Blog Archives
Blogger rights in defamation lawsuits
This week, lead attorney of the Bradley Legal Group, P.A., John F. Bradley, Esq., successfully argued the extension of media defendant rights to the blogosphere. Some cases in Florida have dealt with this issue before, but this issue is not yet well settled and under considerable debate. Under Florida law, before a plaintiff can bring [...]
Sweetwater Minute (part 2) – featuring John F. Bradley
Check out part 2 of the interview between Sweetwater Music’s Editorial Director, Mitch Gallagher, and lead attorney of the Bradley Legal Group, P.A., John Bradley, as they discuss various critical aspects of music copyright law. They cover the basics of publishing and protecting your music, as well as how to properly license music and samples [...]
Marilyn Monroe losses major Rights of Publicity litigation
Last month, the estate of Marilyn Monroe lost a major court case in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California in regards to the late actresses’ post-mortem rights as to her name, image, and likeness. As you may be aware, Marilyn Monroe is still extremely popular in modern culture and her estate [...]
How to set up a Talent Agency in Florida – Part 2
The second part of this blog series involves the on-going requirements of a talent agency once the agency is licensed. So now that you have set up shop, the next question is how to legally run your business as to comply with the laws of Florida and Florida’s Department of Business & Professional Regulation (FDBP). [...]
How to set up a Talent Agency in Florida – Part 1
In Florida, a talent agency is any person or entity that engages in the business of procuring or attempting to procure engagements for an “artist” for compensation. An artist is any person performing on a professional stage or in the production of television, radio, motion pictures, music, or modeling. In order to own, operate, solicit [...]
Single versus Compilation Copyright Filings
Filing a copyright is easy if you know what you are doing. Registration is accessible online via the United States Copyright Office, and currently the online filing fee is $35.00 USD for most works. For an introductory level discussion on this matter, there are two primary ways you can register: as a bulk compilation or [...]
What is a compulsory music license?
In the United States, Congress has enacted provisions to the Copyright Act which allows anyone to obtain a license to reproduce publicly distributed musical compositions without the consent of the Copyright holder. This is what is known as a compulsory mechanical license. The key words here are without the consent. A potential licensee does have [...]
Digital Music: Sale or License?
Historically, musicians have entered into recording contracts with record labels for the sale of music and publishing agreements with publishers for the licensing of music. When recordings are sold, musicians receive a percentage of the sale, and when a song is published, i.e. placed in a movie, tv commercial, etc, a musician receives a percentage [...]
Atlanta vs. Pixar: Trademark Battle over “Brave”
Pixar has recently released a new fantasy movie named “Brave.” Disney, who owns Pixar, is attempting to register a trademark in “Brave,” but is experiencing significant difficulty. First is the baseball team the Atlanta Braves. The Atlanta Braves currently do not have a trademark on the word Brave, that being the singular use of “Braves.” [...]
Qualifying for DMCA Safe Harbor Protection
Much has been said recently about the qualifications of a website receiving “safe harbor” protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Receiving this protection is vital for any start up user generated content website, because the typical layout for this type of website is that a user uploads the content where the user may upload [...]