Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with rights

How to evaluate an offer to buy foreign rights?

Anonymous — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:31:20 -0800

I self-published a non-fiction technical book recently. A Chinese publisher has just approached me and wants to buy the 5-year Chinese foreign distribution rights. How do I evaluate their offer? I self-published a non-fiction technical book recently. A Chinese publisher has just approached me and wants to buy the 5-year Chinese foreign distribution rights. They appear to be a legitimate company, and they're offering an $1800 advance, 3000 copy 1st print run, and an 8% royalty rate on a $9 USD planned retail price (20% royalty rate on ebook sales).

I've Googled the topic and read some basic background stuff but am generally ignorant of the publishing industry and the retail market for books in China. Does this deal seem fair? Is there anything I should watch out for? [I do not intend to provide exclusivity for sales of the English edition in China--I sell the English ebook myself and it would be a huge PITA for me to keep Chinese buyers from purchasing it.] I'm a little suspicious of doing business with China, having heard many horror stories of IP theft, but honestly...my book is for sale on Amazon, if they wanted to illegally translate and sell it, they could have done that already.

I have already seen this previous question.

Notice to Move

camylanded — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:22:05 -0800

My landlord did not give any sort of notice -- lease is to end in August, but according to note, there's a move-out inspection on May 31st? What?! My landlord and I discussed my lease in January as I was scheduled to move out February 28th. I explained that I did not have the time or money to move and that I would like to stay. She asked how long, I said August. We then discussed that at length and she asked me the following 2 times I went to the office to pay monthly rent–each time agreeing on August. Please note that at any time, if I asked if I should sign a new lease, she said that verbal agreement was fine.

Today I received a note on my door stating that I was scheduled to move out May 31st and that an inspection would be done on that date. I know she’s legally required to give me a 30-day notice to vacate. There was no talk of May being a move out date, and definitely nothing written stating I needed to move in May.

What do I do in this case if when I speak to her in the morning she still claims I need to move out on May 31st? I do not have anywhere to go — I still have little time to look for somewhere to move, and as I’ve given her the majority of the money I have for my rent here, I have no funds for getting a new place, either.

To make matters even more confusing, last week I received a notice that I was 10 dollars behind on rent -- since the monthly rate was 565. My rate has always been 555 and I've never received any kind of notice stating there was an increase.

Is it legal for a job to not allow employees to take breaks?

TwilightKid — Thu, 09 May 2013 06:08:18 -0800

I work in a house that has been designated as a group home for 5 disabled adults. The program/company is funded for by the state. I am an hourly employee who works a full 40 hours (plus up to 10-15 hours of overtime @ time and a half many weeks). My checks include deductions in all the proper taxes and stuff that any job would withdraw from. It's a full on legit job. My responsibilities include: preparing meals, helping with laundry, play games with, proper care for the 5 residents, organizing outings into the community, etc....In a sense, it can be looked at as a glorified babysitting job. There is a lot of downtime where when, the work around the house is done and all odd jobs are complete, we sit around and watch TV or movies, read a magazine, and basically chill. I'd guess that in a 40 hour work week, at least half that time is down time.

There are rules in place though where we are not allowed to leave the home, unless we bring one of the residents with us. We often take them grocery shopping, to the park, to the mall or movies; just basically helping them interact with society. All part of the job. While it isn't addressed in the employee handbook, it was kind of explained to me (under the table), that as long as you bring a resident with you and perform an activity that benefits them, this is the time where you can kind of run quick errands (the bank, the post office, etc...)

In our 40 hour work week, it was explained to me that this is considered our breaks. Most shifts have 2 people working them, so if one person goes out with a resident or two, there is another person at the house watching the other residents. In a nutshell, I am not entitled to a one hour break if I work an 8-12 hour day, nor am I allowed to leave for a 15 minute break (on my own) for a shorter day I may be working (4-5 hours)....

I was brought into the job by a close friend who manages the home. i read the employee handbook where this isn't addressed.....I asked him (the manager) about it and he explained that since the job has so much downtime (which I get paid hourly for), that counts as our breaks, and therefore why they company does not need to legally allows us to have our own free time over a course of a shift....It is frowned upon severely to run any personal errands (with a resident) while out, and can result in and up to termination, I was told that , that un-officially is our time to ourselves, and to proceed with our personal errands with caution...I am not a smoker, but smoke breaks are allowed outside of the home on the patio or deck, where access to the residents are still close by and issues can be dealt with...

My issue is, is this legal? How can I work an official 40 hour full time state funded, tax taken job, and not be entitled to breaks....I am in NJ....I don't know the specifics of the law, but in an 8 hour shift, shouldnt I legally be entitled to a one hour break and several 15 minute breaks, where I can leave the property at will? If I work a 4 hour shift, aren't i entitled to a 15 minute break or something? I was told that since, I am sitting around watching tv, or playing on my phone, or reading a book half my shift, that they do not need to provide me with a lunch or dinner hour, etc...

There is a shady management staff (IMO) in place and from the 7 months I have been with this company, I have heard stories of other employees being 'pushed out' of the job if you question or cause any ruffles in the feathers. Most employees in the 12-15 group homes spread out across NJ speak with each other, and share stories of someone who 'pissed off' the wrong member of management, and eventually was either let go for a totally 'random' reason....

This job is not a long term gig for me. I was in a lurch and took the job. I do it well, but I am on the search for a better career option. i am not looking to cause waves, but upon my leaving this job, I want to find out my legal rights about this.....If I am entitled to these breaks over a 40-50 hour work week, then do I have any recourse to sue the company for back pay....I'll have pay stubs showing the exact amount of time I have put in....Could this turn into a class action suit with every current and former employee for back pay?

Or , is there a legal loophole in this job field that supersedes the law and they can legally run the operation like this? I don't think because of the abundance of downtime on the job which I am being paid for supersedes my legal rights either.

This is about my legal rights..Trust me, I feel lucky in some slight manner that I am not having to do heavy physical exhausting work. It is a somewhat enticing proposition to get paid to basically hang out.....I understand that, however.......

Thanks!

I need a lot of royalty-free pictures of California. Options?

rileyray3000 — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:51:28 -0800

So basically I need to swap out all the art on several websites with photos of California that we have the rights to use in perpetuity (as well as for print). I realize there's the "buy one at a time from Getty" avenue but I have neither the time or resources for that. What I need is a boatload of pics that I can use for commercial use that are all OF California (as well as some general use pics, graphics and art). A very big collection that I can hand to an intern so they can get swapping. I think in the old days you used to just be able to buy a CD-rom of images. Can you still do that? Are there full collections with hundreds of pics? Or are there any free collections that anyone knows about that are just public use for this purpose? My budget for this is not high (no more than a couple hundred bucks) so I'm open to any options possible.

What happened to churches that refused to hold interracial weddings?

jepler — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:27:01 -0800

Around the time that the Supreme Court decided Loving v. Virginia, did any churches lose their tax exempt status either due to (A) political activities related to the fight over interracial marriage or (B) due to the refusal to conduct such marriages for its members? On the news this morning, I heard a pastor of a conservative church say

Who knows if the gay rights[sic] get their way, that if some gay couple wants to get married in my church, I say no, they'll say, well, you got to, or we'll take away your tax rights[sic], or you'll have to start paying property taxes, because that's discrimination. Who knows what they'll do?

This made me wonder what happened to churches that were on the wrong side in interracial marriage.

Bonus question: What exactly is the lawsuit against the Word of Life Church in El Paso, TX? The story alludes to a lawsuit against the church that might affect its tax-exempt status, but it doesn't actually say what the lawsuit is:

[H]e's now facing a lawsuit that his church engaged in political activities, which would jeopardize its tax-exempt status.

Need an employments right lawyer STAT

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:07:27 -0800

A friend works overseas for a US-based defence contractor. He's been involved in a somewhat work-related incident in his country of work and his employer is, long story short, refusing to advise him, maybe even turning against him. Lots of details we don't want to put on the internet. Need to find a good attorney in the US that has specialization in working with employment rights, particularly in international situations for US based entities (not sure if the defence contractor part is relevant or not). If state matters, pick Texas.

Tracking down stolen guns

DaddyNewt — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 12:25:44 -0800

About 30 years ago my dad had a large gun collection (about 100 total). They were stolen and only about 10 of them were ever recovered. He had a list of models and serial numbers that he sent to local law enforcement. I still have that list. is there any chance of recovering more of the guns? How would I go about that?

MLK Day Documentary

j_curiouser — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:37:50 -0800

What age-appropriate documentary should I watch with my 10yo daughter to help her understand the civil rights movement and MLK's place in it? I googled around quite a bit and found tons of short news clips, speeches, and excerpts. I'm looking for something cohesive. There's also the groundbreaking 'Eyes on the Prize', which is (a) too long and (b) a little too intense for the age IMHO. Have any ideas? Prefer free-on-the-web, but other suggestions welcome. Thanks!

Music industry - sideways moves from performing to...?

joboe — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:48:48 -0800

I graduated from music college in the UK about 10 years ago, and recently decided that while this time has been spent developing skills to augment my income as a freelance performer, I'd now like to consolidate those skills into a related career which would leave me more financially stable. For a long time now, I have been interested in becoming a music supervisor in the film/television industry, music researcher or working in a production music library. Whenever I have had any involvement with music rights or negotiating clearances, I've been fascinated by it but have never had the opportunity to have this as my main focus. How do I do this as someone who is not able to do long-term unpaid work experience/internships? I've worked extensively in performing, teaching and editing (mainly print publishing but with some involvement in multi-media), both freelance, salaried and contracted. During this time, I gained a lot of experience in project management (qualification in this), copyright and licensing issues (attended accredited monthly seminars in this) and producing recording sessions, so I'm definitely a lot more experienced than most college graduates but have no relevant contacts in this specific area of the industry.
1. What's the best way to approach companies and show them that I have something to offer? 2. How do I know which companies I should approach?
3. I feel like at 33, I might be too old to be taken seriously - I'm aware that I'll probably have to be an assistant again, but am totally cool with that. Have I missed the boat entirely? I definitely can't afford to go back to study right now.

Suspending employee access to email account

ascetic — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 09:25:35 -0800

What are the laws and or regulations about "possession" of employee/company email after an employee is terminated? Long story short, I run a successful music blog and one of our top writers / journalists evidently took a job at another magazine and is trying to take other writers with him.

Because of these actions, I'd hate to think of what he could or would do with access to the hundreds of industry contacts he has stored in his email.

So because he is no longer working with/for us, am I legally allowed to suspend access to his email account, effectively barring him from accessing these contacts?

Dvds and Books on factory-farming to encourage me to give up dairy

TRUELOTUS — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 10:18:22 -0800

Philosophically, I believe in eating a plant-based vegan diet. In practice, it has proven difficult, as we are so disconnected from the animals that we are consuming. The most difficult for me is giving up dairy. So HiveMind, please help me by recommending books and DVDs on modern -day factory farming , which will reconnect me with the animals I am consuming. I am hoping that by seeing their suffering I will be no longer be able to be complicate in their exploitation. I have Our Daily Bread on DVD, and have Earthlings on hold from the library. I see there is a series on Peta.org, called Meet Your Meat. But, I really want a DVD, I'm not trying to watch stuff on my computer. I have also seen the Got the Facts on Milk documentary, but I really what to have a visual connection between dairy cows and the production of milk, so that when I think of consuming dairy I have an image that would deter me from doing so.

I don't want to bleach the state land, thanks.

Nattie — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 17:46:17 -0800

We recently moved to a new house and our washing machine hook-up does not drain properly. Instead of fixing it, our landlord keeps being pushy about how we should just drain it into the state land behind the house. We're in La Crescenta, CA. My husband and I have told our landlord multiple times now that draining onto the state land is unacceptable to us, but when we do this, the landlord gives us some vague platitude about fixing the drain sometime in the future, which has yet to materialize. He's had about a month to do this, and we've been in contact with him every four days or so, so we've heard this "sometime soon" excuse many times now and never thought it would go on this long.

This is getting ridiculous, and I am irritated that we were told the house had working washer and dryer hook-ups when it essentially doesn't and the landlord has had a month to fix this and hasn't.

We have gotten more forceful and unsympathetic when he gives us the vague reply, so we don't need help asserting ourselves. What I do want is some concrete information about the following so we can tell him very clearly what the laws are. I'm not sure he actually does know what the laws are, so that would be important -- we had to buy our own carbon monoxide detector even though the law says the landlord has to provide one -- but there's also the possibility that he does know the laws and hopes we don't.

1. What is the law in California about draining washer machine water onto state land? I would guess this is illegal, and we don't want to do it regardless, but if it were illegal it would be an easier conversation. And if he continues to insist we do something illegal, it might make it easier to break our lease if necessary.

2. What recourse do we have for being told that there are working washer and dryer hook-ups when the washer hook-up doesn't work? What rights do tenants have when a landlord lies (whether he considers it a lie or not) about these things? I am considering asking for money off our rent for the month (months? ugh) we're unable to do laundry but if this doesn't get fixed I don't want to pay the price we're paying to live here. We specifically wanted a place where we could use our washer and dryer and if I had known we couldn't, I wouldn't have even looked at this place.

I don't think our landlord is intentionally being sleazy, he's just very old, losing his memory and health, and it seems to make him flaky and unable to manage his properties effectively. We're sympathetic to him as a person and don't think he's a bad guy, but he definitely does not seem to have accepted that he can't do things he used to do by himself. He will talk about his failing health so he's aware, sort of, but does not actually hire people to fix the problems and keeps trying to do stuff he says he used to do. It's also frankly starting to feel manipulative and unprofessional when we ask him to fix something and get a sob story instead of action. It doesn't seem reasonable for him to expect us to just go without laundry for months because he can't manage his properties anymore, but this is going to be a very awkward conversation and I don't want to get into anything contentious so early into the relationship with this guy. He's very nice, he just doesn't do his job and wants us to take shortcuts that we feel are absurd. If we could keep the conversation purely on "this is the law, comply with the law or we will take these legal actions" at least we'll get a resolution (either it's fixed, or we leave) and not a deflection.

Thanks for any information!

How to buy the rights to a crappy movie?

matkline — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 18:36:25 -0800

My friend is a fan of really crappy 80s and 90s movies. I want to buy him the rights to some piece of %$&^ film. Of course, I'd prefer it had some star quality (could just be John Belushi's brother or something). How much would something like this cost? How would I go about doing it? I don't suppose that there's an ebay style auction site where you could do something like that?

A stand against estate agents?

Marzipan — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 20:21:58 -0800

UK Estate Agents - worth taking a stand? We're moving to a new, rented flat in London, and the estate agent (Hamptons) is insisting we pay an 'application to rent' ostensibly to enter into negotiations with the landlord (though everything has already been agreed), and it contains some shocking extra fees, all in addition to the contract fees, and the management fees they charge the landlord.

They require a £54 reference fee per tenant (they use Letsure, which costs £32.40), a £30 fee for any changes to the tenancy document, a minimum charge of £30 to get a reference from Hamptons at any time, £30 'admin' fee for any changes to the inventory document, £60 if you extend or renew the contract, £420 to change the name of a tenant on the contract, and most surprising of all if you terminate the tenancy early you, the tenant, are required to pay Hamptons the rest of the commission they would have been paid by the landlord.

Is this normal? Is it just us who think it is excessive? Is there anything we can do - on this occasion specifically, and to try and stop this kind of thing more generally? Hamptons is an international firm who seem to be pushing the boundaries of fleecing landlord and tenant, which, if they get away with it, is eventually is going to trickle through the market.

I've had a look at the trade associations but they seem toothless and the complaint procedure is arduous and for cases of specific malpractice. Estate Agents in general have a pretty poor reputation, and agent consumer review sites are few and seem to have little traffic, and also require reviews for specific branches rather than issue with the agency as a whole.

Should we just deal?

Can employer restrict my use of portfolio samples?

AONeal79 — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:36:01 -0800

I'm a graphic designer, employed full-time with a marketing agency. Yesterday my boss said I have to take down examples of work I've done while at the agency. In trying to determine if I can legally show these samples, searching the web is providing conflicting info. Things worth mentioning (a) My portfolio specifies that the work was done on behalf of my employer (b) I never signed anything restricting the use of these images and (c) The images are of works that have appeared in public (stores, events, etc). Is there something "official" I can refer to that shows where the rights to these images lie, especially as they apply to a personal portfolio?

Do I also have the right to interview several lawyers?

ignignokt — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 22:51:34 -0800

Don't talk to the police is convincing and sound advice. Getting a lawyer to represent you so that the police don't trick you into a conviction is a great idea. However, when someone is unexpectedly taken into police custody, how they find a suitable attorney on the spot to defend them? Do they just use the phone book or Google? Do they call the guy that handled their mortgage closing? Is the public defender just as good as a lawyer picked at random in this situation? Or do people that don't already have a lawyer usually just give up and talk?

I'm interested in knowing both what usually happens and what the ideal course of action is.

Need Google+ photogroups help?

Wilder — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 06:00:43 -0800

Need idiots guide to Google+ photo hosting pages? On holidays with sporadic Internet, so limited ability to google or view instruction videos. Spanish friend asked for help por fa Friend has created a photo page #(something to do with San Sebastian and Sundays). When friends send her pictures to include on her page of their visits to her town, they appear on her personal +friendofwilder page not on the # whatever age. She can repost them but they show up with her avatar and her name. She can repost them and sometimes they show up with her avatar and their avatar, but she can't seem to get to the place where they get automatically posted to her page. Presumably she has to approve them somehow but doesn't know how. What does she need to do? Any links either in Eng or Spanish welcome, if you have examples of photo groups you belong to that would really help. Thanks Mefites

How to become a civil liberties crusader

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:58:42 -0800

Public interest law transition-filter: I am a lawyer in a private-sector transactional practice. I would like to be a public interest lawyer doing litigation or policy in national security, civil liberties, surveillance or drug liberalization. My orientation on all these issues is civil-libertarian, pro-transparency and disclosure, etc. Groups whose work I tend to admire include the ACLU, EFF, EPIC, Government Accountability Project, CCR, etc.

I'm a few years out of law school and I have decent credentials: I graduated from a top school with good grades, and I work for one of the most distinguished "BigLaw" firms. The group I practice in is routinely recognized as the best, or among the best, in the business.

My big weakness is that I have no litigation experience and little public interest history. I haven't clerked. I haven't worked on any of the causes I'm interested in. I have been a member of a civil liberties group, but not a terribly active one. I have done some public interest pro bono projects as a practicing lawyer, but nothing really relevant to what I want to get into.

I understand that this is "bad" -- the question is, what do I do about it? What is the quickest and most efficient way I can get out of what I'm doing and into one of the things I'm interested in? Part-time, volunteer, unpaid internship and similar possibilities are all possible if I need to do them. Should I try to clerk? Who to talk to about this?

(I am of course prepared to accept a vastly diminished wage rate in exchange for work that I will find meaningful.)

All advice is welcome. Thanks.

If there is important information missing let me know in the thread and I will try to follow up.

productive social justice

These Birds of a Feather — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 20:10:46 -0800

How can I assert my support of issues that matter to me without going hog wild and kicking a lot of people out of my life? Lately a lot of things in my life have sort of pushed my social justice buttons to the nth degree. I'm more sensitive to homophobia, racism, sexism, ableism, etc, than I've ever been in my entire life. Usually I have a pretty productive approach to these things and deal with hot button moments fairly well; now, with all the buzz about Chick-Fil-A filling my newsfeed on a daily basis, a big part of me wants to declare to the people in my life that if they support bigotry and hate of that nature, we're through as friends.

I really want to take a stand against the things that I've listed above, but I worry that me having a knee-jerk reaction is just not a productive way of handling my strong emotions right now. How can I assert my support of the issues that matter to me and satisfy that need without going hog wild and kicking a lot of people out of my life?

Tenant's rights filter: Virginia. My landlord is making a lot of unreasonable requests. What are my options, and who should I talk to?

_cave — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 06:03:10 -0800

Tenant's rights filter: Virginia. My landlord is making unreasonable demands. What are my options, and who should I talk to? I found a condo to rent off of Craigslist in Fairfax, VA, and moved into it with my sister last October. Up until now, our landlord has been extremely friendly and accommodating, but we decided not to renew the lease--I'm going to be commuting to Baltimore for work starting this academic year and want to be closer to the metro--and now there are problems.

First, the moving date. Our lease is up in October, and I had planned to move early in the semester for work and help my sister pay rent up through the end of the lease so that she isn't too inconvenienced. He asked us to move in August instead because he had a prospective tenant lined up and wanted to re-sign a lease for a place himself. We've tried to accommodate, and my sister has in fact already signed a lease at another place starting in August. I will hopefully also be able to find a new apartment by the date that we agreed on (over email, we have not signed anything at this point). But it's a huge cost and inconvenience to make the deadline, and he will not allow me to keep so much as an extra piece of furniture in the apartment for a couple of extra days.

The second and more distressing issue is that he recently emailed me and told me that my last two checks had arrived late in the mail, and that he wanted to charge me late fees because of this. Now, on the 6th or 7th of this month (the rent is due on the 1st) he did send me an email asking if I had mailed the rent. I said yes, and then he replied with a 'never mind, it just came today'. I thought that this was not a big deal at all, and didn't know about the previous month's rent either. But he said that since the lease stipulates that the rent must be received by the first, he is going to retroactively charge me fees.

I said (again through email, all of this communication has taken place that way) that this doesn't seem at all fair and he should have told me that he didn't get the check on time when the check failed to arrive so that I could have done something about it. He simply repeated his demands for the late fees.

These sudden changes in his attitude have made me worried that this is going to escalate further. I suspect that the tenant that he thought that he had lined up bailed on him, and now he's scrambling to try to figure out how to meet his expenses, but this is a really crappy (illegal?) way to go about it. So like the headline says, what are my rights, and who should I contact?

What are my rights with a landlord trying to sell the house I'm renting?

crayz — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 10:36:01 -0800

I'm currently renting a house in North Carolina and the landlord has decided to try to sell it. What are my rights regarding showings, and what is my best course of action to try to fix this situation? I've been renting the place for the past 4 months, and a couple weeks ago I was informed the landlord was considering trying to sell it. Since then I've had a total of two visits from her realtor and a total of seven showings at hours from 9:30AM to 7PM, on weekdays and weekends

Also one person came by unexpectedly without having booked a showing, during a conference call (I work from home), and one of the realtors ran over a couple of my pots of tomato plants (then handed me $10 and ran away)

Basically this is all incredibly disruptive and unwanted, and seems unreasonable given that I'm still a current tenant and the landlord wishes me to continue to be one in the case the house doesn't sell

The relevant passage from the lease seems to be the following:

Right of Entry: Landlord hereby reserves the right to enter the Premises during reasonable hours for the purpose of (1) inspecting the Premises and the Tenant's compliance with the terms of this lease; (2) making such repairs, alterations, improvements or additions thereto as the Landlord may deem appropriate; and (3) showing the Premises to prospective purchasers or tenants. Landlord shall also have the right to display "For Sale" or "For Rent" signs in a reasonable manner upon the Premises.

and from a quick googling around, it seems like there's a common law "covenant of quiet enjoyment" which would (however the heck it's understood by North Carolina courts) decide my rights regarding the situation, but it seems like most courts take "reasonableness" into consideration

My thought is essentially I could say (to the property management company/landlord) that I will be:
a) turning down requests for showings outside some pre-agreed reasonable block of time (e.g. saturday afternoons)
b) if the property is not taken off the market, I'll be exiting the lease as soon as possible, which would be end of July w/ 30 days notice
c) wanting to update the lease to specify that the house cannot be offered for sale/rent as long as the lease remains current

Any thoughts as to whether this is legal/a good idea/etc, and whether it'd make more sense to call today or wait to give them less time (to rent it out again? I'm not sure this makes sense) given that I'd prefer to simply stay in the house (without a danger of it being sold out from under me) if possible

Possibly relevant information: I have fairly good reason to believe that the asking price for the sale is at least $20k too high, and that the rental price is also relatively high and the house sat unoccupied for ~18 months before because of the owner's unwillingness to budge on price

Sign here please.

Stagger Lee — Tue, 29 May 2012 12:45:10 -0800

What constitutes token versus semi-professional payment in the North American short fiction market? What's reasonable to expect? What are reasonable contractual expectations when signing away a piece for first publishing? Any resources, information, and dire warnings would be appreciated. I want to make sure that I'm not making any mistakes I have to live with for the rest of my so called career.

Hey, That's me on that CD - Pay me!

DandyRandy — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:27:57 -0800

What are my rights when someone uses a performance in which I was a significant participant on a commercial CD? I don't recall signing anything that assigned my rights as a performer, nor was I asked permission for its use nor even notified of its release. I have yet to ascertain whether I'm credited on the CD at all. I know YANAL, but surely this sort of thing has come up for someone before. How did you handle it?

How to find out when and where newish movies will be boradcast before DVD/BD release

Lentrohamsanin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:18:17 -0800

Is there a reliable way to find out when and where a movie that's too old to be in first run theaters but too new to be airing on cable and/or streaming will be available to watch? Example inside. We missed Haywire when it was in theaters. Via Amazon, I can see it will be available on DVD and BD here in the states in May. Barring searching the schedule for each cable channel, I'm having a little difficulty finding out if/when it will be broadcast or offered on demand in the interim. Is there a trick for quickly looking this up that I'm missing? Like a site like Moviefone or Box Office Mojo but that covers what channels and services have the broadcast, streaming, etc. rights to new movies that have finished their theatrical runs? Or a magic search string that works every time?

Who owns photos, videos and audio of a musical performance?

thrasher — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:44:12 -0800

I pay the band to play, I shoot the video and photos and record the audio. But who actually owns the media? I pay bands to play private events in my house. I am skilled as a photographer, videographer, sound engineer, etc and the bands know it (I've worked in radio, television, photography and music for a number of years). They know I record audio/video/photos of these events and some have specifically asked me to do so.

But this is where I get weird and why I've never made any serious money freelancing in any of these fields. Who owns all that stuff, really? I made the photos, the audio and the video, so I own it. But it's photos, video and audio OF THEM, so they own it. But I'm certainly not going to just hand it over to them for nothing, and it seems to me like it'd be wrong for either of us to sell any of it...

I hate negotiating this kind of stuff. Any suggestions, advice, insight?