Thinking About Writing a Book?

While most of you know that my passion is music and entertainment, a lot of you do not know that I like to write as well. I have been told by several people that I should take my vivid dreams, eventful life, and inspiring thoughts of wisdom and put them on paper for others to enjoy.

I know you are probably wondering why I am talking about my love of writing on a blog about music and entertainment. The reason I wanted to address this is that there is a lot of money to be made in the world of literature—especially for musicians. They already have a musical following and writing a book could potentially open the door for musicians to reach reluctant readers and readers who would not normally read books from R&B and Hip-Hop artists.

If you are interested in publishing a fiction book, a children’s book, or interested in publishing any other genre, there are certain steps that you must conduct before shopping your book to different literary agents and publishers.

The first step is to make sure to complete your manuscript. There is no way to be able to secure a literary agent without providing them a point of reference. Trying to shop an unfinished manuscript is unprofessional and makes you, the author look unreliable. A key step in the publishing process is to refrain from sending unsolicited works. An unsolicited work is work sent without being referred from an agent or attorney. Most unsolicited works are not taken seriously and receive an “unaccepted” response.

Another step to take when trying to shop around for literary agents is to submit a query letter. A query letter is a letter sent to a literary agent (who specializes in the genre you write) asking for a chance for them to review your manuscript. The query letter could be compared to a resume’s cover letter—it gives the literary agent background information about the work you are trying to shop, information about yourself, and it requests a chance for you to submit a few chapters of your manuscript if they like what they read.  If they are interested, you can look forward to meeting with them to have an interview and have them read a few pages, sections, or chapters of your book.

I hope that this blog post has been interesting and informative and good luck in finding the perfect literary agent!

The Weeknd is Finally Here!

People, who know me, know that I am a huge Weeknd fan. I have all of his mixtapes, that were on his website available for free download and I attended his concert in Atlanta, which was EXCELLENT! The Canadian singer of Ethiopian descent has recently inked a deal with Universal Republic Records to release a three- disk, 31- tracked album entitled, Trilogy. Trilogy is a re-release of Abel’s three mixtapes, House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence, with three unreleased tracks.

‘Twenty Eight’ is the first unreleased track featured on disc one, which happens to be House of Balloons. This track flows perfectly with the rest of the melancholy and drug-laced tracks of the first mixtape. This track is about a woman The Weeknd found in the club and regretfully invited to his place. He falls for her and he wishes he had left her where he found her because she belongs to someone else. Although there aren’t any vocal surprises on this song, I give this song 4 out of 5 stars.

The second unreleased track, ‘Valerie’, is about the relationship he has with a woman who doesn’t trust him because of his infidelity. Instead of her leaving and being alone, she would rather pretend she trusts him and continue the relationship. Lyrics,

“There comes a time in a man’s life

He must take responsibility

For the choices he has made,
There are certain things that he must do

Things he must say

Like I love you…and nobody is going to know if it’s true,”

alerts the listener that Abel realizes he’s being mature about the situation, but he’s telling the woman he loves her—not something he necessarily means or believes, but something she wants to hear. I really like this song and I give this track 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The last new song on Trilogy, is the track entitled ‘Til Dawn (Here Comes the Sun).’ Unlike the song, ‘Valerie,’ where Abel talks about him cheating, ‘Til Dawn’ recounts moments of The Weeknd being the “other guy” and him being okay with it. This song gets 4.5 stars as well.

Even though I already own the three mixtapes, I had to buy this album because of the three added tracks and because it’s The Weeknd…everyone enjoys a three-disc/day weekend!

The Weeknd’s Trilogy was released on November 13, 2012.

Entertainment Law and How it Pertains to your Business

This week I had the pleasure of listening to three Entertainment Law podcasts by Entertainment Lawyers, Gordon Firemark and Tamera Bennett. As I listened to these podcasts, I noticed that most of the topics did not directly pertain to the type of business that I would like to start, but the laws are universal when dealing with matters of any entertainment business.

The first podcast I listened to was on 360 deals, rights of publicity, and more (Episode 29). The podcast featured stories about the different types of 360 record deals, digital sales of music versus physical music sales, and several other topics. The topic that really stood out to me was the case involving copyright termination.

Roger Miller was a singer/songwriter in the 60’s. He passed away in 1992 and his family sued Sony over ownership and royalties for his songs. The songs he wrote were released in 1964 because of the first 28 years of copyright. After 28 years, the copyright needed to be renewed and Roger Miller made sure he completed his trademark renewal before it lapsed. The twist in this story is that Miller passed away the last year of the copyright. In order for heirs to get ownership, the author of the copyright must live past the 28^th year of copyright. Higher courts ruled that Sony would possess his music, but the lower courts ruled that the family owned the rights of his music.

Although this pertains to copyrights with music royalties, my company also has copyrights to protect. I will have a company blog and songs available for song selection and if I allow the copyright to lapse, I run the risk of someone claiming the ownership of my music and domain name of my blog.

The second podcast I listened to focused on trademarks. Episode 33 entitled Cease and Desist, but nicely mentions a lawsuit between Eastland Music Group and Mandate Pictures. Eastland Music Group accused Mandate Pictures of trademark infringement. Eastland Music Group has been using the name Phifty50 since 2000 and believed that the movie “50/50” infringed on the trademark of their music company.

They were afraid that Mandate Pictures and Lionsgate Films would tarnish their reputation, goodwill, and would cause consumer confusion. The judge watched the movie about a 27-year-old diagnosed with cancer, and ruled that there was no way the movie would cause consumer confusion for Eastland Music Group’s usage of Phifty50 for business purposes.

The topic of trademarks and trademark infringement pertains to my business because it is a form of intellectual property (IP) I would like to protect. Registering my trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will help protect me from the possibility of trademark infringement and dilution.

The last podcast I listened to was entitled Publicity, Politicians, Godfathers, and more (Episode 34). In this podcast, there was an issue of defamation and a lawsuit filed by Steve Wynn against Joe Francis. Joe Francis had incurred a debt at one of Wynn’s Las Vegas Casinos. When Wynn sued Francis to collect the debt, he began receiving threats in and out of court along the lines of “being found in a hole in the desert.” Wynn sued for defamation and was awarded $40 million, which included punitive damages as well.

Defamation does not directly affect my business, but there is a possibility it could happen. Defamation could come from competition or jilted employees. To protect myself and my company from defamation, I could write a clause in my contract that outlines the possible punishment and repercussions if defamation was ever an issue.

I found the podcasts very beneficial to the creation of my company and I hope you found it informative as well. If you did not learn anything from the podcasts I mentioned above, I want you to remember to protect your intellectual property. Once your IP is gone, you may not get the chance to get it back.

Legal Matters in Entertainment

This month I decided to write a post about law and how it affects the entertainment industry. Below I have reviewed recent legal cases and I have given my opinion on them as well. The first case I reviewed is a case involving the late King of Pop and issues surrounding the ‘Thriller’ video. The second case involves the release of song lyrics through unauthorized websites and the last case involves the band No Doubt and Activision, the makers of the game Band Hero.

Case 1: Michael Jackson Estate Settles Dispute with ‘Thriller’ Director John Landis

Just in time for Halloween, I decided to dissect the case involving Michael Jackson’s estate and director John Landis. Michael Jackson’s estate has finally reached a deal regarding the 1983 music video for “Thriller.”  In 2009, Michael Jackson and his company were sued by John Landis and producer George Folsey Jr. for a $2.3 million debt for creating the music video for “Thriller.” There was also an adaptation of “Thriller” for musical theater that the three parties agreed on, but before the production was made, Michael Jackson passed away in June of the same year. The Nederlander Organization sued the estate because there was a breach of contract. Instead of following through with a musical production, Jackson’s estate gave Cirque de Soleil permission to create a production called Immortal, using Michael Jackson’s repertoire. Eventually both parties reached an agreement, which is listed as confidential.

I was a HUGE Michael Jackson fan, so I was very excited to read and dissect this case. I commend estate executors, John Branca and John McClain for making sure that debts were paid off. Since Michael Jackson’s death, the estate has paid off $500 million in debts. I was actually shocked that the parties came to an agreement, especially since the estate gave Cirque du Soleil the okay to create a production based on his music. This case has been a standout case to me especially when dealing with estates that are unwilling to pay their debts. This case ended with an amicable agreement between all three parties. Kudos!

Case 2: Music Publishers Win $6.6 Million in Song Lyrics Copyright Case

In this case involving song lyrics, music publishers won a $6.6 million lawsuit in a copyright infringement case against LiveUniverse, who also owns completalbumlyrics.com, lyricsandsongs.com, and lyricsdownload.com. LiveUniverse’s websites were found guilty of releasing lyrics to 528 songs from artists such as Ray Charles and Van Morrison. LiveUniverse’s founder, Brad Greenspan went to court and was given a preliminary injunction on the websites. On the other hand, the music publishers asked the judge for ownership of the lyrics websites and they won.

This case is a very important case because it relays the message that illegal lyrics websites will have a hard time winning a case involving the unlawful use of posting music lyrics. I believe the music publishers were right to sue Brad Greenspan, but I also think they should have been awarded more than $12,500 per song, but less than what they initially wanted--$100,000 per song.

Case 3: No Doubt, Activision Settle Lawsuit Over Avatars in ‘Band Hero’

In this case, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt finally settle a three-year old lawsuit against Activision—makers of the game, Band Hero. No Doubt entered an agreement with Activision agreeing that Band Hero could use their likeness in the video game. Activision not only used their likeness but they also went against what was agreed. Activision featured the band playing songs they had never played before and even went as far as having Gwen Stefani singing in a man’s voice, the Rolling Stone’s “Honky Tonk Woman.” After the lawsuit was filed, Activision claimed that they did not breach the contract because they exercised their First Amendment rights. The California court sided with the band because the video game company was wrong to depict the band as doing things the band wouldn’t normally do. On October 3, 2012, they settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount.

This case doesn’t necessarily affect the music industry per se, but it does involve musicians. I did not agree with Band Hero having Gwen Stefani singing a Rolling Stone’s song about “having sex with prostitutes,” but I do agree that video games should be able to use the likelihood of musicians in a tasteful manner that would typically depict what the artist would do on stage. 

What Child is This: Childish Gambino

So, I was doing my homework watching the 2012 BET Awards and a rap cypher came on. For those who aren’t familiar with that term, a rap cypher is basically a group of rappers taking turns supposedly “freestyling” over a continuous beat. In the cypher featuring Angel Haze, Joey Bada$$, Driicky Graham, Childish Gambino, and A$AP Rocky, there was one artist that stood out to me the most. His name is Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover. If the name Donald Glover sounds familiar, it is probably because you have seen him or know of some of his work.

Hailing from Stone Mountain, Georgia, Glover did not get his claim to fame as a rapper. Glover attended DeKalb School of the Arts and graduated from New York University with a degree in Dramatic Writing. In 2005, Glover was a writer for The Daily Show and from 2008 to 2009, wrote for the NBC hit series, 30 Rock, where he was awarded the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Series. Glover can currently be seen on the NBC show, Community as Troy, the ex-football star. When asked about his music career, Glover stated, “I knew that…people would find out I’m a comedian before they know I do music, but I’ve been doing music long before any of that.”

Then we meet Childish Gambino…

I find Childish Gambino an interesting person with a very interesting name. You’ll never guess how he received the name—through an online Wu-Tang Clan name generator. Pretty neat, huh? I checked my name in two Wu-Tang name generators and was given the names Grand Moff Puppeteer and Zexy Swami. I think I like the second one better, but I digress. Since stepping on the music scene, Gambino has had seven releases—four albums, two mixtapes, and an EP. So, what’s the difference between Childish Gambino and Donald Glover? Absolutely nothing. Gambino, or should I say Glover, uses his comedic writing skills and uses them in his lyrics as well. Lines like, “he on BET and he got white people problems like…whole foods doesn’t have the juice I like so I have to go to, you know…Trader Joes and have it shipped to me” are plays on his “black boy raised white boy” persona.

CAMP, Gambino’s first studio album was released November 2011 and premiered at #2 on iTunes. Gambino purposely delivered an album that was not your typical, in the streets, flaunting money, jewelry, and women, type album. He describes this album as a “partial race thing- like, ‘black people don’t camp.’ Going to camp is also when you experience real life away from your parents…plus I wanted to deal with the ‘if you’re not black enough, you’re gay’ thing.” CAMP is an excellent album that leaves listeners wanting more. I am officially a fan of Childish Gambino or Donald Glover—whatever you choose to call him.

Childish Gambino’s latest mixtape, Royalty, was released July 4.