Protection, Protection, Protection… The Way To Stay Lawsuit Free!!!

When starting, and managing a business it is important to ensure you are protected in every aspect of the business. It’s important to protect your name, your trademark, your patent, and copyright your work. You must also ensure you are not stealing anyone else’s work, trademark, or using anything close to their name. By ensuring you are straight with all of these aspects your company will not endure the process of being sued by people or other companies. I have learned of three legal concerns that I need to take care of before starting my career in the entertainment industry. These are a few real life examples the three legal concerns.

Getting Permission To Use Work

In 2007, a British soul singer named Des’ree sued Beyonce Knowles for failure to get permission to semi-cover the song “I’m Kissing You” and Beyonce used her version of the song on her deluxe version of the B’Day album. The lawsuit claimed that representatives from Columbia records tried but failed to finalize a deal to get clearance on the song (Diver, 2007). In this lawsuit Des’ree was looking for the distribution of the song to be stopped and $150,000 in damages.

Here is a video of the two singing the song:

As a screenwriter and director wanting to start my own production company I must ensure that I obtain permission before I rewrite a screenplay, or use a song in my film. This agreement must be obtained in writing before I begin to do any work.

Trademark Infringement

Lady Gaga is suing a company called Covent Garden for wanting to sell ice cream made with human breast milk and calling it Baby Gaga. The legal documents that were drawn up by Lady Gaga’s lawyers states that the product is nausea-inducing and intended to take advantage of her reputation and goodwill. The company is also accused of riding the coattails of Lady Gaga because they used a waitress dressed like the pop star to serve the product (Trademark Infringement, 2011).

 When reading about this case it makes you wonder what can you trademark, and it seems like you can trademark anything from web pages, packaging, décor, even the color you use in your logo. New companies must be aware of other company trademarks to ensure they do not copy their trademarks.

Breach of Contract

Jack Nicholson sued producer Mark Canton for a $1.2 million loan that was done in 2002. Mr. Canton took out a 1.5 million dollar loan with City National Bank for 1.5 million. The Mr. Nicholson agreed guarantee and also pledged certain collateral to ensure repayment (Belloni, 2009). When the due date came for the loan Mr. Canton could not pay, and Mr. Nicholson paid the bank loan for Mr. Canton and entered and agreement with him to repay Mr. Nicholson by July 2008 plus 8% interest (Belloni, 2009).  As of September 2008 Mr. Canton has only paid $1,781.27 and the remaining balance is $1,200,000 in principal and $48,000 in interest. The deal also includes that Mr. Canton is to give Mr. Nicholon 50% of any producing fees or profit participation fees he receives. Mr Canton still has not lived up to any of his promises, which is why Mr. Nicholson is suing him.

It is important to never breach any contracts because you may have to pay back more than what you owe.  Breaching contracts is not only wrong, but also unethical in the business world. When a contract is drawn up, all of the details are expected to be met in a timely manner. Although life occurrences do happen, it is not the norm. These occurrences should not happen consistently.

Anonymous (2007) Dueling Divas- Beyonce and Des’ree http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlGi5VX7SmA

Anonymous (2007) Trademark Infringement: Lady Gaga Sues Covent Garden Shop Over ‘Baby Gaga’ Flavour Human Breast Ice Cream Retrieved on May 3, 2011 from http://fashionentlaw.com/music-law/trademark-infringement-lady-gaga-sues-covent-garden-shop-over-‘baby-gaga’-flavour-human-breast-ice-cream/

Belloni, M. (2009) Jack Nicholson Sues Producer Mark Canton To Collect $1.2 Million Loan http://reporter.blogs.com/thresq/2009/04/jack-nicholson-sues-producer-mark-canton-to-collect-12-million-loan.html

Diver, M. (2007) Des’ree versus Beyonce: Cover Was Never Cleared. Retrieved on May 3, 2011 from http://drownedinsound.com/news/1881557