studio that I want to open post graduation, I will need to start with a critical management function, strategic planning.  To start, “planning is a systematic process that takes us from some current state to some future desired state.” (Entrepreneurial Finance, pg. 30)  My current state is at level 1, brainstorming and doing the groundwork and paperwork to start up my company.  It is going to take a lot of planning over a lot of time to grow my business and get it to my future desired state.  Now, I need to get into the specific form of planning that I am going to implement and that is strategic planning.  “Strategic planning involves establishing an overall plan for the business.” (Entrepreneurial Finance, pg. 30)  I will need to take my two and a half years of entertainment business education and draw up a very detailed, in-depth business plan to get me to owning a very successful dance studio. 

            My next step is to decide which type of ownership I would like to possess.  I need to decide between a sole proprietorship, a partnership (general or limited), a corporation (C or S), or a limited liability company (LLC).  Upon researching all of the different types of ownership, I have decided to start up a LLC.  A LLC “is a hybrid business entity having features of both partnerships and corporations.” (Entrepreneurial Finance, pg. 41)  It is “taxed as a partnership, has limited liability for its owners, and has flow through income and losses to individual owner’s tax returns.” (Entrepreneurial Finance, pg. 41)  Also, “the business income is accounted for on each ‘member’s’ individual income tax filing.” (Entrepreneurial Finance, pg. 41)  Past the definition of a LLC, it also has some major advantages.  These advantages include: “limited liability, eliminating double taxation, no restriction on number or type of owners, and it is easier to raise additional capital”. (Entrepreneurial Finance, pg. 42)  Now, out of all of the forms of ownership, a LLC has the fewest number of disadvantages.  The two main disadvantages of a LLC are: “limited life and transfer of ownership difficulties”. (Entrepreneurial Finance, pg. 42) 

On top of my research, my father is also an entrepreneur and he recently switched from a corporation to a LLC, so that somewhat influenced my decision as well.  He is a very intelligent man with a great business sense and a very lucrative, successful business.  He has inspired me to become an entrepreneur and he is the motivation I have to pursue my dreams!

Source:

Adelman, P. J., & Marks, A. M. (1997). Financial Management and Planning. Entrepreneurial finance: finance for small business (5th ed., pp. 30, 33-42). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

National Dance Association

The National Dance Association promotes dance education and focuses on health and reaches out to people of all ages.  Their vision/mission statement is: “The National Dance Association envisions a society where dance and dance education are an integral part of education and community life.  The National Dance Association (NDA/AAHPERD) leads in promoting and supporting creative, artistic, and healthy lifestyles through quality services and programs in dance and dance education.” (American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreating and Dance, 2013) NDA has various educational programs and services.  They have the National Dance Honor Society, The National Dance Educator of the Year Workshops, Author Workshops, Let’s Move in School-Let’s Dance! Workshops, Page-to-Stage Workshops, Pedagogy Conferences, Dance Technology Conferences, Steps to the Future Workshop, PIPEline: Teaching Dance in Physical Education, Arts Advocacy Day, Continuing Education Units, The Choreography Evaluation Project, and Dance Education in America Exhibit.  They have also won numerous awards, such as: the Heritage Award, the NDA Scholar/Artist, Dance Educators of the Year, Student Awards, and the Student Literary Award.  This association is important to my industry because they educate people on how great dance really is.  They also inform people on how healthy and fun dance can be, which is very important, especially to children.  They promote and get the word out about dance education and they really narrow in on how important it is to have dance in the curriculum and to stay healthy.  They help my industry by creating healthier, more educated dancers.