Important Legal Stuff

A business plan is a business owner’s privileged and confidential original work.  Reverencing the intimacy of a business plan, I’d like to share some specific legal knowledge and how it generally applies to a business plan. 

In his podcast, An Overview of Intellectual Property Law, (2010) Stanley Sokoloff of Blakely, Sokoloff, Taylor, and Zafman, explains the importance of trademarks, copyrights, and patents.  He explains that trademarks are usually slogans, commercial origins and identifications.  These are words, symbols or slogans.  Sokoloff explains that copyrights are tools of artistic expression (books, painting, music, software, etc.).  Lastly, he explains the use of patents; both functional and design.  Both keep others from selling an original invention.  Sokoloff gives a fantastic example of the three intellectual properties side-by-side.  His example was explained through a television.  The TV’s trademark protection would apply to the TV’s brand.  The TV’s copyright would be associated with the shows or content of the shows that are aired on the TV.  The design patents would protect the physical invention and make-up of the TV.  Each intellectual property registration is essential to the make-up of a business plan as they individually protect the inventions, creativity, and distribution of the final product.    

Fair use.  The simplest term for permission being granted by the original creator to a user of the original work.  Simple, yes.  But often forgotten.  In Episode 32 of the Entertainment Law Update Podcast by Gordon Firemark (2012), Firemark discusses FunnyJunk vs. The Oatmeal.  Matthew Inman, creator of The Oatmeal (a website full of comics), filed suit against FunnyJunk (A public website where users upload funny madness) for infringement.  Inman says FunnyJunk didn’t have permission to use The Oatmeal’s comics.  Inman was right.  This case raised questions about fair use and was unique in showing how a heap of drawn-out-drama can be avoided simply by seeking permission to use copy-written work.    To protect intellectual property or gain any future restitution on potential infringement, it is recommended that original works be registered at the United States Copyright Office as part of a business plan.

A business plan absolutely must contain some degree of protection of original works and business creatives in a business plan.  There are different types of legal protection, though.  In Deciding Between Patent and Trade Secrets Protection (2009), Professor Andres Beckerman-Rodau explains that there are only certain subject matters that are eligible for patent protection.  Examples of these eligibilities are things like (1) a process or way of doing something, (2) machines, (3) a manufacture or modification of something (through human intervention), or (4) a composition of matter.  When building a business plan, it is important to identify which subject matter category your patent work falls under.  Early identification will make building a business model and writing a business plan clear and more concise. 

Christian Controversies

Christian entertainment.  The Law.  Two completely opposite ends of the spectrum.  Unfortunately, the two ends meet at times.  In order to know how to manage them, it is first important to understand what the Bible says about Believers suing other Believers.  There is a fine line between frivolous charges that prove principle, and legitimate efforts that defend intellectual property.  1 Corinthians 6 (New International Reader’s Version) tells us not to take Believers to court.  In a nutshell, the Apostle Paul uses this passage to warn Christians about potential defamation that can happen to the church through legal rodeos.  But what about instances in which Christians are not initiating the legal smack down? 

Here are three controversies that have impacted the Christian entertainment industry:

Controversy #1:  The Talk of the Bourbon Night

Bars.  Strip clubs.  Liquor.  Cultural history.  This is a summary of New Orleans’ Bourbon Street.  It is the pulse of the city’s neighborhood, culture, and economic existence.  I’ve head these famous Mardi Gras blocks label the streets of the rebels.  Pretty soon, it may be illegal for evening evangelical escapades to happen in these streets ever again.  (Murashko, 2012)  The Christian Post (2012) recently reported the city of New Orleans has outlawed preaching at night on Bourbon Street.  (Murashko, 2012) 

Our duty as Believers is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout all nations.  As citizens of this fine nation, the First Amendment of the United States Constitution (freedom of speech) aids us with this duty.  Even with this right, we are still obligated to serve with respect and order.  God is a gentleman and He never forces himself on anyone.  As we are created in His image, so should our actions also be.  Freedom of speech should be given.  (And in this case it should absolutely be honored.)  But the respect of the non-Believers must be earned.

Controversy #2:  Movies and Mayhem

Egypt claims seven United States Christians has insulted the prophet Muhammad in a movie that allegedly slams Islam.  (Menzie, 2012).  The Christian Post reports that ruthless protests have broken out in the Middle East and North African nations as a result of a Christian minister and a few Egyptian Christians blaspheming an idol and its nation’s religious beliefs.  (Menzie, 2012).

Contrary to popular belief, contemptuous commentary of any religion is not entertainment.  In fact, it’s shameful.  The unorthodox approach to educate and reveal the minister’s and Egyptian Christians’ version of the Middle Eastern truth was morally antagonizing and opposite Christianity.

Controversy #3:  Christian Concerts and the Radio

LMG Concerts, a Christian concert promoter filed a lawsuit against Salem Communications (responsible for much of Portland’s radio airwaves) for being greedy with the airwaves.  LMG accuses Salem Communications of “monopolizing” the airwaves and cutting LMG off from opportunities to have fare dibs at promoting concerts and Christian entertainment events.  (Althoff, 2012)

Anything that interferes with one working hard to earn their bread and butter is much more than a down right shame.  It’s a violation of one’s human rights.  Article 23 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights argues that everyone has the right to earn money that is worthy of human dignity.  (United Nations, 2012) 

As Christian entertainment managers, our obligation extends past our commitments to our clients.  Our obligation rests, ultimately, with God.  Understanding and becoming good stewards of the laws that govern the territories we do business in is the first step to managing Christian entertainment justly.   

Co-Branding: The Big Picture

Co-Branding: The Big Picture

Christian Entertainment Branding 101

What is your brand?  Who tells you what your brand is?  Who manages your brand?  If you (as the artist, band, or entertainer) call yourself the “best ________ in the game”, will your followers grab ahold of that tag as your brand?  If only it were that easy…

Christian Entertainment Branding 101: you do not determine your brand.  Your followers determine your brand for you.  In his blog Personal Development for Smart People, Steve Pavlina explains the branding process as, “out of one’s control.”  Think about it.  You’re a Christian.  You perform “clean entertainment” with just enough edge to appeal to the secular industry.  Your goal is to set a trend that corrals Generation X into jumping aboard the movement of clean entertainment in hopes that you (as the Christian entertainer) will lead them to Christ.  You want the support of the Christian entertainment industry.  But what’s the problem?  You are capturing the attention of the secular industry.  Your “Christian act” has now branded you as a secular entertainer.  This artistic approach is not entirely wrong, though.  But if you’re attempting to have total support of Christian followers and the Christian entertainment sector, you’ll have to revisit what your main mission is and strategically set a plan on how to accomplish the mission.  Are you clearly spreading the message of Christ?

Phil Cooke wrote a blog entry called, The 10 Biggest Mistakes Made by Christians in Entertainment.  Wowsers, right?  I mean—get straight to the point, why don’t ya!  The entry is spot-on though.  Cooke doesn’t deny the Believer’s impact on the entertainment industry.    In fact, he completely supports my industry prospective that Christians have the duty of putting our personal thumbprints on the industry.  There should be no question that we are Believers with a deliberate attempt to shake the industry up.  Cooke’s concern, however, is the unprepared Christian that wants to make their mark on the industry.

Of the 10 mistakes Cooke addresses one that Christian entertainers habitually overlook: poor branding.  Cooke encourages Christian entertainers to know, understand, and comprehend the importance of branding.  It’ll either work for you or against you.  A brand is an influence.  Influences create perceptions.

At the end of the day, entertainers do not have the ability to create their brand.  Christian entertainers are no different.  They do, however, have total control over the way they influence their followers.  A film director cannot tell the viewer that the movie will be a great movie.  (No matter how much the director believes in their work.)  The viewer determines if the film was a good one, or not.  The director, can, however, direct the artistic aspect of the film and guide the actors to act with conviction.  Actors that act with certainty have the ability to influence viewers. 

An influenced follower can be the biggest mouthpiece for a Christian artist, band, or entertainment group.  How are you influencing your audience?  Are you clearly delivering the message you want your audience to leave with?  Are your followers now inspired to change?  How are you directing your brand?

Let's Make the Deal

Meet E. Condoleezza Wiseman.  This gal is good.  Her legal concentration in the entertainment industry makes for a catapulting advantage in the world of negotiation.  I sat down with Wiseman to chat a bit about her experience with deal making and negotiating. 

Moi: How do you separate the people from the problem when you are negotiating?

Wiseman: “I focus on the issue at hand and what each person hopes to benefit from it.  My goal here is to come to a meeting of the minds.  The issue and the person are not one in the same.  For example, I recently negotiated the comeback career of an opera house singer.  The opera house certainly wanted this (once a legend) artist back on its roster.  The singer thought she could request top dollar for her talent.  The opera house had been in strong negotiations with a potential new house artist who would have taken less money than the old performer.  I focused on the fact that the old performer’s reputable name would continuously sell out the opera house.  This would mean countless benefits could potentially come with the old performer’s loyal followers.  The question then became, ‘Is it worth it to the opera house?’  The answer?  Yes.  There were concessions in the contract relevant to sales and increased royalties.  The final result was great money for the opera house and a refreshed career for the opera singer.  Both parties met in the middle.  It was a mutual agreeable deal for both parties involved.” 

Moi: How do you handle positional bargaining tactics?

Wiseman: “Positional bargaining is one-dimensional.  It’s all about who gets the shorter end of the stick.  Although positional bargaining still focuses on the issue at hand, I highly recommend that negotiators avoid this route like the plague!  It’s adversarial and both parties tend to come to a standstill throughout the negotiating process.  Emotions get intertwined using this approach and both parties have a greater risk of showing their weakness.  Neither party is heard mutually.  Everyone has to give up something in order to meet in the middle.”

Moi: Can you give me an example of how you worked toward mutual benefit when you were negotiating a deal?

Wiseman:  “Sure.  I’ll give you a surface example.  I manage the career of a phenomenal runway model.  There’s an upcoming fashion week that wants my client.  As her manager, I know my job is to get my client money and notoriety.  I also have to keep her in front of industry masterminds.  This particular fashion week doesn’t really have the resources to pony over the dough, but it’s an incredible opportunity for my client.  To begin, I looked at what each party needed.  Next, I listed what each party could hope to gain.  My tactic was to look at the best way of addressing the each of their needs, line-by-line, until a negotiation was reached.”

Wiseman ended out conversation with a very important emphasis.  Negotiations develop—they don’t just happen.  Neither party is going to give up everything, and neither party one is going to win everything.  Wiseman highly recommends Hollywood Dealmaking:Negotiating Talent Agreements as a solid resource for entertainment negotiations. 

Christian Fashion Week

Here’s an incredible opportunity for high-end couture fashion designers to create collections for the Christian community.  A group of industry experts have teamed up in Tampa, FL this February to produce an event tailored to the Christian community.  It’s called Christian Fashion Week. 

National designers that exude their energy appealing to the established, mainstream fashion corners of the industry have been given the ultimate challenge to create clothing for the Christian community.  For Believers, this fashion-packed experience will define what beauty and fashion looks like—I mean really, really looks like, to those sophisticated saints.  (smile)   What does the two-day event entail?  Swimwear (for women, only), a VIP soiree, and lots-o-fashion rockin’ the runway.

The Christian Fashion Week dream team has teamed up with Model4Jesus for a VIP reception where every-day Believers can rub elbows (and a little bit of anointing) with industry big wigs from around the world.  Silent auctions, models, photographers—the perfect recipe for a little fashion runway masterpiece.

Doors open on Saturday, February 9, 2013 at 5PM.  Christian Fashion Week is the first of this annual caliber.  Members of the press (to include writers and bloggers) are welcome to cover the event.  Christian Fashion Week tickets are available online with early bird specials, (that guests should certainly take advantage of). 

So far, an event sponsor has not been named for the event.  (Here’s another fantastic opportunity for Christian-owned businesses and entrepreneurs to sow into the Kingdom.)  The fashion-istas (and fashionistos) have chosen Created as the official event beneficiary of which will receive a portion of the event’s proceeds.  Created disciples and advocates for vulnerable women involved in the sex industry.  This organization re-teaches women their value, beauty and destiny in Jesus Christ.

Christian Fashion Week is the perfect platform for ministry.  It’s like the national Christian fashion convention for the WIP the Runway Christian fashion tour.  The two mastermind-teams behind these two fashion ideas (Christian Fashion Week and WIP the Runway) are examples of what it looks like to intentionally let faith and belief in Jesus Christ shine through career and industry interests.  The pair are unashamed.  

BIG Money

Numbers, numbers, numbers—they’re as annoying as flies slamming into a glass window.  Even in the world of Christian entertainment, numbers still have relevancy.  Faith without works in dead (James 2:14-17).  In other words, mastering the art of Christian entertainment management does not mean loads of dinero falling from the skies to take care of all the money troubles.  Yes, yes, yes…believing and speaking plays an enormous roll in our faith as Believers and entrepreneurs, but there’s still some practical effort we have to employ.  Proactive faith versus passive faith.  (We’ll save that for another blog entry…)

Analyzing and forecasting gross sales, costs of goods sold, and net profit is a balancing act.  In fact—this is an area that requires an abundance of proactive faith.  Even with a strong business model to prevent failure, there are still some things that need to be done to multiply the opportunity for enormous success.

Take a fashion show, for example.  It’s not uncommon for organizations and charities to use fashion shows as fundraising means.  Lots of companies like to attach their names to charitable efforts.  After all—it’s cool, right?  Well…maybe.

But what about when you need to turn a huge profit for non-charitable event?  What do you do?  You can solicit donors, but chances are they’re much more interested in the charitable recognition.  Here’s where the number-noggins have to start moving.

A fashion show can be 100% profitable if there are investors (not to be confused with charitable donors).  A wise man once told me that in order to produce revenue-generating opportunities, you have to make your business commercially attractive.  Here are three ways to turn an event that needs to be 100% profitable into an opportunity for investors:

1.    Research investors that share the same target audience as your event. 

2.    Mildly assume that a potential investor is looking for a way to get face-to-face with its target audience in a concentrated area within a small block of time.  This is way more important to you as the solicitor because it takes most of the pressure off of pitching an opportunity that (you think) only has a 50/50 chance of being accepted.

3.    Explain the opportunity and illustrate how the opportunity can be a marketing advantage to the investor.

Easy-peasy, right.  Not so much. This approach does; however, alleviate some of the stress and worry involved in finding a company or organization to fund your event.  Go ahead…try it.