Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, gives a wide-ranging interview on numerous topics of interest to anyone interested in a career in music or music law. He shares his advice on how to become a music lawyer and what a typical day looks like in his office, and begins an extended discussion of the legal side of music as it affects players – why it’s hard to get out of a “bad” contract, when an artist should seek legal advice, what a “work for hire” is and how that term affects musicians signed to a label, how the Controlled Composition Clause can cost you lots of earnings potential, how copyright works, what compulsory licenses are, and much, much more.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, shares what the various copyright symbols mean – the “P” in a circle, the “C” in a circle – and what they signal to other parties.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, discusses what “work for hire” means in terms of copyright ownership of sound recordings, and what the thresholds are for a work to qualify as a “work for hire.” His argument and discussion of copyright revisions passed in 1976 have implications for many, if not all, the current record deals in circulation.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, explains exactly what a work-for-hire arrangement is, and who owns the output of such a deal. He also discusses why the term is applied in a fairly novel fashion in the record industry.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, explains the two-copyright arrangement that runs the music business (i.e. the song itself, and a specific performance of that song) and how the Controlled Composition Clause of the copyright code allows record labels to reduce the royalty rate paid to artists in instances where the artist is also the songwriter and therefore is in theory entitled to royalties for both copyrights. He also discusses how the Controlled Composition Clause can really work against an artist’s bottom line when choosing songs to put on album.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, explains the roots of statutory license rates, why the licensing of works for recording is controlled by law in the first place, how this legislation actually helps foster freedom of use, and why the system might break down if licensing rates were set via market forces.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, explains what “compulsory licenses” and “sync licenses” are, and why they are handled differently by the law and by copyright holders.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, explains how music publishing deals typically work, the role that performance rights societies (such as BMI, ASCAP and SESAC) play in managing publishing arrangements – and the murky question of just how much money they get for their assistance.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, discusses why removing the exemption that radio stations in the USA currently enjoy from paying performance fees on the music they play – an exemption not shared by bars, internet radio stations, concert halls, and so on – is an idea whose time has come.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, shares his thoughts on how the New York music scene has changed, whether moving to New York to get your music career started is still a viable strategy, and what independent musicians living in New York generally do to get by and make a living.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, discusses the generational shift that has taken place, that divides the CD-buyers from downloaders, and draws parallels between today and the early days of rock-and-roll in which singles drove the music business. He also shares his thoughts on whether downloading – legal or otherwise – will cut deeply enough into the major labels’ bottom line to cause them to abandon the business entirely, and whether the “democratization” of music will affect the quality of music that’s available.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, discusses the road he took to make a transition from being a musician with a record deal to being a music lawyer. In particular, he discusses the difficulty that new lawyers have in finding focused hands-on training in a given specific field of law.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, discusses some essential books that anyone who needs to learn about how the legal side of the music business should read.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, discusses the practical differences and commonalities between doing legal work for artists and producers, and how producer agreements resemble artist agreements with record labels.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, discusses the differing tendencies between how the the 2nd Circuit of Federal courts (which includes New York) and the 9th Circuit (which includes Los Angeles) handle copyright cases, and why entertainment companies such as record labels tend to prefer to litigate such cases in the 2nd Circuit.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, shares some advice on why you should think carefully before signing any contract, because courts in the United States tend to honor any contract based on the terms written into it – no matter how unconscionable they may seem. He also discusses exactly what “unconscionable” means, and when bad behavior or bad faith by a lawyer or manager actually could translate into you being able to get out of your unfavorable contract.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, discusses when and how often you should bring a lawyer in on business decisions you make.
Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, discusses when artists should file copyrights on the work they create, and why it’s important.
