The Legal Side

[horacejesse]

I do not see many discussions of legal issues in here though I have not opened every single thread.A songwriter who believes in his or her self, ought to have at least a basic legal plan if success comes knocking, it seems to me. Yet I don't, really. And I don't have any experience with entertainment lawyers or very many conch shells to invest either.Does anyone have experience or advice?What do you do when you reside in a rural area hundreds of miles from the nearest entertainment lawyer?If you are fairly smart but not educated in law are you still an idiot to conduct your own negotiations with a publishing company or A&R representative?Furthermore, how are they going to react to an amateur on the other end who is perhaps ignorantly questioning things that are always considered given, or being overly protective of his songs? Maybe that is when they smell blood!These are some of the nagging questions I have which forum members might be able to address.

[Casey H]

Hi Horace There have been a lot of related discussions on this board. Use the search mechanism and search for the word "lawyer" on all posts for the past 1000 days, returning a max of 1000 results ... I don't think where you live is as much of an issue today since so much can be done by phone, fax, and email. It is best to find one who practices in the state you live in since there may be minor differences in the law from state to state. (For example, there are sometimes contract clauses as to which state's laws prevail and where disputes are to be settled)...Good luck... Casey