Peter J. Speroni, Esq.

Unity for Games makes significant move into the Metaverse landscape by purchasing Peter Jackson's Weta Digital.

The new internet is here.






https://www.linkedin.com/posts/peterjsperoni_peter-jackson-sells-weta-tech-assets-to-unity-activity-6868598056460316672-Wz0k

Peter Jay Speroni Esq. on LinkedIn: Peter Jackson Sells Weta Tech Assets to Unity for $1.62B Unity just made a big move. The Metaverse is approaching. Some say it's the "new internet". Powered by technology, the Metaverse...

Parlatore Law Group Entertainment Law Division specializes in record label, publishing, and music management contracts.

It was a pleasure to work alongside Timothy C Parlatore to settle this matter for Tommy Vext, former lead singer of the Bad Wolves.







https://www.linkedin.com/posts/peterjsperoni_bad-wolves-settle-lawsuits-with-former-singer-activity-6859831587601715200-uPVD

Peter Jay Speroni Esq. on LinkedIn: Bad Wolves Settle Lawsuits With Former Singer Tommy Vext It was a pleasure working alongside Timothy Parlatore to settle this matter for Tommy Vext. As Billboard points out, Allen Kovac and Bad Wolves have ...

Our newest episode of Law in the Limelight - Copyright Basics.

www.youtube.com

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Check out our newest Lime Slice episode.

Zendaya Shares Equity With Crew of "Malcolm & Marie" Earlier in 2021, Zendaya made headlines when she announced that she and co-star/co-producer John David Washington were sharing equity in their new film "Malc...

Saturday morning NFT talk. Why not ?

The Future of NFTs Let's talk about some of the new updates we've recently seen surrounding the future of NFTs. Our links: https://linktr.ee/lawinthelimelight

Parlatore Law Group Presents Law in the Limelight's newest episode:

***Billboard's Highest Paid Musicians for 2020-21***

Tune in as Wynton Yates, Esq., Max Hass, Attorney at Law and I, discuss the musicians who made the list, and the types of revenue streams that were included in the calculation. (streaming, publishing, touring and sales).

Our hosts also discuss the many alternative revenue streams that did not make the list, but may be available to musicians.






https://youtu.be/96FovpBesmE

Billboards Highest Paid Music artists EXPLAINED! The Law in the Limelight crew decided to comb through Billboards recently released list of the top 40 highest paid music artists. It's a great chance for us ...

NFTs Smart Contracts:

Enter Algorand

What we know generally about technology:

1. Faster
2. More Secure
3. Cost Effective
4. Financial Clarity

ALGO's purpose is clear: "Our foundational is purpose built for the future of finance; optimized for new asset types like the new transactional needs, fast, secure, and cost effective."

ALGO's SMART Contracts aim to revolutionize the collection of intellectual property royalty streams and .

With the complexity (and headaches) of Copyright Flags and Content ID Flags, creators often panic and feel helpless when faced with the reality that they must police their own copyrights.

ALGO's SMART contracts hopes to change this by making copyright royalty streams clearly traceable, detailed, secured and cost effective.

The ALGO coin is available on Coinbase Pro (and other sites) and is currently trading at around .09, a 4 cent jump from three days ago.

https://lnkd.in/dWr8Fq3f

www.algorand.com Defining the standard for blockchain technology with the first-of-its-kind pure proof-of-stake protocol built to support the scale, open participation, and transaction finality for billions of users

*Super Thanks* the newest monetization tool from allows viewers to tip their favorite content creators' channels.
But just where is the money going?

Total *Super Thanks* Tip Money Collected:
Youtube gets 30%
Content Creator gets 70%

(**In comparison, competitor Twitch takes 50% of all streaming revenue for a similar service.**)

But, what if the content creator only created some of the featured content? For instance, what if they co-produced a song that is featured on their channel? Do they keep the entire 70% tip? Should they? After all, to qualify for Super Thanks you must also be admitted to Youtube's Partner Program, which recently added many new requirements for qualifying entry.

Call it what you will, "tipping" can still be revenue associated with copyrights. Copyright owners often contract away the life of their copyrights and those agreements, quite detailed, can include language that might easily grab "tip money" as an offshoot of copyright revenue.

Tipping someone as a creator, for something they did not fully create, will soon be problematic, especially if Super Thanks is widely used and successful.

Adding more opportunities for content creators to earn revenue is a good thing. Getting the tip money in the rights hands may be something entirely different.





https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/20/youtubes-newest-monetization-tool-lets-viewers-tip-creators-for-their-uploads/

YouTube’s newest monetization tool lets viewers tip creators for their uploads – TechCrunch YouTube announced its latest feature, Super Thanks, on Tuesday. This is YouTube’s fourth Paid Digital Good, which is what the platform calls any product that lets fans directly pay creators. So far, these tools include Super Chat, Super Stickers and channel subscriptions — but Super Tha…

Parlatore Law Group Presents Law in the Limelight’s newest episode. Check it out !

Law in the Limelight - YouTube Three entertainment attorneys talk entertainment news & emerging copyright markets. Tune in every Wednesday @ 2pm for new content uploaded across all major p...

Rolling Stone gets it.

may have flooded the market. The bubble burst. Who cares? The element was always a distraction.

The NFT element must be paid attention to!

are evolving. The evolution is exponential. The industry is beginning to see it. Embrace the because of its utility, not its novelty.

Don't look away now. More to come...Follow our entertainment law podcast/subscribe on youtube for ongoing NFT news and content: Law in the Limelight

** Follow here for updated NFT content. The world is about to flip on its head. ? ? *Yawn* Those are so 2021.... The is bright.





https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/features/crypto-nft-gaming-ticketing-royalties-1197979/

NFTs May Seem Like Frivolous Fads. They Should Be the Future of Music The wild boom and bust of art NFTs made many onlookers wary of blockchain-based technology — but new developments in gaming, ticketing, and music royalties reveal NFTs’ true power

Forbes' article discusses JaQuel Knight's career as a choreographer for some of pop music's most iconic music videos and worldwide tours: Beyoncé's "Single Ladies." and Cardi Bs "WAP", among others.

But where Knight sets himself apart from other choreographers is his ability to recognize his choreography as an actual copyright itself.
And after a lengthly battle, his attorney David Hecht, recently secured a first-ever copyright registration for Knight's choreography in "Single Ladies".
This historic moment changed choreography forever. My entertainment law podcast, Law in the Limelight with Co-Hosts Wynton Yates and Max Hass, Attorney at Law Esq. had the privilege of sitting down with Hecht to discuss this legal victory and to talk about ways the music industry will adapt to the new breakthrough in copyright law.
Episode airs this Wednesday!







https://www.forbes.com/sites/yolarobert1/2020/11/23/jaquel-knight-is-paving-the-way-for-the-future-of-copyrighting-dance/?sh=3d15771de72e

JaQuel Knight Is Paving The Way For The Future Of Copyrighting Dance JaQuel Knight’s creative direction and choreography have been seen in culture-shifting projects such as Beyonce’s Homecoming & Black Is King, the JLo & Shakira’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, and Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” video. Now he is paving the way for the future of dance.

Check us out! Wynton Yates Max Hass, Attorney at Law. Our newest episode of Parlatore Law Group Presents Law in the Limelight - NCAA Athletes

NCAA/NIL Deals Best thing for College Athletes With the recent unanimous decision from the Supreme Court that the NCAA's rule restricting college athletes from financially capitalizing on their name, imag...

Billboard's article discusses the details of the recent American Law Institute's Copyright Restatement. Two issues to pay attention to:

1. Are live performances still "fixed in a tangible medium of expression"?
Opponents of the Restatement say that it "...ignores a section of the Copyright Act that allows a live performance to be “fixed” -- i.e. protected -- in the course of being broadcast."

****This received plenty of pushback. An amendment addressed part, but not all, of opponents' concerns. (See article.)

-------------------------

2. Joint Songwriting Requirements
"Restatement asserts that all contributions must be put down in writing prior to the start of the songwriting process".

***This sounds great for entertainment attorneys (since we often clean up the destruction left behind from the lack of express songwriting agreements.)(We don't mind btw).

***BUT for songwriters, producers, and engineers, who often spend weeks, (or months) on the same recordings, lyrics, melodies, and underlying compositions, this is entirely impracticable. These types of requirements, if imposed, may stifle creativity and impede the ability of many songwriters and producers to work together. Joint, unimpeded creativity makes hit records. Hit records make more revenue. The songwriting space must be free and open.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/legal-and-management/9603385/american-law-institute-copyright-restatement-creators-implications/

American Law Institute Decision Could Make It Harder for Creators to Protect Their Work A vote last month by the American Law Institute (ALI) could make it more complicated for creators and rights holders to protect the rights to their work.

Social Media Monetization - Snipfeed Creates a One Stop Shop, but is it enough?

If you are a successful social media influencer, you know what monetization is. You probably know what kinds of flags, notifications and takedown notices might cause a reduction in your total monetization earnings. You also know it is a nightmare to try and recover your money through an internal appeals process.

Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have internal monetization policies. Just when you think you have complied with every demand, another flag pops up. If you have thousands of videos, you know how time consuming this can be. Each minute spent on defending your content, is another minute not spent on creating new content for monetization.

If you are a successful influencer, the de-monetized posts can reduce your monthly monetization by hundreds of thousands of dollars. This unpredictability can push your business plan off its track.

One incorrect or misplaced flag can cause a particular post to be demonetized for months. By the time you carefully follow the appeals policy set forth by the social media platform you use, you might realize the ten emails you sent were answered by an autobot with no real plan to help you. You might even also receive a notification that you were in fact correct and the flag was unjustified but find yourself scratching your head when they won't return the money. Hopeless?

As influencers' monetization opportunities are growing due to our remote world, third party claims of copyright infringement and other policy violations are on the rise as well.

In Forbes article below, a warning is issued, "“Getting approval from all contributors can be tricky, so it's best to work out those details before making the content available,” says Skiba. "Giving labels streamlined workflows to provide accurate metadata, identify what rights they control, and assign royalties to any third parties allows them to monetize correctly at scale."

Insuring that you have full rights to the material on your platform can be daunting. Certain licenses, ie. non-exclusive synchronization licenses, can connect numerous third parties to one copyright. If that sound recording, lyrics, melody, or underlying composition somehow eventually made it into your content, you might get flagged. While you figure out the flag, the post sits there: demonetized.

Familiarize yourself with your "Chain of Title". Know it. If you don't, you might find hundreds of thousands of dollars in monetization revenue going to a third party instead of you.

Snipfeed is one app trying to make monetization easier. But even they caution their users about knowing the history of the content they upload.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andreazarczynski/2021/06/29/as-artists-target-earnings-snipfeed-advances-social-media-monetization/?sh=4a103d2e23db

As Artists Target Earnings, Snipfeed Advances Social Media Monetization Snipfeed's new one-click solution gives established and emerging artists the opportunity to monetize their content and streamline their storefront using social media.

Britney Spears had a small victory against the authority and controlling nature of her conservatorship.

Last week, Spears seemed to have pierced through the first cement wall of her conservatorship when the judge granted her the right to choose her own attorney. Spears' court-appointed attorney resigned two weeks ago amid the public controversy of her leaked court audio. In that audio, Britney asked for the right to choose her own lawyer after she revealed harrowing allegations of abuse on the part of those in control of her life.

Spears' newly-granted authority to pick her own attorney, former federal prosecutor Mathew Rosengart, marks one of the first victories for Britney as she continues to attempt to free herself from her conservatorship. Previously, Spears was prevented from selecting her own attorney to represent her.

As Billboard's article points out, Britney has now publicly threatened retirement. Will the conservatorship loosen its hold? Don't count her out. The Princess of Pop may just have more clout than you think.








https://www.linkedin.com/posts/peterjsperoni_britney-spears-says-she-will-not-be-performing-activity-6822869453148053504-KOze

Peter Jay Speroni Esq. on LinkedIn: Britney Spears Says She Will Not Be 'Performing on Any Stages Anytime Britney Spears had a small victory against the authority and controlling nature of her conservatorship. Last week, Spears seemed to have pierced through...

About two weeks ago, JAY-Z sued Damon Dash and was granted a temporary restraining order enjoining Dash From selling the Reasonable Doubt Album NFT on the SuperFarm NFT platform....

Now, in a twist(?), Damon Dash sues Jay Z for the streaming rights to the Reasonable Doubt album. In the past, "Jay-Z transferred the streaming rights to S. Carter Enterprises LLC.".

After Jay-Z's win, Dash might now have a solid legal leg to stand on. Why? Because Jay-Z argued, (and won), that Dash would have breached his fiduciary duties to the corporation itself and would have been unjustly enriched if he was able to independently sell the NFT without board approval. This is the first time a court considered an NFT in the capacity of a "Corporate Asset".

This moves an NFT outside the purview of a copyright...at least for now. Up until the case, the entertainment industry ( and the courts) hadn't quite decided what NFTs were, or how they would be categorized. Jay-Z's prevailing legal theory could prove to come back to bite him.

Why?

In the first case, Jay-Z's attorneys argued that the Reasonable Doubt NFT was a corporate asset, subject to corporate approval, and Dash's actions of attempting to sell the NFT breached fiduciary duties he owed to the corporation itself. The judge agreed and enjoined Dash from selling the NFT.

Dash now sues Jay-Z for the streaming rights to Reasonable Doubt. Dash's legal theory is the same: unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty etc. Sound familiar?

I predicted that Dash might end up with the value of his share of the Reasonable Doubt NFT Album anyways. Why? Because of Dash's corporate connection to Roc-a-Fella : his 1/3 equity share.

Now that a judge has agreed that an NFT is a corporate asset, will a judge agree that the streaming rights to that same album are as well?

NFTs are not yet "copyrights", they might not ever be, but there is no dispute that a copyright (Reasonable Doubt Album) launched the interest and overall value of the NFT. In other words, Jay-Z's career-launching album is composed of copyrights, and interest in those copyrights throughout 25 years of promotional efforts directly increased the value of the NFT as well.

Can't the same be said for streaming rights? The streaming rights themselves will generate increased revenue from the copyright; however, they aren't technically copyrights. Like NFTs, streaming rights are likely corporate assets. And if they are, did Jay-Z breach his fiduciary duties when he sold the streaming rights to the Reasonable Doubt Album without Dash's approval? Perhaps...

Since both Dash and Jay-Z are entitled to equity in Roc-a-Fella, each might just see the same amount of money they were always going to receive in the first place. Unless Dash wins...







https://pitchfork.com/news/damon-dash-files-lawsuit-against-jay-z-over-reasonable-doubt-streaming-rights/

Damon Dash Files Lawsuit Against JAY-Z Over Reasonable Doubt Streaming Rights Roc-A-Fella Records recently sued Dash (the label’s co-founder) for attempting to auction the 1996 album as an NFT

Thanks LinkedIn News for the feature in your article about the new Space Jam movie! The NFT world opens up so many entertainment contract possibilities! New revenue streams are available that never once existed.

Sure, the bubble has burst. But rare NFTs are here to stay.






https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/space-jam-or-space-brands-5086852/

'Space Jam' or space brands? | LinkedIn It's the advertising event of the year — and no, it's not the Super Bowl.

Check out our entertainment law podcast: Law in the Limelight's newest mini-episode: Jay Z. v. Damon Dash - The fight over the Reasonable Doubt Album NFT heats up! Follow us on facebook and subscribe on youtube!

Jay Z vs. Damon Dash - The Reasonable Doubt Album NFT dispute heats up. Jay Z was recently granted a temporary restraining order enjoining Damon Dash from selling Reasonable Doubt Album as an NFT.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jaysperoni_ethics-opinion-gives-ny-attorneys-green-light-activity-6820763628505993216-87Mg

Peter Jay Speroni Esq. on LinkedIn: Ethics opinion gives NY attorneys green light to advise on, partake The New York State Bar Association recently issued a decision giving NYS lawyers the green light to advise on cannabis regulations and licensing. Musicians...

Flash back to 1996 and you may remember your Space Jam themed McDonald's Happy Meal complete with figurines of Michael Jordan, Bugs Bunny and the rest of the crew.

Cut to 2021 and enter Lebron James...

Like Mike, Lebron James is transported into a digital cartoon world in the new Space Jam movie and like Mike, James also appears in the Space Jam themed Happy Meal.

But, in 1996, when Jordan's version of the film was officially released, the merchandising and memorabilia market looked quite different than it does in recent days. The NFT (non fungible token) market was entirely unrealized and untapped during the filming and marketing of the original Space Jam movie.

Warner Bros. Pictures. has recently made strategic strides to not only draw attention to the viability of the NFT market, but also to protect valuable, previously untapped revenue streams that stem from the intellectual property and other rights that Warner Bros. may own and control.

The emergence of the NFT market has changed the way production and distribution companies market their films. Partnering with Nifty's, an NFT minting company, Warner Bros. Entertainment has minted 91,000 NFTs for the new Space Jam Movie.

How to get them? Just be the first to register here https://niftys.com/.

Will they be worth more than a Space Jam Happy Meal in 25 years? Only time will tell. The success of the film and marketing efforts should increase the value of the NFT, but it isn't guaranteed.

Warner Bros. and Nifty's marketing strategy aimed to increase the tokens "Rarity Factor". As such, they maintain the rarity factor by only issuing 91,000 NFTs on the blockchain. The supply is finite. Now, it's up to the Warner Bros. marketing strategy to increase the demand for them over time.



https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jaysperoni_space-jam-a-new-legacy-launch-includes-a-activity-6820704057527701504-KFGT

Peter Jay Speroni Esq. on LinkedIn: Space Jam: A New Legacy launch includes a 91,000 item NFT tie-in Flash back to 1996 and you may remember your Space Jam themed McDonald's Happy Meal complete with figurines of Michael Jordan, Bugs Bunny and the rest...

Imagine getting sued by a stranger who took your picture. Imagine not giving any kind of permission (other than appearing in public) for that stranger to use your picture. Dua Lipa now understands what this means.

The concept seems bizarre and clearly implicates publicity rights, copyrights and other legal issues.

The company that owns the copyright to the photo (Integral Images), is now accusing Lipa of "knowingly" sharing it "without permission or authorization," according to court documents seen by the BBC.

Rock and a hard place? This phenomena seems to be more prevalent recently as social media accounts often create millions of dollars of branding revenue for the famous musicians that post content. Just which entities have rightful claims to that branding income seems to be an ongoing and developing question. Clearly, there are commercial use arguments present here. Stay tuned!

Insider's recent article touches on the legal issues that may arise from sharing photos taken by paparazzi.

https://www.insider.com/dua-lipa-sued-posting-paparazzi-photo-herself-instagram-2021-7

Dua Lipa sued for posting a paparazzi photo of herself on Instagram Integral Images has filed a $150,000 lawsuit against the "Levitating" singer for an alleged breach of copyright, according to BBC News.

This article pays beautiful tribute to the late, great Chuck Crist. It was an honor to know him and to get to listen to my mom's stories of him throughout their decades-long friendship. After playing NFL football (Giants, Saints, 49ers), Chuck moved back to our hometown area and started his family and post-football career.

CTE, the brain injury we now know is quite common, impacted Chuck and his family for many years, but they just didn't know it. After his passing, his family donated his brain to science and the studies that came back just might change how minors participate in physical-contact sports. RIP Chuck, you are a legend! Your gift to the world continues on and you will never be forgotten!

https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/he-had-no-memories-of-it-whatsoever-how-chuck-crists-family-discovered-he-had-cte/article_16e2e582-e03f-11eb-b3e1-7b7f69a608fb.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

'He had no memories of it whatsoever': How Chuck Crist's family discovered he had CTE Crist, who played pro football for seven seasons in the 1970s, was 69 when he died from a rare blood disorder in October. But he also had the most advanced

Similar to Hipgnosis Songs, Shamrock Capital Investors, is purchasing massive catalogues of music (and other IP).

Shamrock purchased Taylor Swift's back catalogue for approximately $300 million from Ithaca Holdings, (Scooter Braun) just last year. Shamrock has approximately $3.8 billion of total assets under management.

"Shamrock Capital today announced the final closing of Shamrock Capital Debt Opportunities Fund I, L.P. (“SCDOF I”), a $196 million fund focused on originating loan structures to owners of entertainment intellectual property rights."

As the industry trends away from providing "advances", both in music publishing and certain record label agreements, will these loans to IP owners take their place?

(Go here for Shamrock's investment plan: https://lnkd.in/d3-Ugrb)

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/9598733/shamrock-capital-taylor-swift-catalog-raises-200-million-loan-creators/

We covered Hipgnosis Songs on a recent episode. Hipgnosis is the music firm purchasing legendary music catalogs and turning them into investment portfolios.

Want to invest in your favorite songs? Or simply stay a fan ?

The concept itself changes the music industry game. The momentum behind this movement has now launched numerous music investment companies as a result and the pool of music you can invest in has increased greatly.

As we of course must wait to see if the investments pay off, we will continue to provide updated content on the growth or decline of these investment firms. And you can find it all on our entertainment law podcast - Law in the Limelight

https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/money/why-music-royalties-are-hitting-the-right-note-for-investors-1.1250290

Why music royalties are hitting the right note for investors Music legends including Imagine Dragons, Shakira, Bob Dylan, Calvin Harris and Debbie Harry have cashed in on their back catalogues to the tune of millions

My heart was broken after listening to the leaked audio of Britney Spears pleading with the judge to be released from her conservatorship. I will not go over every detail here, but her allegations are harrowing.

It's important to note, the judge did not deny Britney's request for the subject matter of her allegations in her live audio, rather the judge was required to enforce the rules of the court which required Britney to file a petition regarding her request. In other words, the relief she sought in her audio-portion of her testimony could not be provided at that time until she filed a petition.

Sadly, the next day, clickbait headlines around the globe ran with it: "Judge Denies Britney's Request to Be Removed from Her Conservatorship". Not everyone reads the articles and these publications know that.

Despite the misleading headlines, this is far from over.

After the leaked audio became front page news, Bessemer Trust, the professional wealth management firm controlling her assets withdrew, stating in their filing that they were unaware of Britney's objections to the conservatorship. Britney's manager resigns shortly after and recently her court-appointed attorney asked to withdraw from the case as well.

In Billboard’s timeline article published two days ago, this particular course of action is insightful.

June 29, 2021: Jamie Asks Court to Investigate Britney's Testimony -
Britney's father seeks a court probe of the statements she made in her headline-making hearing a week earlier. The documents Jamie file underline the need to investigate "serious allegations regarding forced labor, forced medical treatment and therapy, improper medical care, and limitations on personal rights."

So if these allegations are true, her father, the man in charge of her life, would like the court to look into the serious allegations of abuse on the part of the conservatorship in which he controls for his very own daughter.

Bessemer Trust, Jamie Spears, her management team and others who have now separated themselves from the alleged abuse, all fall in line with the same predictable defense. They simply did not know.

Shockingly, the very entities controlling her life, including her own father, now assert they were unaware of just how her life was being controlled.

As there are always two sides of the story, and there are always counter arguments, it is of no less than great concern that the very first course of action taken (from every single entity that Britney mentioned in her leaked audio no less) was to resign, withdraw, or admit they were unaware of the situation entirely.

Assuming the court's investigation finds her allegations true, does anyone think this predictable negligence defense will hold up? After all, they control her every move. That's the point of the conservatorship. They are tasked with keeping her safe by making decisions for her, medically and financially. They failed.

Ever wonder what reality tv show contracts look like? Wynton Yates, Max Hass, Attorney at Law and I discuss this topic on our entertainment law podcast Law in the Limelight.

If you are thinking about auditioning, or might have a son or daughter who is, tune in as we discuss the contract clauses to watch out for and the importance of understanding your production narrative during filming and editing.

The Hidden Legal Side of Reality Shows When people sign up to appear on reality shows, sometimes they sign away more than just the right to their image and likeness!https://linktr.ee/lawinthelimel...