If you are doing business then your business is operating as a legal business entity of some sort—whether you intend it or not

By way of introduction, this article was written because copyright questions and discussions of the subject continue to occur on a regular basis at the different websites designed for songwriters. There has always been (and probably always will be) a great deal of paranoia among young songwriters that somebody is going to steal their creations. Since I believe it is better to err on the side of caution, below I will explain the basics of copyright as well as how to get one:

This article will continue the "Things to ask your Attorney" series. The approach is to focus in on some of the most important issues to the artist who is considering or has made the decision to enter into an agreement with a personal manager. In my 22 years as an entertainment attorney, artist-manager relationships and personal management agreements are the area where the greatest unhappiness and dissatisfaction seems to have occurred. Therefore, it is very important that the artist and the manager give very careful consideration to the relationship before making the commitment—and then a like amount of thought to the agreement before signing. Exactly what should be in the agreement depends on many factors, including, what the artist wants the manager to help him achieve (e.g., record deal, film deal, songwriting agreement, increase in live engagement income, etc.); the experience of the manager; and the level of success that the artist has already achieved. This article is being written as though I were consulting with an artist - you! Once you have made the decision to sign with a manager, then you should ask your lawyer the following questions (and any more questions that you want answered):

This article takes a brief look at some major deal points that will be of concern to you and your lawyer during the negotiation of an Exclusive Songwriter Agreement. There was a time that these agreements spoke of the writer as a “staff” writer, although I have not seen that term used in many years. The assumption is that you aspire to be a songwriter only—not an artist. A later article will look at how the agreement might differ if you also have aspirations to be a recording artist. That would raise issues such as co-publishing rights, post-term co-administration, album release bonuses, etc. The assumption is also being made that this is your first exclusive deal with a music publisher. Terms will vary if you are an established, successful writer. Again, issues such as co-publishing come into play. Finally, I am assuming that you are doing your deal in Nashville—probably the location of more songwriters and music publishers than any place else in the world. Certain terms might differ if you are making your deal in New York or Los Angeles. (For example, most Nashville publishers pay their exclusive writers a periodic advance on a monthly basis. However, many New York and LA publishers pay the writers one lump sum at the beginning of each contract year.) There will be many other contractual issues of importance to your attorney and hopefully to you. However, at a minimum, you should discuss the following 7 areas with your lawyer: