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4 / 12 / 12

Air For Shares

The Shark Tank: ABC’s reality show about a room full of high-powered executives listening to ideas from entrepreneurs in exchange for a percentage of the company. But what if instead, ABC offered some of its advertising inventory, maybe even a spot or two on The Shark Tank, in exchange for a piece of your company? What would that be worth? That’s the new business model emerging in Europe and Asia for media companies and entrepreneurs. The Economist calls it, “air for shares,” and it’s proving to be an intriguing new way to monetize advertising space for media syndicates and television network groups, as well as venture capital firms that aggregate media space across multiple platforms. Read More→

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2 / 29 / 12

Jeff B. Cohen, Esq.

Categories
Entertainment
Intellectual Property
Licensing - Branding
Media

First Music, Now Films Caught in End of Obsolescence

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46467956

Originally Published on CNBC.COM on February 21, 2012

Everyone knows who murdered the record labels. Not Professor Plum in the study with a wrench, but Napster on the internet with piracy.

Although this case was solved over a decade ago, I’ve been scouring the cobwebbed files and I believe Napster had an accomplice that got away scott free. Who is this accomplice, you ask? The end of obsolescence. Read More→

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1 / 23 / 12

Jeff B. Cohen, Esq.

Categories
Entertainment
Media
Technology

Four Lingering Questions From CES 2012

After reflecting on the recent tech-gasm that is CES, some unresolved issues have been rattling around in my noggin.

How Does SpongeBob Have More Likes Than the Leader of the Free World?

For those of you keeping score at home, SpongeBob has 30,484,228 Facebook likes to President Obama’s 24,683,199. However, President Obama does have a significant Twitter edge with his 12,087,098 followers to SpongeBob’s 346,427. Read More→

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1 / 9 / 12

Jonathan Gardner, Esq.

Categories
Entertainment
Media
Technology

Mirror Worlds

The term “Mirror World” was coined by Yale computer-scientist and futurist David Gelernter in his 1992 book of the same name which accurately predicted websites, blogging, tablets, streaming video, cloud computing and even, perhaps most impressively, the online social networks of today. In a memorable quote from the book, Gelernter wrote: “I can’t be personal friends with all the people who run my local world any longer, but via Mirror Worlds we can be impersonal friends. There will be freer, easier, more improvisational communications, more like neighborhood chatting and less like typical mail and phone calls. Where someone is or when he is available won’t matter…” Impersonal friends? Sounds a lot like Facebook to me. Small wonder the Unabomber targeted Gelernter with a letter bomb in 1993. Read More→

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12 / 16 / 11

Rosalind Read

Categories
Entertainment
Intellectual Property

What Ever Happened to LimeWire?

In a victory for the Recording Industry Association of America and artists, U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood ruled in New York that LimeWire LLC and its CEO were liable for inducing the infringement of more than 10,000 sound recordings, declaring those materials owned by major labels including UMG Recordings and Sony Music Entertainment. DigiDayDaily reported, shortly after the decision, that LimeWire was the largest remaining commercial P2P service and had not followed others in negotiating licenses or discontinuing their service after the Supreme Court decision in MGM v. Grokster. Read More→

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12 / 9 / 11

Jonathan Gardner, Esq.

Categories
Entertainment

Negotiating the Holdback: What’s At Stake

One of the most difficult negotiation points today for independent film producers in their domestic distribution deal is the hold-back of the release of the picture in the foreign territories. This one point by itself can bring the producer grief from almost every side, from his foreign sales agent to his own investors. Read More→

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12 / 8 / 11

Brad Garrett, Esq.

Categories
Entertainment

Test Options 101

For many actors and comedians working tirelessly to hone their craft, landing a role as a series-regular on a television series is the Holy Grail. A series-regular role on a television series presents a forum for the actor or comedian to be seen by a wide audience and a role on a hit show can lead to a long and successful career on the screen as well as the stage. Thus, it is important to understand the deal that you will be asked to make when being considered for a series-regular role. Read More→

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11 / 14 / 11

Rosalind Read

Categories
Uncategorized

Facing up to ‘Facebook,’ The Law

The social networking phenomenon Facebook confirmed its status an integral part of pop culture when the film, The Social Network, achieved public acclaim by winning three Academy Awards this year. In considering any libelous litigious proceeding brought by those depicted in the Facebook movie attorney Aaron Moss notes that the individuals have a very difficult argument to make. Read More→

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11 / 2 / 11

Jonathan Gardner, Esq.

Categories
Finance

Crowdfunding – The New New Thing

What’s the NEW new thing in independent film? That’s the question the forward looking early adapters in Hollywood ask every day. In a hyper-competitive town, everyone wants to be on the leading edge. As a lawyer, our job is often to try and realize the aspirations of our innovative clients while conforming to federal and state law. It isn’t easy. Read More→

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10 / 13 / 11

Jeff B. Cohen, Esq.

Categories
Finance
Technology

What Wall Street Can Learn From Meyer Lansky

Originally Published in CNBC

Meyer Lansky, a key architect of modern organized crime, often referred to as “The Chairman of the Board,” built a gambling empire that stretched from New York to Las Vegas to Cuba and back again.

His casinos were luxurious, crowded affairs, a far cry from the “clip-joints” he must have known growing up on the mean streets of the Lower East Side.

“Clip-Joint” was a pejorative given to describe the crooked gambling halls of the day. The dice were loaded, the deck was stacked, the roulette wheel was fixed and every gambler that went in got clipped. Read More→

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Air For Shares

First Music, Now Films Caught in End of Obsolescence

Four Lingering Questions From CES 2012

Mirror Worlds

What Ever Happened to LimeWire?

Negotiating the Holdback: What’s At Stake

Test Options 101

Facing up to ‘Facebook,’ The Law

Crowdfunding – The New New Thing

What Wall Street Can Learn From Meyer Lansky

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