The Corporate Transparency Act requires businesses, unless exempt, to report their Beneficial Ownership Information to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

New York and New Jersey face off in the film tax credits battle. Who will win your production?

Day in day out, you wake up and go to a job. You are not happy but it pays the bills. You have come to a crossroad in your life and you feel like you should be doing more; you want to do more. You have had an idea for a business for a while or you've had a side hustle for some time but you are afraid to form a company. Thoughts say to you: "What if I form the company and it goes bust?" "What if I can't find any customers?" "What if I can't make it work?" "What if? What if? What if? "

There will always be a “what if”. The key is to go beyond the “what if” and begin. Forming a company by yourself can be a little daunting. You have to pick a name and make sure it doesn't infringe someone else’s trademark, figure out the best entity that suit your needs, figure out your tax structure and accounting methods, decide whether you will have employees and so on. The internet contains a vast array of information but if you don't have a roadmap to help you figure it out, it becomes useless. To help you make sense of the madness, here's a checklist of things you must do when you are forming your own company to be about your boss moves with confidence. 

1. Select and clear the business name to ensure you are not infringing on another company's trademark rights
2. Select the business entity that best suit your needs: Inc, LLC, partnership, etc.
3. Select the tax structure that works best for your current situation: pass through, S-Corp, etc.
4. Form the business by registering with secretary of state or county office depending on the entity you choose
5. Register your business for tax purposes and obtain your EIN
6. Open your business bank account
7. Draft corporate documents such as by-laws, operating agreement, etc.
8. Create custom agreements to hire employees and independent contractors
9. Set up your chart of accounts to track expenses, income and inventory
10. Assess whether you need insurance
11. Obtain any business license, if necessary

Following this checklist will help you form your company on a solid foundation. If you need one-on-one help to figure it all out, contact me to book a Start-up Strategy Session. Don't wait, contact me today at Eldonie@masonfirmllc.com or 732-626-6402 so you can be about your boss moves for 2020! And remember start-up expenses incurred in 2019 will be deducted in 2020 - the time is now!

You are a designer, an artist, a creator. For you, it goes beyond a killer dress or a fierce suit; for you, it's an artistic expression of epic proportions. Your vision coming to life in the form of clothing - your masterpiece! After working so hard on your pieces, you decide to show your wares at New York Fashion Week. Your show is a hit! You are elated and worried at the same time. Thoughts race through your mind - "Can I protect my designs?" "Will the knock offs spring up like wildfire and flood the market before I get there?"

These are all valid concerns. No designer wants their hard work to be turned into a cheap imitation. So, what is a designer to do? Let's address the first concern, can you protect your designs? Unfortunately, U.S. copyright law generally does not offer protection for clothing designs because they are seen as useful articles. That is, they perform the utilitarian function of covering the body which is often not separable from the artistic expression. You must be feeling bummed right about now like all hope is lost. But wait, a glimmer of hope came over the horizon in 2017 when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Star Athletica, L.L.C. v. Varsity Brands Inc. In that case involving the arrangement of shape, colors, stripes and chevrons on cheerleader uniforms, the court ruled that the “artistic” feature on clothing designs can be protected by copyright, “Yay!”.

However, before you start doing the happy dance, it must be noted that your entire design will not be protected but only the artistic elements that can pass the two-part test which was laid out by the court. Therefore, the artistic feature of your design will get copyright protection if the feature:

 “(1) can be perceived as a two- or three-dimensional work of art separate from the useful article and

(2) would qualify as a protectable pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work either on its own or in some other medium if imagined separately from the useful article.”

As you can see, passing this test will not be an easy feat. Think about it, how many times do you design clothes with something extra on it? It may reek of unfairness that fast fashion retailers profit off of your designs while you are still trying to make it to market and your European counterpart designs are protected. So, what can you do? Here is where we address your second concern i.e. getting to market first. You don’t have to view the situation as a lost cause but an opportunity to pull a “fast one” on fast fashion. You could do so by simply “knocking off” your own designs and selling it under a budget label instead of your couture line and you will reap the benefits of the high- and low-end markets!

If this article has inspired you to take action and you need help figuring it all out or you just need a fashion lawyer in your corner, please feel free to contact me at 732-626-6402 or eldonie@masonfirmllc.com

Ripped from the headlines: “ Billie Eilish Found Stealing Anime Artwork on T-Shirts, Hoodies, Other Merch ”.  Often times, celebrities get caught in the copyright violation trap when they willfully or unknowingly infringed on the copyright of another by not getting the proper clearance for use of copyrighted materials.

In the case of Billie Eilish, she partnered with an apparel company who copied anime fan-art without permission or license for use on clothing and other merchandise. This blatant copying, not only violated the artist’s rights in his artwork but that of the company which owns the rights to the anime characters – what a mess! This all could have been avoided by using a 3-step fan-art clearance process:

1. Identify the artist who drew the fan-art – he holds the copyright in his creation

2. Identify the company which owns the copyright in the characters

3. Negotiate a licensing deal with both the artist and the owner of the characters

By following these steps, you can avoid a copyright infringement lawsuit and possibly owing millions in damages.  If you need help clearing artwork or pictures for your projects please feel free to contact me at 732-626-6402.

Spring is the time when a lot of people double down on working on those Summer bodies and music is the soundtrack that keeps them motivated. Enter Peloton, a fitness, tech and equipment company HQ in NYC,  which got slapped with a $150 million copyright infringement suit for not obtaining the proper music licenses for hits from Ariana Grande, Drake, Lady Gaga and many more.

The suit brought by National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) members: Downtown Music Publishing, Pulse Music Publishing, ole, peermusic, Ultra Music, Big Deal Music, Reservoir, Round Hill, TRO Essex Music Group and The Royalty Network alleges that Peloton, while it has deals with some labels and music publishers, failed to secure licenses from other publishers resulting in copyright infringement of more than 1,000 musical works.

In response to the lawsuit, Peloton filed a countersuit claiming antitrust violations on the part of NMPA saying that it had instigated a coordinated effort to fix the process and refuse to deal with them. It will be interesting to see how the court rules on the countersuit. The takeaway here is that you never use music that is protected by copyright for business purposes without a proper license. Even if the other party is refusing to negotiate, you cannot take it upon yourself to just use the music.

 

Tips on complying with "Made in USA" laws

The case of old is new in this copyright infringement battle royale