I can hear the late Casey Kasem’s lead in on Top 40 right now: “At number 9 this week is a city that is more well known for producing top ten hits from country artists than for reaching the top ten itself: Coming in one spot above Rome, Nashville is no. 9 on Lonely Planet’s […]
For many years now, I have represented Freddie May in his various endeavors, including his production company Starpath Productions. About 10 years ago, Freddie started working with a young female artist living in rural Kentucky, Anne Marie Riney. Ann Marie had a passion for electronic dance music. Drawing from his experience as a DJ in […]
We just put the finishing touches on my great client, Sammy Mitchell’s, exclusive co-publishing deal with Jackie Boyz/Razor & Tie Music Publishing joint venture. The partnership between Jackie Boyz (the Grammy-award winning songwriting/producing team of Battey brothers) and Razor & Tie was formed at the end of 2014 for the purpose of developing fresh new […]
You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. As it does every year, this new year marks a new beginning. I plan to continue my Twitter series entitled #creativity, so if you don’t already, follow me there @bshrum, or on any of the social networking platforms. However, […]
[E]very man has a property in his own person. This nobody has any right to but himself. The labour of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his….”[1] John Locke – a political and social philosopher of 17th Century Enlightenment England and the father of “Classical Liberalism” – was […]
By Samantha Jervey* When Walt Disney decided to personally license the image of Mickey Mouse in 1929, he had no idea that he would start a licensing revolution.[1] This deliberate act made by Walt is what ultimately laid the foundation for his company, thus bringing to life what is now known today as Disney Consumer […]
Since taking over Mary Beth Peters as Register of Copyrights in 2011, Maria Pallante has been listening and responding to the concerns of a number of her constituents, particularly those in the music industry, and it most certainly shows. In the last few months, several pieces of work product have been delivered by the Copyright […]
My associate, John Inniger, does a nice job of covering the basics of the Thicke/Williams litigation against the estate of Marvin Gaye in this LOR post. But since a jury verdict in favor of the Gaye Estate rendered a $7.1M verdict earlier this month, the social media and blogosphere has been abuzz with commentary pro and con on […]
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams spent 2013 on the top of the charts with their hit Blurred Lines, but due to allegations of copyright infringement suit leveled by the children of legendary singer Marvin Gaye they also spent much of 2014 in a court proceedings. And did they put on a show. The saga began […]
As people say goodbye to the December holidays and begin planning their goals for a new year, many considering starting a new business in order to be their own boss and start down the road to financial independence. So, if you plan on starting up a new venture in 2015, you will likely have questions […]