The Arts, Communications, Entertainment, & Sports Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan (ACES) is hosting a roundtable discussion on documentary filmmaking on Thursday, March 5th, 5:30 p.m., at Ringside Creative in Oak Park, MI.  The discussion will focus on legal issues relevant to documentary filmmakers, most notably copyright law’s “fair use” doctrine and its application to documentary art.  We’ll review an extended trailer for the soon-to-be-released documentary film “It Came From Detroit” (see below), and discuss with the filmmakers their attempt, and struggle, to stay within fair use guidelines.

About the film and the filmmakers:

James R. Petix: Director/Camera/Editor.  After graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design …read more

Businesses’ have a multitude of financing options available to them, from commercial bank loans to venture capital to asset-based financing.  However, few options provide high-growth companies the flexibility and control that private placements, otherwise known as private investment capital, can offer.

What is “private placement”?

Private placement is the investment of capital – usually in the form of stock but can involve other types of securities – by private investors, sometimes referred to as “angel” investors or accredited investors.  Unlike public stock offerings, private placements are exempt from the rigorous, and costly, registration requirements imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission for securities offerings.

Nevertheless, private placements are not totally free from legal obstacles.  And securities offered or sold improperly, or with incorrect …read more

A tech startup lawyer provides legal counsel to entrepreneurs in the technology, software, and Internet industries.  Emerging companies in these fields face unique and challenging legal and business …read more

The mission of a2geeks “is to make Ann Arbor a better place for geeks to live and work through tech culture and community.”  The group organized its first …read more

I’ve previously written about the fine line between copyright infringement and First Amendment protection here.  A recent case illustrates the quandary even further.

Shepard Fairey, commonly referred to as a street artist, is the creator of a famous campaign poster featuring President Obama.  The basis for the poster was a news photo taken by an Associated Press photographer.  After several weeks of public claims of copyright infringement by the AP, Mr. Fairey, with the help of lawyers from the Stanford Fair Use Project, filed a lawsuit seeking a declaration that Mr. Fairey ’s use of the AP image is a fair use; and, therefore, not an infringement of the …read more