Can I Get Startup Investment from Not-So-Rich People?

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Can I Get Startup Investment from Not-So-Rich People?

I have been told a number of times by potential clients, "I have my investors in place." My heart drops when I hear this, because it often means that a resourceful creative (and usually young) entrepreneur has gone about fundraising improperly. The minute founders of a company seek outside investment (which is NOT the same as donation-based crowdfunding such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo), those founders are dealing with the exchange of "securities," and must conform to certain rules, or face potentially painful penalties.

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The Gift of Gratitude, or "In Defense of Facebook Part 2"

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The Gift of Gratitude, or "In Defense of Facebook Part 2"

There's a popular belief in the startup world that a small business would be wise to launch an enterprise that is "narrow and deep" rather than "broad and shallow." In other words, if you are building, let's say, an app that tells you every time a fresh batch of bagels is available in one of New York's gazillion bagel shops (piping hot NY bagels are an art form), you don't want to start off in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx all at once.

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What If My "Dick Whitman" is AI? (I Am Not Okay With That)

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What If My "Dick Whitman" is AI? (I Am Not Okay With That)

It's been 6 months since "Mad Men" closed a chapter in television history, and I am still in mourning. The writers and producers, let alone the actors, left an indelible mark, especially with the show's primary through-line {spoiler alert}: a "nobody" named Dick Whitman stole his dead commanding officer's identity, and became Don Draper, a somebody.

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Some Guy is Pretending to be Me, and I'm Okay with That... For Now.

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Some Guy is Pretending to be Me, and I'm Okay with That... For Now.

Maybe it's karma. I have been posting a lot of articles about "life story rights" lately. Questions of copyright, trademark, rights of publicity and privacy seem to affect every film, play, and television series I advise. So maybe I shouldn't be surprised that there's some dude out there that's pretending to be me.

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Your Life Isn't Protected by Copyright (and Neither is Lenny Kravitz's Junk)

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Your Life Isn't Protected by Copyright (and Neither is Lenny Kravitz's Junk)

What do a Mets game, a Flying Rabbi, and a private part of Lenny Kravitz's anatomy have in common? Lawyers have had entirely too much latitude, without substantial consequence, in making legal claims on their behalf.

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Hey, Creative People, Contracts are Good for You!

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Hey, Creative People, Contracts are Good for You!

Creative people--entrepreneurs, artists, performers, innovators--so often feel themselves gagging when it comes down to signing contracts. And it's not surprising; what's creative or spontaneous or fun about contracts? Huh, absolutely nothing. But unlike war (Good God, y'all), contracts are good for a whole lot of reasons.

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"Pay Per Page" is the New (in the) Black

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"Pay Per Page" is the New (in the) Black

Amazon.com has a new way of paying creative writers publishing under its “kindle unlimited” label: by the page. Starting yesterday, July 1, “[u]nder the new payment method, you'll be paid for each page individual customers read of your book, the first time they read it.” This is an unusual metric, but one our very own law firm adopted at its inception, because, “pay per page” is an excellent approach to simplifying the concept of valuable consideration.

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The Great Jewelry Design Ripoff

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The Great Jewelry Design Ripoff

Jewelry design has become a popular entrepreneurial endeavor for artisans who have found a customer base hungry to display a love of creativity. Ironically, American law often seems to find many forms of jewelry design not particularly creative enough, as evidenced by a restrictive approach by the U.S. Copyright Office and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as well as federal courts. 

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New York's Creepiest Photography Breaks No Law... But Artists Shouldn't Celebrate Yet

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New York's Creepiest Photography Breaks No Law... But Artists Shouldn't Celebrate Yet

Photographer Arne Svenson had a Nikon super-telephoto lens. He liked to use that lens to take pictures of his New York City neighbors (including unclothed minors) in their apartments and turn the prints into an art exhibit almost as controversial as Mapplethorpe's in his heyday. And the First Department of New York's Appellate Division stated last week that Svenson's photography show broke no New York law and violated no regulation when he did just that. 

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You're Opening A Restaurant In NY and Need to Talk to a Lawyer...

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You're Opening A Restaurant In NY and Need to Talk to a Lawyer...

So you want to start up a restaurant--you have a place picked out, but you are also wise.  You know you can't go it alone. You have decided to hire an attorney to guide you through all of the potential pitfalls of restaurant management in New York.  What should you discuss with a lawyer?

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How to Start Up an Independent Film Production Company (or Have Your Lawyer Do It)

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How to Start Up an Independent Film Production Company (or Have Your Lawyer Do It)

Indie filmmaking and production companies have drastically changed since the improvements of tech and the Internet. You can shoot an independent film in HD with a high-end DSLR and do your entire post-production on a laptop.  But even if you have the best line producer in New York, you still should have an idea of how to start up your very own independent film production company, with or without the guidance of a lawyer. 

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Your Unpaid Internship for That Production Assistant is Probably Illegal

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Your Unpaid Internship for That Production Assistant is Probably Illegal

Since the beginning of independent film, music, and theater, production companies have hired young high school and college-aged (and older) workers in search of "breaking into the industry," and have chosen to not pay them.  Those days of getting real work in exchange for credit (college or screen) seem to be disappearing.

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Tech Lawyers Argue Over Copyright And App Developers Wait... 3 Reasons You Should Care

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Tech Lawyers Argue Over Copyright And App Developers Wait... 3 Reasons You Should Care

App developers hire an attorney not to be an engineer but, instead, to be a translator and a guide, hungry to  learn everything necessary from that client to be the best lawyer possible for that app developer.  It is a lawyer's job to take the reins and put himself or herself in the shoes of the tech entrepreneur.

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Mompreneurship 101 From a Lawyer's Perspective

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Mompreneurship 101 From a Lawyer's Perspective

The boom in startup small business has led to a meteoric rise in entrepreneur moms (and dads) creating something out of nothing but a great idea.  A great idea is just the seed of the business; the flowering tree requires a mompreneur or dadpreneur to pay great attention to many details, including the legal implications of launching such a business.

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