Advice from Entertainment Lawyers: James Hertz

Yesterday, I had the privilege to interview Orlando based entertainment lawyer,

 James Hertz. Hertz who has lengthy experience in law and entertainment participated in a little Q and A about his background as well as some legal advice for my business, a video production company.

Q: How long have you been in the entertainment business

A: 13 plus years

Q: Where did you get your degree?

A: The John Marshall Law School Chicago, IL

Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Intellectual Property (1997)

St. Thomas University School of Law Miami, FL

Juries Doctor (J.D.) (1996)

Woodbury University, Burbank, CA

Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) (Finance) (2000)

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (B.S.B.A.) (1990)

Q: How can I protect my business from legal issues?

A: Having the proper contracts and legal forms.  Having the proper business entity (LLC).  Protecting intellectual property and goodwill of business through trademark, copyrights.

Q: The company I have is a video production company what advice can you give that will increase the companies chances of success in the industry

A: Do-good work.  Network constantly.  Have lunches with or make introductions to key players in the industry.  Of course marketing is key as well.

Q: As a video production company how can I protect myself from liabilities?

A: See answer to 3.

Q: What legal advice can you give a video production company?

A: See answer to 3.

Q: What methods can the company take to avoid infringement and other illegal issues?

A: See answer to 3.  Also, be aware of inadvertently catching third party trademarks and copyrights in productions.  Make sue you have proper releases and clearances for every production.  Make sure you have proper work for hire agreements.

The advice Hertz gave will help me prevent liabilities and common mistakes made in the entertainment industry. I know I’m on the right track because several things Mr. Hertz has mention I have been taught in my adv. law class. What I have cleared from the interview is that you most always get clearances for others work but to be careful of those who do not have the authority to give you that permission. I want to thank James Hertz for his time and advice that will stay with me forever.

For more information on James Hertz and how to contact him go to: 

http://www.hetzandjones.com/

References:

Hertzandjones.com

Legal Advice from the Expert

Gordan Firemark a lawyer out of California provides a monthly podcast on www.entertainmentlawupdate.com. Whenever I have questions or even need free legal advise about the entertainment industry I flood this site. Although the topics of discussion are random they apply to common topics in different industry of entertainment. In episode eight, Mr. Firemark touched upon trade infringement. Apparently, Google will be releasing a new phone called “Nexus one,” a claim has been dropped from an author who used the name “ Nexus six,” in his published book. The discussion actually opened my eyes to a lot, and at that particular moment I realized people would sue pretty much for anything. Mr. Firemark went on to break down the potential case giving legitimate reasoning for why the plaintiff in the case mostly would not being. 

The term Nexus was only used once in the plaintiff’s book and the cell phone provider is in no way using the term in the same light as used in the book. While Mr. Firemark goes in- depth about the pros and cons he eventually gives his opinion stating the plaintiff had no case. This type of discussion can be applied to my business just as the discussion in episode number 17. In episode 17 Fire mark discussed a case involving potential copyright infringement. This incident is something all music composers should watch for because something that seems so incident and harmless could cause uproar. A young man created a song from tweets that Kayne West tweeted and actually preformed the song on a late night show. Although the young man was never tried in court Firemark makes a valid point when implying a potential case. He explains that if Kanye or Twitter tried to sue the young man could argue fair use and parody. 

He explains why throughout the podcast but cautions the listener to be careful. The young man could argue parody because the content of the song was comical, references random Kayne tweets. He could argue fair use Firemark explains because the attention was not to confuse or tarnish Kayne name or image. The song was created for pure fun and entertainment.  This is why I tune and to get my daily dosage of legal advice because you never know when a situation may occur in the entertainment when some of the podcast you hear may come into play, sense the entertainment industry is filled with con artist. In a final podcast that was my favorite since it relates directly to what I do Firemark brings up the issues in a copyright infringement case that left songwriters with 47.5 million dollars. In a case that involved Sony Canada the songwriter were awarded the millions of dollars after it was found that Sony had reproduced thousands of copies of the writer music without their consent. As a songwriter this is something I will stay aware of because release un-licensed productions can lead to a road of unwanted problems. Firemark explains that licensing and clearance needs to be received before other can use it for profit or any other reason.

References

www.entertainmentlawupdate.com.

thebillablehour.com