Rule of law

 I have learned that the new use patent does not cover sampling because when you sample you are now copying and distributing copies to the public. This can cause harm financially to the copyright owner. There is also a chance that you took a larger amount of the originals work.  “Fair use is the right to copy a portion of a copyrighted work without permission because your use is for a limited purpose, such as for educational use in a classroom or to comment upon, criticize, or parody the work being sampled”. This helps you to defend a claim that you infringed and also if you alter a sample so that a random regular person cannot hear any apparent similarities between your work and the sample, there's no violation of the law. The court looks at the money damage how you transformed the sample and how much you took in the view of fair use. The myth that less than two seconds is not true some courts apply this fair use rule only to the musical composition.

Own Argument and Opinions

I have found a new side to the law through this project. As a musician i have a lot of things to protect when i start my creation and bring it out to the world. When i called my lawyer i was really nervous but after we talked for a while i could see that it was not as big of a deal as i was making it. She was very polite and answered my questions in a serious way. I have now taken another step in the knowledge i will need in the future. I also now know the value in having a good lawyer for the more subjective cases. There are a lot of "it depends" when it comes to the law. Knowing the deference is the key to staying out of court and keeping the rights to your work. This new found information will also keep me from being attacked by patent-trolls  I see cases of people being attacked over a two second loop that started there song and I would never want that to happen to me. Through this new experience I have gained a new view on the way i create and protect what I have. I no longer see it as just a mark by a name or a piece of paper. I know now that it is a shield that gives me the right to go after anyone that tries to claim what it is that I took the time to create and produce. I now have the ability to say with confidence that I now what a copyright is what a patent and what a trademark is. I am also proud to say I know how to obtain all three. The fail safe of them may not stop anyone from infringing but it does allow me to fight.

Questions

I have had a lot of worry about have to avoid infringement in the creation of my music. The true concern comes from when I begin to start sampling others work to create something new.  In this direction I have ask questions accordingly to how I go about doing these things.

1.    Would sample a song be move under the new use clause and protect me from infringement?

2.    Can I be attacked for creating in the same style as someone else?

3.    How far does a copyrighted song go as far as licensing use of that a song, can I control how it is used?

4.    How do you go about getting a license for a song of someone who isn’t living anymore?

5.    Can I protect a new design for a guitars body as the guitar or does it have to have its own separate patent because the other parts of it are already made in other guitars?

6.    If I’m hired to do a job to make and record a score how would I go about making a contract so my music stays mines so.

7.    How do you know how much royalties is supposed to be given for a project?

8.    How would I go about becoming a published musician?

9.    How would I be affected after using an abandoned phrase or a common one in my music?

10.  What are some things that  I can use in my music as In references certain lines ect.?

Law Authority

My lawyer was Leanne Dodds. She has 16 years of experience and has a license to practice in Arizona and Nevada. She graduated from Arizona State University with a JD in Law and from California State University with a BA in Psychology. I found her through a website I found on the internet while I was searching intellectual property lawyers for this project. I trust her I choose her out of the others because she was the only one to pick up the phone. I want through at least 20 people before I was able to get to her number. Thankfully she was there to help me out. She treated me as an adult and answered my questions to the best of her ability. Another reason is because her advice was free. She works in business law intellectual property landlord tenant real estate law and trademarks.  With her experience and knowledge I felt that it was a good choice to ask her my questions dealing as I deal closely with music and I cannot afford to be sued. Also I felt more comfortable talking to a woman about my interest in the workings of the law. She has all the requirements to help me and answer my questions.

EOC Week 10 Lawyer Jokes

Q: What's the difference between a female lawyer and a pitbull?
A: Lipstick.

Q: What do you call a lawyer with an IQ of 100?
A: Your Honor.

Q: What do you call a lawyer with an IQ of 50
A: Senator.

A lawyer calls his client to tell him about his fee schedule.

"Alright," the lawyer says looking through his papers. "You owe me $1000 down and $417.58 cents each month for the next thirty-six months.

"What! That sounds like a car payment schedule," retorted the client.

"Your right. It's mine."

Question: Do you know how to save five drowning lawyers? Answer: No. Reply: Good!

How can you tell the difference between an attorney lying dead in the road and a coyote lying dead in the road? With the coyote, you usually see skid marks.

How many lawyers does it take to screw in a light bulb? How many can you afford?

Week 8 EOC: Bratz VS Mattel

Bratz and Barbie are two big names in the toy industry with a long lasting family feud that has been dragged out for almost a year.  These brands have made their mark on the world with their many figurines movies videogames songs posters products that have been sold worldwide. These memory making icon in the hands and homes for millions of little girls around the world have been in a struggle to prove who exactly really owns the rights to the “Bratz” brand. Mattel has spent large sums of money in this fight to claim what they believe is their own property. You can tell by a long distance the difference between the much loved dolls and the difference in the attitude that where given to the in the creation so what makes Mattel think it is rightfully theirs to own in retrospect to this undeniable fact. Most see the conflict as a huge waste of money on the part of the larger rival Mattel. “The rehearing of the first where, in 2008, a jury concluded that Barbie doll clothing designer Carter Bryant was under contract to Mattel when he came up with the initial design for the Bratz dolls. The jury awarded Mattel $100 million, and the trial judge ruled that the Bratz franchise was the property of Mattel.”( ANN ZIMMERMAN)  this was the one of the victories of Mattel which was to later get overturned which Mattel continued this back and forth between the two. This leaving the owner of the brand up in the air.

Week 8 BOC: Status

In my final I a straight forward plan to get everything I need to complete and be informed on issues that concerns me directly. I plan to draw up questions related to music creation and infringement on things like sampling or a voice over in retrospect of a speech being put in or even names that are mention in a song. These are the type of things I want to know. I have not specifically found a lawyer yet but I have a few promising ones that I am close to getting answers from. My blog is still on track but my tweets are still far behind which I plan to make up as soon as possible. Everything other than that is on par with where I should be. The schedule I put on the final leaves me finishing up early and free to get the rest of my work finished for this class. I am confident everything will be done in a timely manner and that there is nothing else that can be a hindrance too my productivity. Everything is set in order and there is nothing else to cover. This is my current status for this week of class.