Biz Buzz / The Corporate Law Group

S.U.C.C.E.S.S.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:29:00 +0000

Author Lee Colan's new viral video outlining a concept called the Speed of Success. The Corporate Law Group recently obtained a deal for Lee to publish his next Leadership book with McGraw-Hill. Go Lee!

http://www.speedofsuccess.com

Grotto Mention

noreply@blogger.com (Robert) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:32:00 +0000

Here is a link to an article about the folks at the writer's Grotto in San Francisco. I always love to hear how much authors received for a book. I was invited to lunch at the Grotto this year and they treated this little known publishing lawyer like royalty.

Grotto article

Photos from the Finish

noreply@blogger.com (Robert) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:08:00 +0000

Silicon Valley Locals Make Good in Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Robert) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:02:00 +0000

Robert Preskill from The Corporate Law Group hands out TCLG bonus prizes for the first and second mens and womens marathon finishers from Silicon Valley. There's Michael Abrams (center) from Pleasanton who finished 2:44:46 and in the photo blogged above, Domenick Alvarado for the womens leaders from San Jose; she finished the marathon in 3:14:56. Second place TCLG winners (not shown here) were Joshua Small from San Jose (2:45:13) and Sarah Kummerfeld from Palo Alto (3:17:47)

Buy Outs and Buy Outs.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:06:00 +0000

What is a �??Buy Out�??? The video game industry says, don�??t ask a corporate lawyer. The Buzz has been tracking use of that term, traditionally reserved for a certain type of acquisition, and found increasing use in the term with the evolution of music licensing. In short, buyout can mean the wholesale license of music for use in media and new media, specifically, video games.

We read from GameDailybiz.com (September 13, 2007) certain union agreements �??allow publishers to use video game music from their titles for other purposes besides in the game itself, whether that�??s in promotional material, game trailers, separate soundtrack CDs, etc.�??

Apparantly, prior to this arrangement between the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) and Canada�??s International Executive Board, video game composers would need to find non-union jurisdictions to acquire rights in the manner suitable for the publishers who purchased them.

From a quick search on the web, we found references to �??buyout�?? in royalty free music libraries such as Opuzz.com and the phrase �??traditional offline buyout libraries�?? which made said Biz Buzz writer feel as if he was 92 years old or floating weightless as a character in a sci fi movie.

-Robert Preskill

Later, 409A-ter!

noreply@blogger.com (Robert) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 19:21:00 +0000

In response to a letter from about 100 law firms, acting Internal Revenue Commissioner Kevin Brown has agreed to delay the requirement of complying with Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code for one year past the otherwise applicable compliance date of December 31, 2007. 409A was included in the �??2004 Jobs Creation Act�?? as an attempt to crack down on abuses in deferred compensation. Employers who had to ensure their compensation plans complied by December 31, 2007 now have until December 31, 2008. Confirm this item with your attorney or CPA to see if it applies to you before relying on the information.

--Paul Marotta

Whoops.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 20:03:00 +0000

Time Magazine was recently hit with a $106 million defamation judgment in Jakarta, Indonesia. It seems a Time story about Indonesian President Suharto claimed that his family had illegally amassed $15 billion during his rule. A court spokesman said that the Time employees had to apologize in leading Indonesian magazines: �??The article and photographs hurt the image and pride of the plaintiff as a great retired army general and the former Indonesian president.�?? Sure. Lower courts had ruled in Time�??s favor. The former dictator, now 86, seized power in a 1965 coup that left up to half a million people dead and ruled the country with an iron fist for the next three decades, killing or imprisoning hundreds of thousands of political opponents. He evaded prosecution on charges of embezzling state funds, by arguing he is too ill to stand trial. Suharto�??s lawyer, Muhamad Assegaf, welcomed the �??surprise verdict�?? against Time. We bet.

-Paul Marotta

Good Godwin

noreply@blogger.com (Robert) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 06:20:00 +0000

We read with interest a Wired item about Godwin�??s law. Mike Godwin, first staff counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, coined the law concerning online discussion groups. He had noted that online discussion groups tended to become heated as participants squared off into opposing camps on some issue of interest. Eventually someone would compare a member of the opposition to Adolph Hitler and the discussion would end. Apparently Godwin�??s law states that the longer an online discussion continues the greater the probability of comparison to Nazi�??s. We guess that part of the promise of the Internet is equal opportunity for stupidity. Hopefully the Nazi-epithet-receivers will take a stand for more civility. We�??ll see.

-Paul Marotta

We Always Do It That Way.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 05:40:00 +0000

The Buzz sure wishes it had a nickel for every time it heard that lame statement. Every time a lawyer is unable to articulate an argument they retreat to, �??that�??s the way we do it.�?? We call it the refuge of the intellectually incapable. You find this particularly prevalent in large firms who have unsupervised new lawyers performing tasks above their pay grade. The more senior lawyers are afraid that, left to their own devices, the junior lawyers will change things in strange and unique ways, leaving the document on which they are working in shambles. So the mantra is born that, �??we always do it that way.�?? Of course if everyone throughout history was this uncreative, we would all still be living in caves, hunting with spears. Free Buzz advice: The next timesome one tells you they �??always do it that way,�?? run in the other direction to someone worthy of a conversation about the transaction or event under consideration.

- Paul Marotta

Welcome to The Corporate Law Group

noreply@blogger.com (Robert) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:43:00 +0000

Welcome to Biz Buzz, which includes industry and legal news for the innovator, the entrepreneur, the futurist and the media mogul in you.

This blog is published and sponsored by THE CORPORATE LAW GROUP, an outstanding boutique corporate firm in Silicon Valley.

THIS BLOG IS STRICTLY FOR FUN, COMMUNITY BUILDING, AND SELF-PROMOTION. WE ARE NOT RENDERING LEGAL ADVICE HERE.

For more information, or to discuss a legal matter, you may contact our firm at (650) 227-8000. We intend to comply with all laws regarding attorney's and advertising however if you have any questions or comments, please reply to roberto@tclg.com