Mirror of Justice

A San Diego & Orange County California Airplane Accident Lawyer’s Humorous View of Possible Future Laws to Prevent Aircraft Accidents

July 16th, 2009 at 02:52am Under Aviation Law

If you’ve had an airplane or aviation accident anywhere in California, from San Diego to Orange County, or from Santa Barbara to Palm Springs, or at any other Southern California airport including Carlsbad, Chico, Imperial, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Ontario, San Luis Obispo, Santa Ana, Santa Maria, Palmdale, Camarillo, Chino, Compton, El Monte, Hawthorne, La Verne, Ramona, Riverside, San Bernardino, Torrance, Upland, Van Nuys, Burbank, Apple Valley, Banning, Big Bear, Borrego Springs, Calexico, Corona, Lompoc, Murrieta, Temecula, Oceanside, Paso Robles, Redlands, Santa Ynez, Twentynine Palms, Hesperia, Joshua Tree, or Yucca Valley, you’ve probably been wondering if the California state legislators are working on any new Bills to try to prevent airplane accidents or if the cut backs on food and drinks on flights means that safety might also suffer.

I had heard that the state’s legislators were rushing to pass laws to prevent airplane accidents, so I called one of my state Senators to learn how this would affect pilots in California and personal injury victims. What I learned may just keep me on the ground in the future.

“I would guess that the rule against using cell phones won’t apply to pilots, right?” I asked.

“Actually, it will,” the Senator said. “We still think it can mess up the navigational equipment. Radio transmissions will still be allowed.”

“What are you thinking about prohibiting?” I asked.

“Can you keep a secret,” the Senator asked.

“Sure,” I said.

“Well we’ve heard some pilots used to like to drink a little something on long flights,” the Senator said.

“You’re not saying what I think you’re saying, are you?” I asked.

“Yup,” the Senator answered. “No more beach parties in the cockpits. The rule against drinking margaritas will be strictly enforced from now on.”

“That’s good,” I said sarcastically. “I hate it when the pilot of my plane starts singing on the intercom.”

“What else are you thinking about prohibiting?” I asked.

“No more gambling, and no more card games of any kind.”

“They play card games up there?” I asked.

“They play all kinds of games,” the Senator said. “Poker, video games…we’re making a list that will be all inclusive, we hope.”

“So what else are you considering outlawing?” I asked.

“Well, you’d probably be surprised what pilots do now that they have all that food to themselves,” the Senator said.

“You mean the food they used to serve passengers?” I asked.

“That’s right,” the Senator said. “Turns out they’ve been having food fights up there and using the peanuts as poker chips.”

“Sounds like the fun is over” I said.

“We’re not prohibiting everything,” the Senator said. “But there will be no more spying on the passengers unless it’s for security reasons.”

“What do you mean spying?” I asked.

“Are you sure you can keep a secret?” the Senator asked.

“Positive,” I said with my fingers crossed behind my back.

“Well, you know those little air vents that you adjust to blow air on your seat?”

“Sure,” I answered.

“Lets just say that airplanes vents would do more good if they didn’t have little cameras in them.”

“You mean that each of those little vents are really cameras?” I asked. “I always wondered why they worked so poorly.”

“You didn’t hear that from me,” the Senator said.

“Aren’t you afraid of making the pilots bored if you take away their little spy tools?”

“Maybe they’ll have to put on some better in flight movies,” the Senator said.

“Just don’t let the pilots have a screen to watch them,” I said.

“Good point,” the Senator replied, and made a note to himself.

If you’ve been injured in an accident involving an airplane and want to know what rules actually apply to flying, call the offices of an airplane accident lawyer.

Visit our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com to learn more about how we obtain great personal injury settlements from insurance companies. Or call us to speak directly to Sebastian Gibson about your airplane, helicopter, airline or aviation accident, or the loss of a loved one in a wrongful death with no charge for your consultation. 

California Business Law Attorney’s Guide to Making Money in the Future – Patents

July 14th, 2009 at 08:53pm Under Business Law

In these difficult economic times, new businesses are much riskier to try, but there is no more lucrative an area even in the current conditions than for an inventor or designer who can create a new invention or process and who can afford to have it patented.

Whether you live in San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Barbara, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Temecula, Anaheim, Irvine, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Encinitas or Palm Springs conditions are much the same throughout California. Business is slow and much of what little real estate is selling are the foreclosed homes.

As a Business Lawyer in Southern California, people are always asking me for the next great area of business in which they can make money and what legal restrictions there might be in the future. When asked these questions the one place I don’t turn to is those newsletters that tell you how much money you would have made if you had followed their advice and invested in certain stocks or gone into the cell phone business.

For the most part, however, you can almost certainly bet that their advice is wrong, so you can likely assume that the opposite of their advice would offer a better chance of success.

Many newsletters are still focused on getting into businesses that rely on the consumer having discretionary cash to purchase unnecessary items. That’s probably not just bad advice, it’s lousy advice. Television commercials telling you that you can make tens of thousands a month working from home are a way to take your money for seminars, books and other materials that most likely in the end will cost you more than you’ll ever make, once you add in your start up costs.

On the other hand, one or two of the ideas being touted may be the fad of the future, no matter how little money people have to spend. For instance, if people will buy expensive clothes for their dogs, does that mean that they’ll buy little prom dresses for their infants? Hard to say.

However, if the high heeled shoes cause injuries to those infants, you can see the lawsuits coming already.

What’s the next item we can’t do without or that we like just fine now, but would pay an extra $50 to have a designer version of that item? That depends as much on good marketing and a good business plan as the good idea. If you have that and the resources to start production, create a website, hire a search engine optimizer to help your website get noticed on search engines and then know how to create publicity for your product, you are halfway home. But all of that costs money, lots of money, or lots and lots of time. But if the design is unique, it may make much more sense to apply for a design patent and then to license or sell your patent outright to another manufacturer.

One item that makes business run is credit. But all you hear in the news is how hard it is now to get credit for a house, for a business, for anything. You can therefore almost certainly count on new businesses popping up that offer their services in finding you credit. While this area of business is already regulated, as more and more scammers get into this business, you can be certain that more regulation will follow.

The difficulty with this type of business is that you may find it difficult not to be brushed with the same paint brush as the unscrupulous businesses who will guarantee to find a person credit for a fee and then either take the money and run or simply offer excuses why it was impossible for them to find their customer the credit they promised.

An area where there appears to be an opportunity in these times is helping others and in doing so, you may help yourself. Consumers need real help to survive this economic mess. Web sites that actually provide a service such as locating cheap gas, coupons for groceries, clothing sales or other basic necessities may be the one area in which there could be demand by the consumer. This type of service will require a lot of free advice, however, time and people to gather this information and it still could be difficult to recoup your investment.

Perhaps the best way that still exists to make a lot of money is if you can develop an idea for an invention. Utility patents are very expensive to obtain using a lawyer. Most charge from $7,500 on up depending upon the complexity. However, you can obtain a provisional patent or a design patent for substantially less and as soon as the application has been accepted (as opposed to when the patent is granted, which takes much longer) you can begin to market your invention to other companies and either license your patent pending invention to them or sell it outright.

So start thinking about what hasn’t yet been invented, or improved upon in an important way, and if you need assistance with obtaining a patent, trademark or copyright, call us or visit us at our website where you can access much more information about intellectual property.

San Diego & Orange County California Environmental Attorney Asks Why Isn’t More Action Isn’t Taking Place to Reduce Global Warming

July 14th, 2009 at 04:37pm Under Environmental Law

If you care about the environment, no matter if you live in Corona del Mar, La Jolla, Del Mar, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, San Marcos, Vista and Escondido, San Diego, Huntington Beach, Westminster, Buena Park, San Luis Obispo, Cambria, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Irvine, Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, or Laguna Hills or work in San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, San Bernardino, Temecula, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Victorville, Yucca Valley or Twentynine Palms, everyone has an opinion about global warming.

 

As an environmental attorney, and with all the recent footage coming in from around the world, it is clear not only that global warming is a problem, it is getting worse, and action is needed immediately.

 

What’s stopping action from taking place? Oil companies and energy companies of all kinds, some of whom reportedly spend more to confuse people and the issue than they do on alternative energy research.

 

Who else is at fault? Sadly, the Republican party, the executive actions of George Bush and what he has forced government agencies to do, and other groups, who because of their Republican support, were slow getting on the bandwagon.

 

The issue has also brought us some surprising heroes. Governor Schwarzenegger of California. Ex-President and Nobel Prize Winner, Al Gore. And scientists around the world.

 

One only need turn on the television to see the melting arctic ice, or to hear that polar bears are being forced to become cannibals to be concerned at how little is being done and how much is being done to confuse and fight those who are concerned about the environment. Even Senator McCain stands against his own running mate, Sarah Palin on environmental issues.

 

School children know more about the issue than adults because they study the science and refuse to believe the lies and false websites put out by the energy companies.

 

And yet, except for America, and China, the world seems to be as one, united in the fight against global warming. While more is being done around the world despite the obstinance of the U.S. and China, so much more could be accomplished if we had elected a leader in this area instead of one who led us into a costly and unnecessary war.

 

One can only applaud companies who are involved in renewable energy sources such as solar, and wind power, the building of energy free homes, environmental groups and the efforts of Governor Schwartzenegger to make California a leader in the world in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gasses.

 

It will take all of us to make the changes we need to save our planet, our environment and the animal species that are so much at risk. Only this week, in the news for October 2008, it was widely reported that one in four mammals face extinction. Yet, amazingly, there are still people who will either not believe that man is either the cause of global warming or who feel that it would be too costly to the economy to take actions to help the environment such as reducing greenhouse gasses.

 

It is hoped that with greater public awareness, and better education to our school children of the environmental problems we face, that when this new generation grows up demanding change and they ask the current generation how we could have let this problem get so bad without doing more to prevent it, it will not be too late to reverse the effects of mankind’s damage. 

 

 If you have an environmental legal matter in Orange County, San Diego, in Riverside, Palm Springs or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your California Environmental Lawyers, and Orange County and San Diego Environment Attorneys. For this reason, be sure to hire a California law firm with environmental lawyers who can represent you from Palm Desert to Big Bear, Santa Ana, Chula Vista, Julian, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Carlsbad, Ventura and Malibu.

 

If you have an environmental matter and need to know your rights, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com  and learn about your rights and options and how we can assist you. You can also call us to speak directly to Sebastian Gibson on the phone about your legal matter.

San Diego California Sports & Business Law Attorney Sebastian Gibson – the Business of Sports

July 14th, 2009 at 02:52am Under Business Law

Even if you don’t live in a town with a professional sports team like San Diego, California or Los Angeles, CA, it is likely you still have at least amateur sports teams in almost every city of Orange County, and even if your city just has high school teams in La Jolla, Del Mar, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, San Marcos, Vista and Escondido or the cities of Huntington Beach, Westminster, Buena Park, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Irvine, Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, and Laguna Hills, Santa Barbara, Buena Park, Temecula, Indian Wells, La Quinta, or Palm Springs, you and the players on those teams are probably sports fanatics as we are, and may also have a legal issue in many of the sub-areas of sports law without even knowing it. 

Few firms in the U.S. today practice in the field of Sports Business Law. It requires a knowledge of entertainment law, intellectual property, sports brand development, professional regulations, broadcast and media law, sports sponsorship, corporate finance, labor law contract law, merchandising, anti-trust law and litigation.In addition to having knowledge in those fields, it helps to have a strong background in international law, if not English law as well.

Clients at a sports law, law firm are sports team owners, cities, athletes, stadium management companies, and sponsors. You will be dealing with product manufacturers, the media, banks, the USPTO, sports organizations, arbitrators and the courts.

If you are a true sports aficionado, you will wish the business of sport had less to do with the law, but with each passing year it seems to have more rather than less.The rules referees must now live by often makes it useful if they are lawyers in their spare time.

As society becomes more and more concerned with fairness, we see greater use of replays, and less discretion given to the officials to call the game or to correct a mistaken call on their own.Sports teams and their lawyers must constantly be vigilant to protect their trademarks and branding and spend as much time promoting their team and their sport as running the day to day operation.Fortunately, in the end, the time and cost of sports business law attorneys are worth it, with the value of most sport teams rising year after year.

The opportunities to get into sports business law are limited. Many more law students take courses in sports law than will ever have the chance to practice the little they learn in law school.

If you are an athlete, or a business in the sports world and need the assistance of a sports lawyer, call us or visit our website at http://www.californiaattorneyslawyers.com to learn more about how we can assist you. Or call us to speak directly to Sebastian Gibson about your sports law, entertainment law, intellectual property, trademarks, sports brand development, professional regulations, broadcast and media law, sports sponsorships, corporate finance, labor law contract law, merchandising, anti-trust law and litigation.

Santa Barbara, Oxnard & Ventura California Energy Law Attorney Considers the Effect of Lifting of the Ban on Offshore Drilling – None

July 13th, 2009 at 04:37am Under Environmental Law

Anyone who lives in Southern California or who appreciates the coastline from San Diego to San Francisco has seen the offshore oil rigs along the coast of Santa Barbara, Oxnard, Ventura and Long Beach. If you live in any of the other coastal cities such as Corona del Mar, San Diego, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, La Jolla, Del Mar, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Cardiff, Carlsbad, Oceanside, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Pismo Beach, Morro Bay, Cambria or San Simeon you see something different – pristine beaches without offshore oil rigs. 

In the midst of America’s financial meltdown and on the same weekend as Congress put together a $700 billion bailout, Congress did away with a 26 year ban on offshore oil drilling to the dismay of environmentalists. The Drill Now movement and chants of “Drill, Baby, Drill” may have won a small skirmish on this environmental issue, but California will have the last word.

Despite the ban on offshore oil drilling, it is believed that such drilling, at least off the coast of California is unlikely to occur for many years, if ever. Democrats in Congress are already vowing to reinstate the ban when a new Congress takes their seats in four months. And political opposition, marine protection laws and almost certain lawsuits by environmental groups in California make offshore oil drilling an unlikely event.

First, there is a general belief of Californians, including the Governor, that the California coastline is an international treasure, not to mention a draw to tourists from around the world. Few politicians in the state would dare to jeopardize that treasure.

Second, a law passed by former Governor Pete Wilson already bans all offshore oil drilling in California out to three miles from shore.

Third, there are 300 miles of national marine sanctuaries along the California coast which ban oil drilling.

Fourth, nearly every coastal county in the State of California has enacted ordinances banning new oil pipelines, oil terminals and tanks in the State.

Fifth, environmental groups are already vowing to file lawsuits, and they could be joined by the California Coastal Commission.

While California has around 30 oil platforms off the coast of Santa Barbara, Ventura and Long Beach that were built in the 1950s, no new oil platforms have been built in over 50 years.

It is estimated that California has at least 10.5 billion barrels of oil offshore – about a year and a half of the nation’s yearly supply. This is comparable to the estimate of oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

But if anything, despite the oil crisis and the financial crisis, in light of global warming and calls for investment in alternative energies, Californians are becoming more and more environmentally aware. Any politician running on any platform (oil or not) based on drilling offshore at a risk to the California scenic coastline, will have a hard time being elected.

If you have an oil, natural resources, energy or environmental law issue in San Diego, Newport Beach, Irvine, Orange County, La Jolla, in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Palm Springs or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your California Energy Lawyer and your Ventura Environmental Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with environmental law experience who can serve areas such as Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Anaheim, Irvine, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Newport Beach, Carlsbad, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fullerton, Del Mar, San Diego, Orange County, San Luis Obispo, Buena Park, La Jolla, Oxnard, Ventura, La Quinta, and Santa Barbara so you are properly represented.

If you have a water law, oil, energy, natural resources or environmental dispute of any kind, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com  and learn how we can assist you.

San Diego California Sports & Business Law Attorney Sebastian Gibson – the Business of Sports

July 12th, 2009 at 04:19pm Under Entertainment Law

Even if you don’t live in a town with a professional sports team like San Diego, California or Los Angeles, CA, it is likely you still have at least amateur sports teams in almost every city of Orange County, and even if your city just has high school teams in La Jolla, Del Mar, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, San Marcos, Vista and Escondido or the cities of Huntington Beach, Westminster, Buena Park, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Irvine, Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, and Laguna Hills, Santa Barbara, Buena Park, Temecula, Indian Wells, La Quinta, or Palm Springs, you and the players on those teams are probably sports fanatics as we are, and may also have a legal issue in many of the sub-areas of sports law without even knowing it. 

Few firms in the U.S. today practice in the field of Sports Business Law. It requires a knowledge of entertainment law, intellectual property, sports brand development, professional regulations, broadcast and media law, sports sponsorship, corporate finance, labor law contract law, merchandising, anti-trust law and litigation.In addition to having knowledge in those fields, it helps to have a strong background in international law, if not English law as well.

Clients at a sports law, law firm are sports team owners, cities, athletes, stadium management companies, and sponsors. You will be dealing with product manufacturers, the media, banks, the USPTO, sports organizations, arbitrators and the courts.

If you are a true sports aficionado, you will wish the business of sport had less to do with the law, but with each passing year it seems to have more rather than less.The rules referees must now live by often makes it useful if they are lawyers in their spare time.

As society becomes more and more concerned with fairness, we see greater use of replays, and less discretion given to the officials to call the game or to correct a mistaken call on their own.Sports teams and their lawyers must constantly be vigilant to protect their trademarks and branding and spend as much time promoting their team and their sport as running the day to day operation.Fortunately, in the end, the time and cost of sports business law attorneys are worth it, with the value of most sport teams rising year after year.

The opportunities to get into sports business law are limited. Many more law students take courses in sports law than will ever have the chance to practice the little they learn in law school.

If you are an athlete, or a business in the sports world and need the assistance of a sports lawyer, call us or visit our website at http://www.californiaattorneyslawyers.com to learn more about how we can assist you. Or call us to speak directly to Sebastian Gibson about your sports law, entertainment law, intellectual property, trademarks, sports brand development, professional regulations, broadcast and media law, sports sponsorships, corporate finance, labor law contract law, merchandising, anti-trust law and litigation.

California’s Water Bank and the Drought in California – a California Water Law Attorney Conclusion – We’re Dry Out Here

July 12th, 2009 at 10:37am Under Environmental Law

Here in the desert cities of Palm Springs, CA, Joshua Tree, Palm Desert, Cathedral City, Indian Wells, Yucca Valley, Rancho Mirage, Desert Hot Springs, Twentynine Palms, Thermal, Indio, Coachella, La Quinta, Victorville, Hesperia, Apple Valley or Barstow, in the somewhat greener areas of Southern California such as Newport Beach, Buena Park, Anaheim, Irvine, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Carlsbad, Mission Viejo and in other cities in San Diego,Orange County, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Cambria, agricultural areas such as the central valley of Fresno and the Imperial Valley, the drought in California is a serious problem for all of us in this State.

 

After the driest spring in 88 years, in June 2008 Governor Schwarzenegger formally declared California to be in a drought and nine counties in the Central Valley to be in a state of emergency after two years of below-average rainfall and six dry years that have killed off fish populations, driven down agricultural land values and required severe reductions in water usage in the Central Valley. The declaration, while bad enough, still stops short of a statewide water emergency which, if declared, will likely carry with it mandatory water rationing.

 

Efforts to capture water have been hampered by evaporation of snow packs due to climate change, but snowpack water content this winter was only 67 percent of average. California’s water shortage was compounded by a federal court order limiting the pumping of water from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta to protect a species of fish.

 

And so in June 2008 the State of California formed a Water Bank to buy water from farmers upstream from the Delta and from local water agencies and to make it available for sale to public water systems and private water systems who may otherwise run short of water next year. Agencies buying the water will have to agree to a 20 percent reduction overall in water usage. It is believed that the Water Bank will stave off mandatory water rationing.

 

Under the plan, water purchased from northern farmers and water agencies will be shipped south via the State’s canals.

 

Currently, there is no end in sight to California’s dry conditions. While there is a $9.3 billion plan in the State legislature to address the state’s delta environmental problems and expand the state’s water works, it has been tied up while the legislators haggled over a budget.

 

A bill to require Californian’s to cut water usage by 20 percent recently passed the Assembly and the bill puts the onus on residents as opposed to farmers.

 

In the midst of this water crisis, an amazing 100 facilities are bottling water in California, using California’s precious water supply. An Assembly Bill to measure the amount of water being bottled is an attempt to learn just how bad the abuse of these water supplies is on top of the pollution and harm to the environment caused by these facilities and the plastic water bottles, most of which are not recycled.

 

The Department of Public Resources estimates that more than 1 billion gallons of bottled water are sold in California each year. 

 

If you have a water law issue in San Diego, Newport Beach, Irvine, Orange County, La Jolla, in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Palm Springs or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your California Water Lawyer and your Santa Barbara Environmental Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with environmental law experience who can serve areas such as Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Anaheim, Irvine, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Newport Beach, Carlsbad, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fullerton, Del Mar, San Diego, Orange County, San Luis Obispo, Buena Park, La Jolla, Oxnard, Ventura, La Quinta, and Santa Barbara so you are properly represented.

 

If you have a water law or environmental dispute of any kind, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com  and learn how we can assist you.

The 2008 Presidential Election, the Highest Rated Show in Entertainment Today – a Newport Beach, and San Diego Entertainment Attorney’s View

July 12th, 2009 at 10:19am Under Entertainment Law

For a Palm Springs, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Newport Beach and Orange County entertainment lawyer, there has been nothing to compare to the drama of the 2008 election. If nothing else, the entertainment value of this election has been able to keep people’s minds off the economy. Everyone has something to watch for.

Will one candidate improve business conditions in San Diego or Orange County more than the other? Will the Vice Presidential pick be able to swing voters in one industry or another over the other candidate’s vice presidential pick? What new slimy negative attack ad is one candidate using to unfairly tear down the other and divide the county?

If it weren’t for politics right now, there would be nothing to be excited about in the entertainment field. Saturday Night Live ratings have gone through the roof because of one thing, politics. Their spoofs on the election have so much interest that they now have shows on Thursdays and Saturdays.

All the usual suspect celebrities who are usually in the news getting into scraps at night clubs, being arrested, having children, selling baby photos, gaining weight, losing weight, all seem to be behaving themselves.

So as an entertainment attorney, I have to say, thank goodness for politicians. Politics which used to be the stuff of boring discussions and something you would never discuss on a first date, is suddenly the topic of the day. And talk about drama….

The first thing we hear as we get home from work and turn on the TV is that the economy is about to sink into a deep hole and if we don’t give $700 billion on top of the almost $400 billion we’ve already spent on financial institutions, life as we know it will disappear. I would have only imagined such dire consequences before this announcement if aliens were about to invade and we needed $700 billion to build the largest ray gun. But this announcement wasn’t on a remake of War of the Worlds, it was on the news, on CNN, and everywhere.

And then there was the drama of working out the bailout plan. It’s on, it’s off. There’s been a breakthrough. Oops, spoke too soon. The McCain campaign is being suspended. Nope, wrong again. Then the bailout is passed and Europe goes into a tailspin almost as fast as Sarah Palin’s star is fading and John McCain’s campaign is headed for the dumpster. Then the negative campaigning starts in earnest.

Suddenly nobody cares what the greatest box office movies were for the week. Are they even showing movies anymore? This political drama is too good to miss. Besides, who can afford the popcorn and drinks at the movies anymore?

Now people are rushing home to see the latest poll numbers and to see the latest skits on Saturday Night Live. What zingers will the candidates have for each other? Will Sarah Palin be able to answer a question better than her rambling ludicrous answers she gave to Katie Couric? Is Letterman going to keep skewering McCain.

And you have the polls that are like following a horse race. First one candidate is ahead by a nose, and then the other is by a whisker. Then one candidate turns on a burst of speed as the other rushes for the wire.

This beats a close football game by a mile.This election has everything and they say they always save their best ads for the last. Don’t you dare touch that dial. This is entertainment for the ages. 

If you have an entertainment law, copyright or trademark issue in San Diego, Newport Beach, Irvine, Orange County, La Jolla, in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Palm Springs or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Newport Beach Entertainment Lawyer and your San Diego Entertainment Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with entertainment law experience who can serve areas such as Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Anaheim, Irvine, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Newport Beach, Carlsbad, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fullerton, Del Mar, San Diego, Orange County, San Luis Obispo, Buena Park, La Jolla, Oxnard, Ventura, La Quinta, and Santa Barbara so you are properly represented.

If you have an entertainment law, or copyright dispute of any kind, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com  and learn how we can assist you.

What New Artists and Musicians Can Do to Keep From Being Taken Advantage of – See a California Music & Entertainment Lawyer

July 12th, 2009 at 04:19am Under Entertainment Law

There is probably no other profession than the music business where so many people will try to take advantage of you when you are starting out as an artist or musician if you don’t have a lawyer. Whether you or your band hails from Carlsbad, Encinitas, Del Mar, Solana Beach in San Diego, Anaheim or Santa Ana in Orange County, or Palm Springs, whether you developed your talent in La Jolla, or at Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach or Santa Barbara, and whether you live, studied or performed in Hollywood, Westwood, Santa Monica, Venice, Malibu, Palm Desert or La Quinta, when you are just starting out, the entertainment industry sees you as someone whom they can take advantage of.

Music contracts are notoriously long, complicated and almost undecipherable to all but a music lawyer. Thirty page contracts are nothing unusual in this business. And there are so many contracts you will be faced with as a musician. Sign the wrong contract and you can be married to a bad agent, promoter, manager, distribution deal, publishing deal or record company and have your career over before it ever began.

Besides the issues you will face with copyrighting your music and trademarking your band name and logo, if you have one, there are management contracts, recording contracts, publishing contracts, agent contracts, distribution deals, licensing contracts, promotion deals, festival and concert contracts, producer agreements and that doesn’t even get into the complex issues contained in many of these agreements.

A music lawyer must have knowledge of synchronization rights, digital rights, peer to peer file swapping, sampling, mechanical licenses, copyright infringement, publishing, advertising law, immigration, employment law, negotiation, ring tones, and have a good understanding of how music is made from mixing to mastering, from the roles of the producer to the needs of the musicians.

And yet, for the music lawyer, there is little that is as rewarding as being part of the recording process or helping a band make it to the big time.

My advice to musicians just starting out and being presented with any type of contract is that having their contract reviewed by a music lawyer is essential. You are likely being presented with the most one-sided type of contract in any business or profession. They are written by the attorneys for the company or manager who is handing it to you with absolutely no attempt to be even handed.

Worst of all, at this stage in your career, you have little leverage. No matter how good you think your music is, the music world is littered with great musicians who signed horrible contracts that stifled if not ended their careers. If you have to do an extra gig and save the money to have a contract reviewed, that’s what you need to do. Get yourselves a good music lawyer. Not a divorce lawyer. Not a trial lawyer. An entertainment lawyer who knows the music business and one, preferably, who is interested in music and who is willing to listen to your music.  

If you have an entertainment law, copyright or trademark issue in San Diego, Newport Beach, Irvine, Orange County, La Jolla, in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Palm Springs or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Huntington Beach Entertainment Lawyer and your Anaheim Entertainment Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with entertainment law experience who can serve areas such as Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Anaheim, Irvine, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Newport Beach, Carlsbad, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fullerton, Del Mar, San Diego, Orange County, San Luis Obispo, Buena Park, La Jolla, Oxnard, Ventura, La Quinta, and Santa Barbara so you are properly represented and get the compensation you deserve.

If you have an entertainment law, or copyright dispute of any kind, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com  and learn how we can assist you.

Why Sarah Palin is the Best Darn Comedy on TV Today – a Newport Beach Entertainment Attorney’s View

July 11th, 2009 at 04:19pm Under Entertainment Law

It really doesn’t matter if you are Republican, Democrat or Independent, whether you live or work in Hollywood, Los Angeles, or live in Malibu, or live and work outside the entertainment industry anywhere from Orange County to San Diego, from Carlsbad, or Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Rancho Santa Fe and San Marcos to Newport Beach, Laguna Beach or Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, Anaheim, Irvine or Yorba Linda. Even if you live in Montecito or Santa Barbara, Temecula, Palm Desert, La Quinta or Palm Springs, you have got to love Sarah Palin for the comedy she has brought back to television and to this election. 

 

Before I even start this article, there will be some out there who will say Sarah Palin is being picked on. Whether or not you believe that to be true or false, this candidate is giving us some of the best comedy a politician has ever given us, and at a time when we have never needed it more. Saturday Night Live could never have hoped for a better candidate to skewer.

 

Who knew that the straight man or in this case straight woman would turn out to be Katie Couric?

 

First there was Sarah Palin’s attempt to explain her position that by the fact that Alaska is geographically close to Russia, that she has foreign policy experience. Couric asked why Palin’s experience in Alaska enhances her foreign policy credentials.

 

Palin: Well, it certainly does because our next door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of. And there in Russia –

 

Couric: Have you ever been involved in any negotiations for example, with the Russians?

 

Palin: We have trade missions back and forth. We do – it’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia – as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there, they are right next to our State.

 

Has anyone yet figured out what any of her answer to Katie Couric’s question means? One has to believe she was testing her skill as a deadpan comedian because she followed up this answer with an even better answer.

 

Couric: Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping those big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

 

Palin: That’s why I say I, like every American I’m speaking with, we’re ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the – it’s got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health care reform and reducing taxes, and reigning in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we’ve got to see trade, as opportunity not as competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we’ve got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. The bailout is a part of that.

 

Political science majors in college and election campaign advisors will be studying both of these answer for years. But just grasp if you will how, in her second answer,she is able to connect the dots. The bailout, Palin says, makes her and other Americans ill. So the bailout needs to bail out health care, presumably, so we can get over our illness with the bailout. This is masterful.

 

But the bailout is also about job creation (whose?), reducing taxes (really?), reigning in spending (all $700 billion worth?), and trade (this is part of her comedy routine apparently). And then in the spirit of Halloween which is just around the corner, she says trade should be seen as an opportunity, not just as a scary thing. Brilliant. But she forgot to mention Christmas and being a maverick cleaning up Washington. Rats.

 

As an entertainment attorney who also handles election law, campaign finance law and political law, Sarah Palin has it all. She is rejuvenating comedy to it’s highest art form and making political junkies of us all.

 

This isn’t just comedy or entertainment. This is politics at it’s most lucid. Or is that ludicrous?  

 

If you have an entertainment law, copyright or trademark issue in San Diego, Newport Beach, Irvine, Orange County, La Jolla, in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Palm Springs or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Beverly Hills Entertainment Lawyer and your Malibu Entertainment Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with entertainment law experience who can serve areas such as Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Anaheim, Irvine, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Newport Beach, Carlsbad, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fullerton, Del Mar, San Diego, Orange County, San Luis Obispo, Buena Park, La Jolla, Oxnard, Ventura, La Quinta, and Santa Barbara so you are properly represented.

 

If you have an entertainment law, or copyright dispute of any kind, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com  and learn how we can assist you.