California Entertainment Legal Questions

You need to look at your contract with Direct TV. The terms may prohibit service at a site where the general public can view it, even if they are not actually viewing it. Copyright law prohibits public display, which occurs in the following circumstances: (i) when the display is at a place open to the public; (ii) when the display is at a place with a group of people larger than a gathering of family or the normal circle of friends; (iii) when the display is transmitted to a place open to the public or a group of people larger than a gather of family or the normal circle of friends; or (iv) where the display is transmitted to the public (i.e., television and radio broadcasts).... Read More

First, it sounds as if you are talking about registering a trademark, not a copyright. You register a trademark with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. You may want to register as both goods AND services. You may register for audio and video recordings that are offered under that stage name as goods. You may also want to register for entertainment services. ... Read More

You should not use other people's creative works without their permission. You could be violating their copyright. Here, you would be copying and making a derivative work of their work. Both of those actions are rights the original author has under their copyright. While there are some First Amendment rights if you want to do it for artistic purposes and not commercial purposes. However, if you intend to use it for commercial purposes, including selling it as a piece of artwork, you need to have the permission of the owner of the copyright in the original album cover. ... Read More

You cannot use other people's creative works without permission. Whether you could get sued depends on whether the owner of the rights in the work gave authorization for people to use his/her work. Here you have copied and made a derivative work of someone's else's picture. Someone owns the copyright in that picture which includes the right to make copies and make derivative works. Sometimes people indicate that the work can be freely used by others, such as on a stock photo site, but that is rarely the case. You should consider getting a photograph you know that you have permission to use. ... Read More

BMI is a performing rights society and only pays royalties for radio airplay and other sources that actually play the music, but it does not pay royalties for sales of songs or albums. Check to see what your agreement with the label says about you getting paid royalties for album sales. Regardless, you almost certainly will face a big issue getting royalties for sales that were made earlier to the applicable statute of limitations. You would have to figure out the legal theory you would sue, then figure out the state, then determine its statute of limitations. ... Read More

It depends. Do you want the whole world to know you wrote this song? Generally yes. Do you only want the money? Generally no. If your plans are to give your music away free, you do not need to copyright your work. You do not need to speak to an attorney. If you are giving your music or ideas to anyone in the entertainment industry for any other reason, you should first talk to an attorney.... Read More