Legal Advice For the Emerging Artist

This week I had the pleasure to speak with the entertainment lawyer, Galen Hair, about different liabilities and legal issues that affect the music industry. Galen Hair is a partner at Varadi, Hair & Checki, LLC located in New Orleans, Louisiana, practicing in the areas of entertainment law, contract, torts, and more. Hair graduated from Tulane’s University Law School and received his Bachelor of Music from Boston University College of Fine Arts.

In our discussion we talked about a few things that an emerging artist and new indie labels need to do to avoid any legal problems in the future.

First, as an artist, you want to cover yourself so you must copyright all the material as soon as possible. A lot of artists put this task off and then fall into the situation that someone has used their music and they were not compensated for the use. In the Hip-Hop industry alone, there have been many incidents of people stealing music from others. So to avoid that, copyright your music especially if you know it is a hit.

Secondly, record labels should protect themselves from any legal issues by applying for trademarks. The company should have trademark protection on the company’s name, logo, and slogan. Having each of these intellectual properties trademark protected will make you the sole owner of those properties and negate others from using them. If a situation occurs with another company using your property, having proper legal planning and protection in place, your legal team in most cases can end a dispute with a cease and desist letter threating to sue.

We also discussed the importance of contracts and the many issues that can form if not properly reviewed. Issues concerning royalties, licenses, and 3^rd party distributions are areas that could be avoided ahead of time.  Contracts between record labels and artists are often at the center of it all in court cases between the two parties. Having an entertainment lawyer to review all contracts can help spot potential problems in the contract and make suggestions that work out for both parties.

In closing, our discussion ended on the topic on what an artist should look for when searching for an entertainment lawyer. The three factors to consider in your pursuit are cost, experience, and locality. Most emerging artists do not have the money to afford lawyers like those of Jay-Z, so you must find lawyers that are within your budget. Cost and experience are the two factors that go hand in hand, the greater the experience, the higher the price their time will be. Locality is important if the client is the type of person who prefers in office face to face meetings.   

The Legal Liabilities in Hip-Hop

           For the emerging hip-hop artist, a sure way to harm your career before it begins is to fall into legal issues about your music. Legal issues come in a wide variety such as defamatory statements and being sued for infringement on other artists’ copyrighted material.  Legal issues such as those can turn into long drawn out court proceedings that usually leaves one of the parties with an enormous amount of debt and legal fees. Obtaining a good understanding of the laws and regulations will help save you from such frustrations.

            An artist who benefited by knowing the law and having legal representation in his copyright lawsuit case is the megastar Kanye West.  The copyright lawsuit was over his hit song "Stronger" from his 3rd album Graduation. The lawsuit filed by Virginia producer, Vincent Peters claimed that Kanye West stole a portion of the lyrics from his song of the same name. The lyrics were based on 19th century German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche's idiom "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." The courts agreed with Kanye West's claim that the famous phrase has been repeatedly used in song lyrics over the past century. The court noted at the time Kelly Clarkson was atop of the Hot 100 Peak Billboard with her song Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You).

Photo Courtesy of www.lawsuitloanlending.com

         
The hip-hop star, Pitbull, was another artist who recently won a lawsuit about his music. Eccentric actress, Lindsay Lohan, sued the rapper for lyrics that she allegedly felt were defamatory and disparaging. She claimed that the lyrics “Hustlers move aside, so I'm tiptoein', to keep flowin'/ I got it locked up like Lindsay Lohan" was also causing emotional distress. The New York federal judge ruled that Pitbull's song was a work of art and thus protected under the First Amendment, and did not cause any emotional distress to the actress.

          A hip-hop artist that was not as fortunate in recent legal matters is Mac Miller. Lord Finesse sued Mac Miller and Rostrum Records for $10 million, for their use of his 1995 song “Hip 2 Da Game” for their own record called “Kool-Aid and Frozen Pizza.” According to Lord Finesse, Miller and company publicly performed and distributed the material without Finesse’s consent.  It is common knowledge in the hip-hop industry that artists would use popular hit songs, replace the original lyrics with their own, and distribute the song on their mixtapes; a clear violation of copyright law. Mac Miller unfortunately decided to settle out of court for an undisclosed amount. This case may revolutionize the way hip-hop artists go about creating mixtapes in the future.

             So to the emerging hip-hop star, be observant of the material you use, and learn about the different laws and regulations that may apply to this industry. Take the time out to study and learn the laws so that you may avoid any legal ramifications.  The knowledge should prove to be useful to know as you go ahead throughout your career.

Raz Simone "Sometimes I Don't" Official Music Video

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis aren't the only ones making great music out of Seattle. Here is Raz Simone's latest song/video 'Sometimes I Don't' featuring Sam Lachow. This song will appear on his upcoming EP Solomon Samuel Simone which will be available for free download on March 19th. Raz and Sam are pretty familiar with working with each other. They previously released their hit joint project 5 Good Reasons in 2012. 

Hoodie Allen's Crew Cuts [Free Album]

Photo Courtesy of lyricsmusic.name

Hoodie Allen’s highly anticipated free album, Crew Cuts, is now available. If you never heard of Hoodie Allen or didn’t listen to his previous EP All American, you are missing out on a young talented artist who is turning heads and making waves within the music industry. Hoodie Allen is a gifted individual that has witty wordplay and even funnier punch lines whenever he is performing.  

For fans, Crew Cuts is a picture-perfect introduction into the chaotic, cake-filled, and the sometimes taken seriously life of Hoodie Allen. Crew Cuts features known artists such as Shwayze, featured on Wave Goodbye, and Chiddy Bang, who is featured on the single Fame is for A*****es.

Hoodie Allen, born Steven Markowtiz, started rapping when he was a young child in New York. While attending the University of Pennsylvania, Hoodie met producer RFJ at an Alpha Epsilon Pi frat party. The duo would release the albums, Bagels & Beats and Making Waves; and go on to win MTV’s Best Music on Campus Award in 2009. Hoodie went on to release several successful mixtapes such as Pep Rally and Leap Year.

Hoodie Allen was on a collision course with success with tough decisions to make on the horizon. Hoodie became a full time rapper after leaving his ad sales team job at Google following the critically acclaimed success of his single You Are Not a Robot. The song sampled Marina and the Diamonds’ hit song, I Am Not a Robot. Hoodie went on to make his first official music video to the breakout song.

Since the breakout song, Hoodie toured across America and performed with notable acts such as Mike Posner, Chiddy Bang, Das Racist, and more. During that time, he also completed and released his debut EP, All American.

Currently, Hoodie is preparing himself for a 28-city tour that starts next month in Pittsburgh, PA. So be sure to mark your calendar for this artist.

Big K.R.I.T. - Gettin' Mine ft. Rhapsody and Heather Victoria

Big K.R.I.T. looks to continue to deliver good music in 2013 by releasing the new single “Gettin’ Mine”. The new single features 9^th Wonder’s protégé, fellow hip-hop artist Rhapsody, and the smooth vocals from Heather Victoria. "Gettin’ Mine" is a laid back track that brings the two strong emcees together on a track.

Big K.R.I.T. is the remarkable hip-hop artist from Meridian, Mississippi, who in 2011 introduced the hip-hop industry with the classic mixtape “4Eva N a Day”, and in 2012 the self produced album “Live From the Underground.” The mixtape, “4Eva N a Day”, was ranked as one of the best mixtapes of the year only behind Joey Bada$$’s “1999” mixtape, according to the popular web magazine Hip-Hop DX.

What makes Big K.R.I.T. such an amazing artist? It is his captivating approach to creating music. He has the ability to paint visual pictures in your head with his lyrics. His southern vernacular is also a plus.

Photo Courtesy of blogs.tennessean.com 

Regardless if you agree or disagree, Big K.R.I.T. is a true artist that the rest of the hip-hop community will have to respect. David Banner, the first major hip-hop artist out of Mississippi, already gave K.R.I.T. his stamp of approval. With an interview with MTV, Banner describes his relationship with the young emcee and how close they really are. 

Hip-hop artists are noticing the talent from the young man. Notable artists such as Ludacris, T.I, Bun B, DJ Khaled, and more have already reached out to the young artist for features. The most noteworthy artist to hail praises and work with the young man is legendary Jazz musician B.B. King. B.B. King collaborated with K.R.I.T. on the track “Praying Man,” which is featured on the Live From the Underground album.

2013 will be another great year for the emcee. He is expecting to release his latest mixtape, “King Remembered In Time”, and quite possibly another album later this year. K.R.I.T. has announced already that the upcoming projects will not be completely self-produced, but feature the production from Mike WiLL Made it. 

Joey Bada$$ - Unorthodox (prod. by Dj Premier)

Photo Courtesy of Donutsandmilk.com

Joey Bada$$ is back at it again with his latest single “Unorthodox.” If you haven’t heard of Joey Bada$$ you are missing out on some of the best hip-hop music that today has to offer. Already being compared to legendary MC’s such as Nas, Big L, and the late Biggie Smalls, it’s hard to imagine that Joey just turned 18 years old.

2012 was a breakout year for the young MC. He released his highly anticipated mixtape 1999, which did not disappoint. 1999 was regarded as 2012’s best mixtape of the year, according to HipHopDX, beating out popular tapes like BIG K.R.I.T.’s 4eva N a Day and Meek Mills’ Dreamchasers 2.

What does 2013 have in store for Joey? Only time will tell but with hints of signing with the Roc (Roc Nation) in his verse on “1 Train” on A$AP Rocky’s album LongLiveA$AP, the future will be full of opportunities for the rising hip-hop artist.