4 Entertainment Attorneys Share Their Perspectives

I checked in with 4 entertainment attorneys and asked the same question:?

"Based on your experience, what do artists tend to overlook as it relates to the legal part of their career?"

Here are their answers:

Note: these answers are not legal advice. These are simply the perspectives of attorneys who were kind enough to share their point of view.

1) Margarit? Camaj, Esq. - Managing Partner and Co-Founder of The Camaj & Lee Firm

"Artists often do not think about the various ways that the music industry is a business. Their art is what they create and what they put out to the consumer world.?

The business aspect incorporates many legal issues.?

For example, they do not consider the different avenues that they can explore: making the most profits from their music (agreements), securing collaborations and protecting their splits (artist/producer/ songwriters agreements), branding themselves (IP/copyright), owning their music through a business and setting up the business structure, taxes (LLC), protecting their name and likeness (IP/copyright), and building a strong team (manager agreements and more).

Many fail to understand that having a Legal team early on is a plus.

It helps them guarantee that their foundation is solid from the jump. Too many only think that they need an attorney when they get “big” or when things are “moving.”?

Stay connected early on and get consultations.

Overall, ownership is the most valuable legal consideration. With ownership of the masters, artists can license out their music to make additional profits in various avenues. Ownership = maximize profits."

2) Karl Fowlkes, Esq. - Managing Partner, The Fowlkes Firm

"I think artists view attorneys as saviors and that's not the case. A great and trustworthy attorney is imperative but you can't shirk learning the business.

That's why I always start with LOMO (Length, Obligation, Money and Ownership) with my clients. Using this framework you can figure out what's important to you so you can decide the best way to move forward."

3) Randy Ojeda, Esq. - Managing Attorney, Randy Ojeda Law

"Artists don't realize that any time you work with somebody else in the music industry, you should have some kind of collaboration agreement.

Whether that be bandmates, producers, featured artists - you really need a written document outlining everybody's rights and expectations. Even if you have a good relationship going in, even if you're long time friends, you still need to outline the nature of the collaboration. I've seen too many situations where an agreement was not formalized and it led to misunderstandings. It's better to clear everything up before work begins than to be in a situation where you have a product out and nobody knows what they're supposed to get out of it."

4) Adam Freedman - Attorney, Law Office of Adam C. Freedman, PLLC

"I think artists still tend to overlook the value of having an attorney as part of their team.

Even though there are now countless podcast interviews and artists sharing their stories of entering into bad deals and regretting not using a lawyer, it seems a huge majority of people still wait until they get screwed over to finally look into the legal side of the business.

It's so rare that I hear from a potential client who's actually looking for an attorney BEFORE something happens."

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