Lawyer to review a contract.

Scionreality · #1 08-21-2008, 01:51 PM

Long story short, my band is about to have in its hands a draft for a contract with an indie label. Nice people, originally from our hometown, and we generally trust them.

But, prudence demands that we have such things looked over by a knowlegable representative.

How would you folks suggest I go about finding a lawyer who knows about such things? Literally look in the phone book?

BlackLake · #2 08-21-2008, 01:52 PM

NO!!!!...find an entertainment lawyer. Someone who knows the ropes.

llatikcuf · #3 08-21-2008, 02:01 PM

I can only think of two bands from Akron and one is Devo

- there might not be a large pool of entertainment lawyers in town. It's a long shot, but perhaps you could find out who represents Relient K.
As you probably know, Akron U has a law school - maybe some eager law student could check it out for you.
Good luck, and gratz on getting the offer!

makaky · #4 08-21-2008, 02:12 PM

Depending on the nature of the contract i.e: the amount of money involved, years blah blah. It may be a good move to have it checked by someone who knows the business even if it costs around 1k.

Scionreality · #5 08-21-2008, 03:12 PM

Not much money involved with either party yet, and the term is probably short. Although on both points the contract draft might differ from what I think. We're a very small-time band, and they're a small-time label. Very friendly terms right now. If I'm not mistaken the contract will include a short term with mutual-approval options for renewal, changes, things like that.

I do want to find an entertainment lawyer, my problem is finding a half-way respectable one.

I kinda like the Law Student idea. Good thinking. Although I'd want to have someone who was going into musical entertainment law, and sufficiently advanced.

I'm not sure how I'd go about finding out who represents Reliant K. I don't think I can just message them on MySpace. "hey guyz wuzzup u gotz lawurz rit?"

Spinal Tapper · #6 08-21-2008, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scionreality

...I'm not sure how I'd go about finding out who represents Reliant K. I don't think I can just message them on MySpace. "hey guyz wuzzup u gotz lawurz rit?"

You could probably do that...our band is opening up for them at Valparaiso University at the end of Sept...they're not that hard to contact

Scionreality · #7 08-21-2008, 03:26 PM

llatikcuf:

Thatnks for the congrats, by the way. I'm having a weird day, so I forgot to say that.

Scionreality · #8 08-21-2008, 03:27 PM

Spinal Tapper:

Wow. Cool stuff, thanks. I think I'll try to do just that.

pendergasta · #9 08-21-2008, 10:12 PM

Just a thought, you don't have to find a lawyer in your town, or even your state. I'd look up some Nashville entertainment lawyers, and call them to see if you can fax them the contract for review. There are so many small time deals going on in Nashville, I bet you could find a lawyer that could give you a great review of the contract in no time.

Here's a list of entertainment attorneys in Nashville. Good luck and congrats!

http://www.lawyers.com/Entertainment...law-firms.html

Music Attorney · #10 08-22-2008, 01:01 AM

If you haven't done so already, you may want to check these boards for some of my posts on recording agreements.

In addition, as I've said before, post the agreement on these boards and I'll try to help. You can delete money references if you prefer.

Best,
MA

Munjibunga · #11 08-22-2008, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scionreality

Not much money involved with either party yet, and the term is probably short. Although on both points the contract draft might differ from what I think. We're a very small-time band, and they're a small-time label. Very friendly terms right now. If I'm not mistaken the contract will include a short term with mutual-approval options for renewal, changes, things like that.

I do want to find an entertainment lawyer, my problem is finding a half-way respectable one.

I kinda like the Law Student idea. Good thinking. Although I'd want to have someone who was going into musical entertainment law, and sufficiently advanced.

I'm not sure how I'd go about finding out who represents Reliant K. I don't think I can just message them on MySpace. "hey guyz wuzzup u gotz lawurz rit?"

Yeah, and you could have a med student do your appendectomy. Bad idea. You need an experienced entertainment attorney.

Thankful birds · #12 08-22-2008, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by llatikcuf

As you probably know, Akron U has a law school - maybe some eager law student could check it out for you.
Good luck, and gratz on getting the offer!

Whoo, boy. I've been a practicing attorney for several years now; this is a bad idea. Lawyers generally learn legal concepts in law school but practical applications of legal principles during their practice. In short, a law stuent will probably have no idea how to go about reviewing your contract; but, and here's the dangerous part, will probably think they do.

My suggestion- find an attorney who practices in the area of entertainment law, as well as general civil litigation. There is a huge danger in relying upon an individual to draft or review agreements who has never seen them fall apart. In general you should be concerned with protecting the rights to your music, clearly defining the label's financial obligations to you and you to it, and what to do if the relationship isn't working and you either need to enforce your rights or exit the agreement.

I generally hate this site, as it's rating system is based in large part upon "back-scratching" within the legal community and not necessarily an objective criterion; however, http://www.martindale.com is a resource that will allow you to find entertainment lawyers in your area.

Best of luck.

Scionreality · #13 08-29-2008, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thankful birds

Whoo, boy. I've been a practicing attorney for several years now; this is a bad idea. Lawyers generally learn legal concepts in law school but practical applications of legal principles during their practice. In short, a law stuent will probably have no idea how to go about reviewing your contract; but, and here's the dangerous part, will probably think they do.

My suggestion- find an attorney who practices in the area of entertainment law, as well as general civil litigation. There is a huge danger in relying upon an individual to draft or review agreements who has never seen them fall apart. In general you should be concerned with protecting the rights to your music, clearly defining the label's financial obligations to you and you to it, and what to do if the relationship isn't working and you either need to enforce your rights or exit the agreement.

I generally hate this site, as it's rating system is based in large part upon "back-scratching" within the legal community and not necessarily an objective criterion; however, http://www.martindale.com is a resource that will allow you to find entertainment lawyers in your area.

Best of luck.

Thank you.