The Seneff Law Office

11/01/2024

An appeals court says that allowing Sheeran’s accusers to proceed with their infringement lawsuit over “Thinking Out Loud” could “stifle creativity” for future songwriters.

08/29/2024

INFORMATION ONLY; NOT LEGAL ADVICE:

Please, please, please, do NOT avoid getting at least 4 documents professionally drafted if you are an adult. Everyone should have as a minimum (1) a Durable Power of Attorney for Financial Matters; (2) a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare; (3) a Living Will; and, (4) a Last Will and Testament. If you have the means, get a professionally drafted Living Trust. You will save those who care for you money, time, doubt, and frustration.

I know I am biased, but I also strongly urge you NOT to use online services or pre-typed forms from the big box office stores. They are often not enforceable (I have personal experience with the messes they often cause). You might not spend as much as going to an attorney, but your family might have to spend months or years getting everything straightened out of you are not able to speak for yourself or pass away.

It doesn’t matter if you have no immediate family, you are young, or, you don’t think you need one “yet.”

My son didn’t have them (though I encouraged him to) when he died. A friend wound up in a coma without them and their spouse could not make financial decisions because they didn’t have authority to sign on their I’ll partner’s behalf. A client paid for online forms and one very important document was completely invalid in Tennessee, and they didn’t use the others properly. Finally, a close friend is now unable to speak for himself, is in a care facility with no documentation as to how he wants his personal affairs handled, medical affairs handled, who should help with those matters, or what he wants to happen to his personal property.

PLEASE: on behalf of all of those care about you, do the responsible thing.

08/01/2024

Are you a content creator?

The so-called “right of publicity” is an area of intellectual property that is protected on a state-by-state basis. Tennessee has both common law protections, and up until very recently, statutory protections under what was called "Personal Rights Protection Act of 1984.”

The “Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act of 2024” (ELVIS Act) was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee on March 21, 2024 and was effective July 1. This new statute, T.C.A. Section 47-25-1101 et seq., replaces and makes substantial changes to the prior statute.

For anyone who incorporates characteristics of other individuals into “advertising products, merchandise, goods, or services, or for purposes of fundraising, solicitation of donations, purchases of products, merchandise, goods, or services” should be aware of the legal requirements to do so in Tennessee law.

The law includes protection for deceased individual's name, photograph, voice, or likeness.

“[K]nowledge that use of the voice or likeness was not authorized” is not required to incur civil liability. If a “person distributes, transmits, or otherwise makes available an algorithm, software, tool, or other technology, service, or device, the primary purpose [of which] is the production of a particular, identifiable individual’s photograph, voice, or likeness” with knowledge would result in liability as well.

Exemptions are only recognized “to the extent such use is protected by the First Amendment.” Defenses to an action alleging violation of the statute include uses “[f]or purposes of comment, criticism, scholarship, satire, or parody.” There is also an exception for audiovisual (film and video) for “[a] representation of the individual as the individual’s self in an audiovisual work”.

The Act also gives a right of action to a recording company if an artist is under an agreement for their exclusive personal services as a recording artist or to distribute sound recordings that contain an individual’s audio performances and that recording artist’s voice is used by a third party without permission.

There numerous other issues addressed in the new statute that are complicated and will certainly be the subject of litigation and statutory revisions.

In short, don’t use an individual’s name, photograph, likeness, or voice without an appropriately drafted document giving permission for the use(s).

07/01/2024

ATTENTION to ANYONE using another (living or dead) person's name, image, likeness, signature, and/or voice (often generally called "rights of publicity") for any use that might be deemed "commercial" in nature (money changing hands is not required), I STRONGLY recommend reading the attached article. Use of AI as it relates to manipulating any characteristics possibly implicating "rights of publicity" should be very closely scrutinized before being published. Getting a legal opinion would be wise.

On March 21, 2024, Tennessee enacted the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security (ELVIS) Act of 2024, expanding the state's statutory right of…

06/26/2024

If you are interested in faith-based filmmaking check this out! I will be there making a presentation on legal issues for filmmakers.

02/24/2024

If you are a content creator, this decision is a blow to your legal rights and will possibly result in far more infringement of intellectual property rights. Let's hope that it is further appealed and reversed.

A federal appeals court in Virginia has overturned a 2019 verdict against Cox Communications…

11/02/2023

My buddy Doug.

A Million Miles is a song about how far away our childhood experiences seem to be. Doug Mathis is a Positive Country singer/songwriter and he co-wrote this s...

10/19/2023

Fascinating.

05/04/2023

Ed Sheeran has been found not liable for an alleged copyright infringement of a musical composition recorded by Marvin Gaye. This area is fraught with complications and misunderstandings. If you believe your composition or recording (or book, film, play, photograph, art, etc.) has been infringed you should consult with a knowledgeable attorney as early as possible. Just as importantly, register any such works you would be willfully sue to protect with the Copyright Office as early as possible. These are complicated issues and you should not rely on urban legends or your friend to guide you. You can also count on being sued for infringement if you become a successful songwriter or recording artist.

The jury returned a not-liable verdict Thursday in Ed Sheeran's copyright battle over whether he stole from a Marvin Gaye song.

07/03/2022

Good news songwriters!