Entertainment Attorney Expert Blog

This blog is an interview between a professional Entertainment Attorney and me. The purpose of the interview is to get advice from an expert that has the necessary skills and experience in my sector of the entertainment industry. As an artist manager there are times where I will need to seek legal advice from a industry professional not only for my clients but also for myself.

The Entertainment Attorney I chose to interview name is Gregory P. Eveline. The founder and head attorney at NOLA Entertainment Law has provided his services to many known famous acts. So his creditability is not an issue for the most part. To make this interview go smooth as possible I prepared some question relevant to my field to ask Mr. Eveline.

J: Tell me a little about yourself and how you got started in the Entertainment Industry?

Mr. E:  Okay where do I start? I was a record retailer, distributor and producer before I became a successful manager and concert promoter for 10 years. I’ve worked with artist such as R.E.M., Billy Idol, Marianne Faithful and the Dead Kennedys, to name a few. As time went on I felt my wealth of knowledge would make me a great Entertainment Attorney so I became one.

J: So what type of services you provide that’s relevant to Artist Management?

Mr. E: Entertainment Law, Copyright and Trademark Protection, Contracts, Licensing, Advertising, Merchandising and Branding.

J: What are some common mistakes or trends of Artist Managers that you have notice recently?

Mr. E: The most common mistakes I’ve noticed from Artist Managers are errors on copyright paperwork.

J: Are there ways I can protect myself in a written agreement between my artist and me?

Mr. E: Yes there are a number of clauses you can put in an agreement to protect yourself like option periods, having all monies coming from the label instead of the artist and earnings after the term.

J: What are some things to look out for when licensing Intellectual Property?

Mr. E: Yes the assignment of the copyrighted material. Never give full rights or ownership. Licensing the material for use would be the appropriate action to do.

J: What is a conflict of interest and how does it apply to Artist Managers?

Mr. E: Conflict of Interest is when two parties have the same person representing them. In most case this is not a problem until a legal issue arises. It depends on the professional field and preference. This applies to an Artist Manager because that role requires you to be just that. For example you can’t be the Artist Manger and the Booking Agent. 

J: Are there any other legal liabilities that may be of my concern being in the field of Artist Management?

Mr. E: Yes be prepared to be sued if your artist misses a show or uses copyrighted material without permission as long as you represent artist.

J: Well, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to conduct this interview. The information that you have shared with me was very informative. I really appreciated and look forward to doing business with you in the future.

Mr. E: You’re very welcome Jamar anytime. I love helping ambitious individuals that have the desire to learn more about their field or the Entertainment Industry.       

Industry Liabilities

Copyright infringement, starting up a studio and being an Artist Manager are things I see as a liability at this current time. There are options and other ways to protect you from liabilities. Hopefully after reading this will help and enlighten the people that need this type of information.   

Sampling music is a problem in today’s Entertainment Industry. Sampling is taking a piece of work that’s copyrighted and using it with another creation. Many people frown upon sampling because the work is looked at as a knock off and not authentic. Although, numerous hits have been created with sampling. Nevertheless if you are sampling parts of copyrighted material it’s a liability if you don’t obtain the permission or the proper license. The copyright owner/holder may file a lawsuit against you for infringement for millions.

Starting your own studio in the music industry is a liability. For one the economy is messed up and the big four has pretty much brought every successful independent record label. I feel it’s a monopoly between the four and even if you still manage to start a label you better have a good plan. Like lower prices than the competition, better equipment and a good list of clientele in order to pay the bills to keep it up and operating. Not to mentioned you would need to pay a staff to manage the sessions. For financial purposes and limited resources it’s better to rent at this time. It will save you time and money to allocate to other projects.

I feel being an Artist manager is a liability especially working with a new artist. It’s a lot of work, time and money invested into exposing an upcoming artist in the Music Industry. Time and money that you may never get back because there’s no guaranteed that the artist is going to make it. It’s not out of the norm for an Artist Manager to come out of their own pocket to help artists to accomplish a goal. Also if you don’t take the necessary steps like having a written agreement to protect yourself an artist can drop you right before they blow up. Then it’s back to square one.