7 Legal Trends for Artists and Entrepreneurs from 2015

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7 Legal Trends for Artists and Entrepreneurs from 2015

The end of a year is a time to reflect on the changes in our lives, and that holds true for the life of American law, which often struggles to keep up with technology. From the arrival of new forms of, and new uses for, social media (iTunes App Store favorites Periscope and Meerkat, with Facebook bringing the competition) to the envelope-pushing of artists and photographers, law related to art and entrepreneurship is in as much a state of flux as it has ever been.

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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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The Life Time Fitness Camp Contract is All That's Wrong With Lawyers in America

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The Life Time Fitness Camp Contract is All That's Wrong With Lawyers in America

Life Time is a model of customer service. And the setup they have for the kids is pretty incredible: a whole long row of computers, a tree house, an indoor basketball court, and a staff of well-trained child care professionals. Life Time Fitness doubles as a wonderful daycare facility, too, which is the real reason I joined. So, of course, I wanted to enroll my kids for a few weeks in their day camp. But I am not sure if I will. Because of one contract clause that makes my blood boil.

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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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