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The top 5 legal moves for creators (as told by NYC’s star entertainment lawyer)

Author

Brett Dashevsky
March 07, 2024

Hey! Welcome to the Creator Economy NYC newsletter — the premier place for all things creator economy in the Big Apple.

And hello from Austin, Texas! It’s quite nice here, but I’m a bit confused as to why there aren’t convenience stores (err… smoke shops) on every corner…

This week, I’m spotlighting Merlyne Jean-Louis — a business & entertainment lawyer in our community with great insights to share for those building in the creator economy. I’m excited for you to meet her!

Before we dive in: I’m seeking a college intern interested in script writing and content creation for an exciting project. If ya know of someone (or can help put the word out), please let me know!

Other stops along the way:

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CITY SPOTLIGHT

The top 5 legal moves for creators (as told by NYC’s star entertainment lawyer)

Merlyne Jean-Louis’s path into the legal world began early, with an internship at her town attorney’s office during high school, followed by an immersion into the world of personal injury law during her college years at NYU.

Despite her early exposure to law, it wasn't until her tenure as a paralegal at Kirkland & Ellis that she discovered her true calling. Juggling her role at one of the world's leading law firms with her passion for dance, she encountered an intellectual property attorney who taught her about the nexus between law and the arts. This influence ultimately nudged Merlyne’s career toward entertainment law.

Fuelled by a desire to bridge her creative passions with her professional aspirations, Merlyne ventured to Duke Law School, setting the stage for her future.

Bridging creativity and law

Three years after graduating from law school, Merlyne started her law firm “Jean-Louis Law.” Her first client was a content creator/influencer, and until that moment, it never dawned on her that working with influencers was a viable way to become an entertainment lawyer. And she hasn’t looked back since…

Merlyne’s personal experiences as a dancer, witnessing first-hand the exploitation of creatives, instilled in her a resolve to prevent similar scenarios among her clients.

By merging her legal, business, and creative knowledge, she aims to transform her clients into informed, decisive business owners, moving the creator economy forward.

Expert Insights: 5 key questions for the creator economy

Merlyne shared invaluable insights into the legal side of the creator economy. Her answers shed light on the common challenges and opportunities faced by content creators today.

Disclaimer: The information provided below is information, not legal advice.

1. What are some of the most common legal issues you encounter with content creators and could you provide any examples to illustrate these problems?

Content creators should approach their projects like mini film studios, ensuring all legal bases are covered, like getting signed releases from participants who appear in your video. A common issue is the lack of contracts, which can lead to disputes over intellectual property rights, such as an editor retaining rights to their edits on a creator's video.

To protect their work and reduce risks, I advise creators to view themselves as business owners and make sure to take the appropriate action to protect their ABCs (assets, brand and content). They can do that by ensuring they have contracts, registering their brand’s trademarks, registering creative works with the Copyright Office, and making sure they have an entity (like an LLC).

2. When should a content creator consider forming a formal business entity, and what benefits does it offer?

When a business owner creates an entity (like an LLC), they create separation between their business and personal assets. A major advantage of having an LLC is that, for the most part, if a party were to ever sue a content creator due to their business activities, that party would only be able to sue the LLC (not the content creator individually). That means that the suing party can’t go after the creator’s personal assets (ex. home, car, bank accounts, etc.).

Many content creators create entities after receiving consistent income from their creator activities. But, because people can sue creators at whatever time, I think that they should create an entity as soon as possible.

3. What should creators watch out for when negotiating contracts with brands or collaborators, and how can they ensure fair terms while protecting their rights?

A very important part of a contract is the representations and warranties section. Brands enter agreements with the belief that the reps and warranties the content creator makes are true and can take costly/risky actions based on this understanding. For example, a content creator usually must rep/warrant in their contracts with brands that they own all the rights to the content created for the deal.

Besides engaging an experienced attorney, to ensure fair terms, creators should analyze the metrics on social media platforms, determine what’s important to them (ex. ownership of intellectual property, scope of services provided, payment amount), and then ask for what they desire.

This is because if a brand/agency is coming to you, they usually are willing to negotiate to some extent. This is even the case if they send you an agreement in PDF form. Convert it to Word and start marking up the agreement!

4. How important is it for content creators to protect their work legally, and what steps can they take to prevent others from copying it?

Creators should timely register their works (i.e. with 90 days of making work public or before any copyright infringement actually begins) with the Copyright Office. With timely registration, if content creators ever sue a party for copyright infringement, they can get more compensation in damages.

In terms of copying, creating really unique works helps. It’s important to note that by signing up with some platforms, the platform’s terms of service allows other users to use your content. For example, on TikTok, any user can duet or stitch another user’s content in their videos.

5. What advice would you give to content creators just starting out?

Get a basic understanding of contract, intellectual property (particularly copyright and trademark), and business principles. The earlier you do this, the easier it will be to operate your business in the long run.

NYC's impact: inspiring legal and creative innovation

Born and raised on Long Island, Merlyne is a New Yorker through and through! Despite a stint studying abroad and living in North Carolina for law school, she has spent most of her adult life in the city. As she says, NYC spoils you because you easily have access to great activities, culture, people, and food.

New York’s diversity has instilled in Merlyne a sense of open-mindedness and creativity, profoundly influencing her approach to legal negotiations and client interactions. Her ability to understand varied perspectives and craft protective legal strategies directly reflects our city’s multifaceted character.

Outside of work, Merlyne frequents Brooklyn Bridge Park, which actually didn’t exist when she went to college! She says it has the best view of Manhattan — we’ll have to go and see it for ourselves!

Connect with Merlyne

If you need help drafting contracts, protecting trademarks, registering creative works, or complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, contact Merlyne at [email protected] or 347-946-0597.

She also has an amazing newsletter and an entertaining blog about business law. And if you aren’t following Merlyne already, you should follow her on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok!

CITY HAPPENINGS

Creator Economy NYC is bringing the NYC energy to ATX during South by Southwest. We’re teaming up with Passionfui.it and Teachable for an epic event that’ll include a variety show, engaging panel and open bar happy hour.

Heading to SXSW? Hit reply and let me know — I’d love to offer you priority access to our event.

RSVP to secure your spot and pass this invite to anyone who's Austin-bound!

Upcoming Event

Kickstart your morning with enriching insights and convos over a taste of New York with bagels, pastries, and coffee alongside fellow leading creators, digital media experts, and marketers.

We've assembled a diverse panel of industry experts to discuss the latest trends, predictions, and strategies shaping the creator economy:

Shoutout to our current sponsors, Captions and Whalar, for helping to make this happen.

We hope you can join us – RSVP to get on the list and for additional details!

Subscribe to the events calendar here.

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THE NEWSSTAND

STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS PLEASE

Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what you thought by replying back to this email.

See you next week,

Brett

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