Finding Harmony: What Musicians Can Teach Lawyers About Business Negotiations
A jazz pianist, an Appalachian fiddler, a saxophonist, a dream-grunge artist, a folk singer-songwriter, and a choral director walk onto a stage. It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but that's pretty much what happened at Strathmore's recent Artists in Residence concert. Although the musicians came from different backgrounds but found a way to create something amazing.
Their collaboration resembled what business and transactional attorneys should do. The other party in a negotiation shouldn’t be viewed as an adversary but rather, as a business partner-to-be. The focus should be on building relationships and finding common ground. And sometimes, that means making compromises so that everyone gets what they need for a win-win result.
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Contract Termination – Planning for the End in Advance
When the Beatles broke up in 1970, their shared business interests didn't end. And there were years of litigation defining how that would work.
Whether you're forming a band, entering a commercial lease, or starting a business, ending the relationship doesn't necessarily end the legal obligations. Income, bills, intellectual property rights, and other rights and responsibilities can continue long after business partners go their separate ways.
A well-drafted contract shouldn't just address how a relationship begins. It also should address what happens when it ends. There are standard contracts, but there aren't standard business relationships. Customized business planning while everyone is getting along can prevent expensive disputes later.
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New Montgomery County Law Prohibits Rent-Setting Algorithms
Your music playlist and your apartment rent have more in common than meets the eye because both often are determined using algorithms.
Montgomery County, Maryland, recently joined a growing number of jurisdictions restricting rent-setting algorithms. As these laws take effect, landlords may find themselves basing rents on their own old-fashioned market surveys, secret shoppers, and knowledge of the local market.
While algorithms can provide quick answers, they aren’t always the best answers. Playlist algorithms may impede a listener who wants to explore new artists and genres, and rent-setting algorithms may violate antitrust laws and are increasingly being outlawed outright.
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How the American Music Tourism Act Could Affect the Music Industry
Bobby Troup’s 1946 hit “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” helped make an American highway a tourist destination in its own right. The recently passed American Tourism Act is designed to give music tourism a similar boost by encouraging travel to concerts, festivals, museums, and other music destinations across the country. More visitors could mean bigger audiences and increased revenues for musicians and venues, as well as more business for adjacent hotels, restaurants, and other tourism-business.
However, the Act provides no additional funding for music organizations. Nor is there a no clear way to measure the Act's success.
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AI or SI – What’s in a Name?
Led Zeppelin transformed Howlin’ Wolf’s Killing Floor into The Lemon Song, leading to a copyright dispute centered the extent to which Howlin' Wolf's creative work remained. According to the US Copyright Office when AI is used the question instead becomes "How much human creativity exists?" A recent Executive Order replacing “Artificial Intelligence” (AI) with “Super Intelligence” (SI) in federal executive communications may seem just to involve semantics since it doesn't change copyright law. However, words influence perceptions. If the EO's terminology takes hold, calling the technology SI could encourage us to treat it as an extension of instead of a substitute for human creativity.
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Leaving Nevermore Behind -How to Work Effectively With Your Attorney
A raven’s disturbingly fixed stare at a coffee shop brings up thoughts of Edgar Allan Poe's poem and Alan Parsons Project’s music. In both the poem and the song, refrain of "nevermore" drones on incessantly without regard to what’s going on around it. Some clients take a "nevermore" approach when dealing with their attorneys. They research an issue, perhaps ask AI for a contract draft, or use a standard form and ask an attorney to approve it. But standard forms and AI can produce "standard" results, and most business relationships aren't standard. It's the attorney who adds the art and experience necessary to create a customized solution that creates a solution that meets the client’s goals.
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When Private Eyes Add Private Ears
With doorbell and security cameras seeming to be everywhere, the possibility of them recording conversations and events without proper consent has increased. Audio recording in particular can raise serious legal issues under wiretapping laws which can impose large fines and jail time for violations. These laws vary from state-to-state, and frequently, providing notice that someone may be recorded isn't sufficient. Before enabling audio recording businesses, property owners, and individuals should understand what they can -- and can't -- legally record. Read our blog to learn when “private eyes” can become legally risky “private ears.”
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Signed and Delivered -- but not Sealed
Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” isn’t about the seals that live in the ocean. Although the song is about committing to a romantic relationship, it also sounds like something an attorney might write about a contracting party. Long before people routinely signed their names to legal documents, wealthy landowners, nobles, churches, and other institutions used seals to show that a document was authentic. Stating that a document is signed “under seal” might seem anachronistic, and often that language is ignored. But it shouldn't be. Read our blog to learn how signing under seal can dramatically affect a party's legal rights and obligations and why it usually isn't advisable.
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Dolly Parton – a Role Model for Artists and Businesses Alike
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 businesses, as well as musicians, can learn from Parton’s example as she sustained a 60-year career while remaining true to her roots, values, and brand.
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Businesses Must Comply with Copyright Law When Playing Recorded Music
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 before using recorded music at their establishments.
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