New York New York Legal Blog

You were unhappy with the way you were represented by your past attorney. You lost your case, but there were multiple ways they made errors throughout that are completely their fault. They forgot to bring paperwork for the judge to review. Once, they completely missed court. They didn't talk to you before court to discuss what you should wear or what you should do when speaking with the judge.

In the end, you feel that a lack of proper representation cost you your case. You want to make sure that the attorney compensates you, because you are very unhappy with how they acted while working with you.

One of the greatest things about the internet is the ability to bring information to people who otherwise may not be able to access it as easily. A lot of people in New York use online videos to learn new skills. Some of the video creators may receive financial compensation for teaching, either directly from video revenue, or indirectly from increased sales of other things they may produce. However, in the case of YouTube videos that teach people to play instruments like a guitar, some artists feel teachers are profiting off of their songs by using them as teaching tools. Now authorities are attempting to determine if these instructional guitar videos are a violation of copyright law.

Videos that teach people to play songs on different instruments have been popular for a long time, but recently some have questioned the legality of the videos. Some videos are released by the artists themselves and generally don't violate copyright law, since the artists are normally the ones who hold the copyright. Some artists say that their videos have been unfairly targeted, even when they are the ones holding the copyright. Others question if teachers should be allowed to use famous songs for which they clearly have no legal right to use.

As a musician, something you like to do is to post your music online. Your goal is always to sell singles and records through iTunes and other platforms, but you're worried that someone will take your songs while you're not very popular and end up making money off your work.

If you want to avoid trouble with your music being stolen or used by those who didn't get permission, you need to consider taking a few legal steps. First, you'll want to get a trademark for your band or stage name. Second, you will want to copyright your music. While you have automatic protections once your music is in a tangible form, you should still consider paying for a copyright. Finally, make sure you understand Google Alerts and digital watermarks and use them to protect your music.

Many New York artists assume that only musicians have a need to obtain a copyright for artistic works. However, artists of all mediums may benefit from protecting their creations, including photographers, designers and visual artists. Those in that last category in particular may not always think about how copyright law might help them, but it can. A young teen artist and his family recently filed a civil claim against retail giant Target, accusing the company of stealing one of his designs and using it in one of their kids apparel lines.

The plaintiffs say that the retail giant used the artwork of an autistic teen artist without permission. The artist has social media sites where he displays his work to his numerous followers. He and his family claim that Target used one of his designs featured in a collection of 15 works called "Circle Happiness."The freehand pattern of dots the artist created allegedly appears in Target's kids apparel line Cat & Jack, which was released in 2016.