I have been thinking of the idea of creating a regulating agency or organization that would provide a certification for managers in the music industry.
Currently anyone can assert they are a “manager” in the business and that is a scary thought. There is no type of training or certification required for people to call themselves “managers”. I believe that some type of regulating agency/organization would help protect artists while granting managers credibility and integrity to the profession. Also, the organization would be beneficial to record companies and other parties that interact with management.
This organization could provide programs for certification to managers. It could also create a ratings system for management companies. Artists could use this information to determine whether to hire a manager or sign onto a management company for representation.
The main advantage of this organization would be to reduce the number of people posing as managers who scam artists and take advantage of their vulnerabilities.
I believe there are plenty of these scams out there… My goal is to research those cases and look to see how realistic a remedy this idea may be….
I am currently a law student at Barry University School of Law and enrolled in the Entertainment Law class. Issues discussed in this blog are inspired by the lecture and discussions from class. A link to Professor Randazza’s class blog is available on this page.
The motivation behind my decision to create the blog was due to my experience working in the entertainment industry. As an Operations manager at a music management company I was able to see how some of the issues we’ve discussed in class can influence an artist’s career. I believe it is important for an artist and manager to be PROACTIVE and understand the potential impact these legal issues can have on their work.
One good tip for artists who want to learn about the good and the bad about the music biz is to READ “ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MUSIC BUSINESS.” by Donald Passman. It is an easy read and will help a artist to be proactive in their career development.
I want to be clear that I am a law student and not an attorney and this information is not posted as legal advice.
1. Copyright –
- KNOW the purpose of COPYRIGHT law!!
- Why copyright?
- How do you tell if your work is infringed?
- Look to see whether the person had access to the copyrighted work and for substantial similarity…
- The Fair Use defense to Copyright
- Fair use doctrine §107 – 1976 Copyright Act – the fair use of a copyrighted work… for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching…, scholarship, or research,” is not an infringement of copyrighting.
- 4 Factors to determine whether something is fair use:
- The purpose and character of the use-whether it is for commercial use or nonprofit educational purposes.
- The nature of the copyrighted work
- The amount and the substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work
- The effect of the use on the potential market for or of value to the copyrighted work: court stated the most important element of fair use.
- (the fact the work is unpublished should not in and of itself bar a finding of “fair use” based on consideration of all the other relevant factors)
2. Trademark -
What is a trademark?
- any word, name, symbol or device of any combination thereof
- Used, or intended to be used, in commerce
- To distinguish the trademark owner’s goods, from those of another
I will update the list as I go through the issues in class… Look for real world examples of the impact of copyright and trademark issues in future posts…
