Henderson Cole Found his way to entertainment legislation as most people are in their work – unexpectedly. As a writer with a background in the music industry, whether it is MTV interviews or with record labels in A&R, Henderson discovered that he had a talent for making contracts, plus many music friends who could use a lawyer, but could not necessarily pay one. Henderson decided to become an entertainment lawyer, and in the last five years since Henderson has made his focus, some of his clients such as MJ Lenderman, Wednesday, Bartees Strange and Oso Oso have risen to the top of the Indie music scene.
We spoke with Henderson on his path, how you can protect yourself during contract negotiations, When freelancers should get a lawyerand what The biggest challenges that artists are nowadays confronted When it comes to protecting their work.
Freelancers Union: I would like to hear how you got into this line, became a lawyer and then also represents artists.
Henderson Cole: At a certain moment I found out that I have a talent for something that many people needed within my local creative entertainment scene and I tried to fill that gap. Every time you work in a creative industry, it is a lot harder to make money; You are opposed to much more difficult forces, business troops or people who want to compete with you who want your job and do not have to be paid. I had something like: “Ok, if I can do this law and help these people, then they will do better, and I will do better.”
FU: You said you felt that you had a talent for something that many people needed help with, are those writing contracts?
HC: A lot of entertainment legislation is interface with different people, connect people, with ideas where you can say: “Look, you have worked with this label, what about these other labels?” And then a lot of them negotiates. So I was always really good at negotiating and talking through things. It is much more difficult if it is your own life and when you negotiate for yourself.
FU: At what time do you really have the feeling that artists or freelancers should involve a lawyer?
HC: If you don’t have money, it’s a very different situation, because you have to do the best you can. Maybe you can find a sympathetic lawyer and get a 10 -minute call. I will tell people, contact more successful people you know and ask, “Does this look like what you do?” There are three parts when you should have a lawyer:
- If the contract or the work scheme is worth a lot of money. Then you should definitely have a lawyer. Because the risk that this will all go wrong and a lot of money at stake, the advantage is that it pay a little money to protect it. If the contract is not worth a lot of money, it becomes more difficult because you don’t enter that much money.
- If it is important for you, creative or reputational. Maybe you want a lawyer, even if you think it is not worth a lot of money, because this is your big chance.
- If this person feels sketchy, or someone warned you that they don’t always pay on timeThere you should definitely start talking to a lawyer immediately or have that right away. Because if it gets worse, and then you call a lawyer, at that time they may not want to accept it.
Photographers I work with, I will try to set them up with an invoice that also says: “I have the rights to this, do not use it in an advertisement”, and some basic points. Then at least they know those points, so when contracts arrive, they are about it differently than money.
FU: A big thing we hear about is work for renting, so if there is advice, you can surrender that.
HC: When it comes to work, it usually refers to the property of what you have made. That’s when you hear about artists who own their masters, or photographers who own the negatives. If you take on a work, the person you hire will be treated as the maker and owner of everythingSo that is not ideal, but sometimes that is the relationship in which you will have. However, the other half of the comparison are their rights to use it. You could be the owner, but if you give them all rights, it doesn’t really matter that you are the owner because you have already given up the rights To use it in an advertisement, you gave up the rights to use it in an NFT. And on the other hand, I have signed work for Hire Agreements where it is a work work, but there are limitations to which they can use it. The rights can return to you over time, or they may not be able to use it for certain things. I will have people made on a list of certain types of industries that they do not want to be associated with. Or let’s say that you are a photographer and hire you, you can use that you have the photos, but if they use them on merchandise, you have to pay me a percentage.
FU: What do you think is the biggest challenge for artists nowadays when it comes to protecting their work?
HC: I would say that the biggest challenge is that people imitate your work, whether it is AI or not, and try to get away with it. In some states it is a bit easier, where there is a fast process to tighten a lawsuit. But the problem is that it is so expensive and takes so long that it is almost never worth for many people to force these things. If someone designs a T-shirt and a company does 100 versions of it, you will take a lot of it, but you will probably never get that money. So a challenge is trying to enforce that, while she also realizes that there will be a certain amount that you cannot control. And when they take on people who use AI instead and say, “This is real work, I think I have done better work than the computer. I can make contact with people.” Embrace the human aspect of it … This is now a big thing in music, people use ai to imitate bands and create big bands.
Fu: I saw that Ai Southern Band That was in the news.
HC: That band, they will never have a real fan base because they are not real, but it takes money from the hands of other artists, so that is frustrating. But how can we not only throw our hands up and give up? There are many companies and creative producers who don’t want that. So if you find people you like to work with, you build those relationships.
FU: Like in that book Mood machine By Liz Pelly about Spotify … I read An interview With her where she said that the solution goes to shows for many of them and meet people.
HC: I am mentioned in that book because I had worked Mow [United Musicians and Allied Workers]. I tried to help them with reforms. That’s one thing that people on your site are probably already aware of Freelance is not free. Different states have much more protection than others and if you live somewhere where there are no good protection … Yes, fight back with what you have, but also Vecht for that protection. If you can get freelance, you are not in your state for free, or you can get a stipend from you to get art, that can make a huge difference in the long term.
Fu: I saw that is a hobby Get their music from Spotify. And I wonder, should we not use it all? But then there are some artists who trust it, so it feels so difficult.
HC: It is not an option for everyone, but I am also happy that people make the point who can do that. There are certain views that some freelancers can take and some cannot. If you have any success in your career, it is even more important for you to fight for these things. Vecht in your contract that you have paid a certain amount in advance and a cancellation costs and fight for halfway through the project that you will receive a quarter of payment. And then the smaller artists, the smaller freelancers who start, can at least know what is going on and then use those larger contracts in their favor.
FU: It creates a good precedent, so that when someone else asks for it, the customer is not like: “That is insane.”
HC: I had people do that too, if they will ask for something for a year and [the answer is] Really not, and then you ask the following year and they say, “Uhh fine.” If you keep them, the situation may change, maybe they appreciate you more, you never know.
FU: What is the most important thing that you are looking for when assessing a contract? What is the language you absolutely want there and language that you absolutely want?
HC: One thing I tried is to get get the payments over time. Especially if it is a lot of money in the course of the contract, even if they keep it a large part until you’re done. And impose restrictions on exactly what to do [when]. Are there strict time limits? It makes it a lot easier to do your work, but to prevent those disturbing conversations from being held along the line. If you realize too late, the timeline does not work, you are in trouble. Regarding things that I certainly don’t try to have there: I like to use limitations as I said. If you write a book, you want to keep the rights to the scenario if possible. If it is not exactly what we negotiate here, I don’t want to give anything extra away unless they are willing to pay more.
FU: What are other ways in which artists and freelancers can protect themselves, outside having a lawyer?
HC: Associations such as yours providing information help a lot. But also talking to people a little higher in the industry. Especially if you have never heard of the company, look for other people who have worked with them. Even if you have no connections at all – contact everyone on their customer page … especially as a freelancer, you are sometimes brought in to do something specific and you don’t really know what the bigger whole is.
FU: Negotiation tips?
HC: I tell people that contracts are the line book that you are trying to set up; There is always negotiations about that. So there are certain things that you could get in the contract, there are certain things that you won’t do, and certain things you have to lean on over time. If you get the chance to say your number, always go a little higher than you think you deserve it, because number one, show that you think you are valuable, but you don’t want to insult them by going crazy. The first song they will almost always say: “Must be lower, or yes.” They will never be like, Here is more moneySo definitely try to ask a little more than you think you get, and that way you feel at ease. Because at the end of the day you don’t want to accept the deal just because you want to persuade it and you are not happy with it, because A bad deal is worse than no deal.
It is always better to negotiate and if you get at a point that you can no longer improve it, you want to sign or walk away. You have to be able to walk away if it’s not right.
Henderson Cole is an entertainment lawyer who worked by his company Henderson Cole Law To represent musicians, producers, photographers, journalists, filmmakers and other makers since they graduated from Cardozo legislation in 2015. Henderson is also a researcher in the field of music company and has worked on reform proposals for the music industry for the congress. As a creative person himself, he has written, filmed and recorded a number of his own projects. He records all this knowledge and experience in advising artistic customers.
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