Entertainment Law 2.0
by Nort Johnson
Hillel Frankel is
a prominent
entertainment
attorney based in Chicago.
His Company, The
Entertainment Law Office
P.C., has worked with many
well known musicians and
labels and covers all types
of entertainment law. SAM
thought we would throw
some questions at him
about getting a career kick
started in the entertainment
business.
SAM: You manage bands, artists, producers,
DJs and labels. What kind of advice could you
give an up start new band or artist today?
Frankel: You have to be your own business.
You have to make sure you’ve taken care of your
own copyrights, and that you own your own
recordings and you’ve registered them properly.
You have to set up your income streams—this
includes registration with ASCAP or BMI for
performance rights, and registration with
Sound Exchange for performance rights on the
mastering and recordings. Also, you have to
report to Sound Scan on recording sales, showby-
show and each piece sold on the net. You set
up your websites. You approach CD Baby, Sonic
Bids and other providers for digital distribution.
Then you market your music. In a sense the
music industry has become like any other
business. If you were going to have a vegetable
cart at the corner market, you have to have good
vegetables, you have to have an established
clientele, and win them over with your good
vegetables. At this point, it’s not about going
around and making good music and looking for
somebody to support you. It’s all about building
your own brand and sound--that is what it’s all
about now.”
SAM: What about checking to see if the name is
available? Trademarks and copyrights—things
like that?
Frankel: The easiest way to see if a band’s
name is available is to Google or search it on
the Internet. You can search it on the patent and
trademark website as well (uspto.gov). When you
are there, you go to trademarks and then use the
search function and that’s a simple search. There
are more complicated searches, but they really
require that you know trademark regulations
because the search is a description and it gets
a lot more complicated that’s why you should
have an entertainment attorney do it.
The name of the artist or the band is what you
want to protect. The processes of that are pretty
complicated so I highly recommend seeking
legal counsel. It takes about a year and there
are all sorts of pitfalls in regard to registration.
You can apply on line but unless you word it
properly, with the right classification, you are
going to have your application disqualified.
Whether it’s online or on paper and it takes
the trade mark office about six months to get
to reviewing your application because there’s
so many trademarks being applied for at one
time. If, six months from now, when they finally
review your application, they determine that
it wasn’t done properly then you’re back
to square one. In the mean time, you have
no protection and some one
else might come along
and grab your band
lose the name, time and your filing fee which is
not cheap. The filing fees are $325 per class. For
a band that’s filing in the performance market,
t-shirt market and a recording market, it can be
as much as $975.”
SAM: What about getting a record deal? Is that
realistic?
Frankel: At this point, I would encourage
an artist to set up their own label first. Unless
you’re doing sales of 5000 or more or have a
huge touring base, it’s hard to imagine an indie
or major label coming in and getting involved.
Set up a boutique label. You can make the label
name the same as the band name if you want.
Release the record, start selling at shows, on the
net and it’s very important to keep a record of
your sales. Maybe go into some independent
record stores and put it in on consignment, sell
online and sell digitally.
SAM: How do you get your CD in stores? Is it
realistic as an independent artist?
Frankel: There are fewer independent
distribution companies than ever before and it’s
harder to get paid from them than ever before. If
they have trouble getting paid from their clients
(the stores), they’re not going to pay you. Most
of my clients that have independent distribution,
unless they’re selling in numbers in the
thousands, will never get in the black because
the distribution companies have fees, service
charges, return fees and marketing charges.
They may sell 1500 CDs in the stores but they
will see no money for the CDs they sell. If they
sold 500 online at $10 a piece, that’s $5000,
but if they sold 1500 through a distributor,
they probably wouldn’t see a dime. With the
demise of Tower Records and some of the other
key chains, it’s much harder now. You have to
go into the big box stores to sell any kinds of
numbers and there’s a lot of money involved in
setting that up. To see an independent product
in a big box store, it’s almost unheard of. There’s
only so much space in those stores and all of
it is eaten up by the majors. The days of doing
in-stores (Live performances in the store) at the
independent chains are over. That use to be a
valuable way to promote independent releases.
SAM: How would you suggest looking for a
good entertainment attorney?
Frankel: It doesn’t matter where you live in
the US, just look at the website for the attorney
and see what he has done and who he has
worked with. They need not be located in the
same state you are in. If it’s another country, the
UK for instance, I would advise getting a barrister
because they know the laws of that country and they could work in with your US attorney.
Most US attorneys have colleagues in other countries
they have either worked with and both probably
have contacts that you will never have.”
For more information: Do a search for
Musicians Rights.
| Hillel Frankel (Frankie) - CEO / Arts and Entertainment Attorney | |
 |
Experience Entertainment Law – Representing record labels, artists, performers, managers, producers and talent buyers. Recording contract negotiation on behalf of artists and labels, preparation of joint venture and partnership agreements between entertainment entities, negotiation and preparation of artists Performance/Touring contracts, management contracts, producer contracts, publishing contracts, song writing contracts, foreign licensing agreements, publishing and master Use licensing for TV and film. Representing artists and record companies at international music conferences including the MIDEM music conference in Cannes, France and the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin Texas. Internet Law - Negotiate and draft cutting edge agreements involving streaming and downloading music, film and other media. Negotiate and prepare Internet licensing agreements for writers, publishers, labels and artists. Negotiate and draft e-commerce contracts for the sale of goods and services. Counsel entertainment entities and Internet start-ups on a wide range of Internet issues. Intellectual Property – Filing of Trademark and Copyright applications as well as successful advocacy and litigation on behalf of applicants and clients applying for and defending registered marks. Negotiate and draft agreements involving the purchase, sale and licensing of intellectual property. Negotiate sample licenses, defend, prosecute and successfully promote resolutions on a variety of music sampling issues. Litigation – Litigate in Federal Court on behalf of copyright owners. Litigate in Chancery Court on behalf of artists and labels with legitimate contract claims. Litigate in State Court on behalf artists and entertainment entities with accounting and collection issues. Regular court appearances on behalf of clients including first and second chair trial experience, as well as experience in all manners of contested motions. Record Label Representation – Acting house counsel for EsNtion Records, NoVo Records and O.I.E Records. Responsible for overseeing all manner of legal negotiations and drafting of related contracts and licensing agreements. Acting in-house counsel and label manager for Internal Bass Records America, UK based label responsible for the release of Down To The Bone and other top rated jazz acts. As label manager responsible for the promotion and distribution of all product as well as hands on participation in artist development and A&R. Executive and creative director of various compilation albums and Internet music ventures. Professional Musical Experience: Adjunct Professor/Lecturor: Taught Entertainment Law 2000-2002 DePaul College of Law. Numerous lectures on entertainment and copyright issues. Panel moderator at Winter Music Conference and other select music conferences. |
Editors note: Nort Johnson has 30+ years in the music industry working for some of the world's top artists.
He has worked in production management, tour management, artist management, live sound, lighting and teaching. He is a music industry journalist and is Minister of Networking for L2P Network.
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Some helpful sites include:
You can obtain links at:
www.entertainmentattorney.com
www.sonicbids.com
www.L2Pnet.com
You Can also contact Hillel Frankel. at
The Entertainment Law Office,P.C.,
208 S. LaSalle Suite #1400,
Chicago, IL.60604.
Tel: 312-641-5300
Fax: 312-641-5301.
web site: www.ent-law.net