I have been told a number of times by potential clients, "I have my investors in place." My heart drops when I hear this, because it often means that a resourceful creative (and usually young) entrepreneur has gone about fundraising improperly. The minute founders of a company seek outside investment (which is NOT the same as donation-based crowdfunding such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo), those founders are dealing with the exchange of "securities," and must conform to certain rules, or face potentially painful penalties.

She called as we finished dinner, and Caller ID told me she was calling from Northwestern University. I think her name was Natalie, but to be honest, I wasn't paying close attention, because I knew that she was calling to ask for money.

There's a popular belief in the startup world that a small business would be wise to launch an enterprise that is "narrow and deep" rather than "broad and shallow." In other words, if you are building, let's say, an app that tells you every time a fresh batch of bagels is available in one of New York's gazillion bagel shops (piping hot NY bagels are an art form), you don't want to start off in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx all at once.

It's been 6 months since "Mad Men" closed a chapter in television history, and I am still in mourning. The writers and producers, let alone the actors, left an indelible mark, especially with the show's primary through-line {spoiler alert}: a "nobody" named Dick Whitman stole his dead commanding officer's identity, and became Don Draper, a somebody.

Maybe it's karma. I have been posting a lot of articles about "life story rights" lately. Questions of copyright, trademark, rights of publicity and privacy seem to affect every film, play, and television series I advise. So maybe I shouldn't be surprised that there's some dude out there that's pretending to be me.

What do a Mets game, a Flying Rabbi, and a private part of Lenny Kravitz's anatomy have in common? Lawyers have had entirely too much latitude, without substantial consequence, in making legal claims on their behalf.

Creative people--entrepreneurs, artists, performers, innovators--so often feel themselves gagging when it comes down to signing contracts. And it's not surprising; what's creative or spontaneous or fun about contracts? Huh, absolutely nothing. But unlike war (Good God, y'all), contracts are good for a whole lot of reasons.

Amazon.com has a new way of paying creative writers publishing under its “kindle unlimited” label: by the page. Starting yesterday, July 1, “[u]nder the new payment method, you'll be paid for each page individual customers read of your book, the first time they read it.” This is an unusual metric, but one our very own law firm adopted at its inception, because, “pay per page” is an excellent approach to simplifying the concept of valuable consideration.

Jewelry design has become a popular entrepreneurial endeavor for artisans who have found a customer base hungry to display a love of creativity. Ironically, American law often seems to find many forms of jewelry design not particularly creative enough, as evidenced by a restrictive approach by the U.S. Copyright Office and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as well as federal courts. 

Photographer Arne Svenson had a Nikon super-telephoto lens. He liked to use that lens to take pictures of his New York City neighbors (including unclothed minors) in their apartments and turn the prints into an art exhibit almost as controversial as Mapplethorpe's in his heyday. And the First Department of New York's Appellate Division stated last week that Svenson's photography show broke no New York law and violated no regulation when he did just that. 

I didn't expect Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke to lose their case (to the tune of $7.4 million) for infringing on Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up."

Perhaps you have a new small business and think you can just "1099" some workers. So you decide to hire an independent contractor without talking to a lawyer. That might be a big mistake.

So you want to start up a restaurant--you have a place picked out, but you are also wise.  You know you can't go it alone. You have decided to hire an attorney to guide you through all of the potential pitfalls of restaurant management in New York.  What should you discuss with a lawyer?

 A cease and desist letter is one law firm's attempt to stop you from engaging in specific business practices. 

Indie filmmaking and production companies have drastically changed since the improvements of tech and the Internet. You can shoot an independent film in HD with a high-end DSLR and do your entire post-production on a laptop.  But even if you have the best line producer in New York, you still should have an idea of how to start up your very own independent film production company, with or without the guidance of a lawyer. 

Since the beginning of independent film, music, and theater, production companies have hired young high school and college-aged (and older) workers in search of "breaking into the industry," and have chosen to not pay them.  Those days of getting real work in exchange for credit (college or screen) seem to be disappearing.

How to copyright photos: a primer for photographers to file a copyright on their best shots, and how (sometimes with the help of a lawyer) to protect against copyright infringement.