Attorney in Arkansas: Clint Mathis

          After searching for an Entertainment Lawyer in Arkansas, I came to the conclusion that Arkansas did not have one. So, during an appointment with my attorney, Clint Mathis, I interviewed him with the goal of retaining him as one.

            Mr. Mathis lives and works in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and comes from a family of attorneys. His father, William Travis Mathis, was an attorney that started the family tradition.  Clint worked in his father’s office doing research, “drafting dictation and helping with legal arguments.” (LawAdvocateOnline.com, 2007).  His sister, Sherry, practices Medical Malpractice and his brother, Travis was an attorney for 14 years then became a traveling nurse.

            On the website, Mr. Mathis’ biography lists his experience in criminal, divorce and child custody cases as well as personal injury. He has also served as counsel to large corporations.  His attitude shouts complete confidence in his ability and experience. He says, “It's not bragging if it is a fact.” 

            It was exciting talking music business with Mr. Mathis; he had an interest in Entertainment Law several years ago and had copies of many contracts and riders that I will be able to pattern my business contracts after.  We discussed the difference in Entertainment Law and other types were mainly the terms of the trade. Since a law or a contract governs nearly everything we do, he already knows the basics of this division of the law.  He also pointed out the necessity for contracts with venues.

            During our conversation, Mathis advised using thumb or flash drives for press kits and some of the components needed for promoting any artist.  I also spoke with him about some basic terms of a contract I needed to protect myself such as my percentages of bookings and possible publishing deals.  I have already established some terms with one young artist I recently found and have two other artists making decisions soon about hiring me as their manager.

            In this business, the contract is crucial!  I can already tell how close I will be with my clients and it will be difficult to maintain that business relationship amidst a friendship. Having a legal, binding contract that spells out details will ensure that our partnership will be more profitable and enjoyable. I am looking forward to working with Mr. Mathis as my legal counsel as I believe he is trustworthy and aggressive in protecting his client’s assets.

Mathis, C. (n.d.). Law Advocate Online - Mathis Law Firm. Law Advocate Online - Mathis Law Firm. Retrieved January 29, 2012, from http://www.lawadvocateonline.com/

A Review of Recent Lawsuits in the Country Music Industry

The environment for lawsuits is created when there are contracts between people.  Lawsuits are the citizen’s protection against others who would take advantage of them.  In this blog, I want to focus on three recent lawsuits involving Brad Paisley, Sugarland and Tim McGraw. 

Royalties are important to the songwriter and the lawsuit Paisley filed against his record label alleges Sony underestimated the amount he was due. Shannon (Nashville Gab, 2011, ¶4) reported that Paisley wanted copies of the records from Sony proving the amount of royalties he was due since 2004.  When the judge ruled, Paisley was only allowed to ask for royalties’ paperwork from 2006 on due to some agreement with Sony (Taste of Country, 2011, ¶2). 

In my opinion, Paisley was justified in requesting the paperwork from Sony to verify his claim. If, in fact, he was underpaid, then Sony would be responsible for reimbursing him for unpaid royalties. Since I’m not a lawyer, I can only speculate that he is also due the interest he would have accrued on those royalties. 

The lawsuit filed against Sugarland alleges they were negligent in the stage collapse at a their August 2011 Indiana State Fair.  In an article by the Huffington Post, the duo’s contract with the fair stated they “had the final say on whether to cancel the concert due to weather” (2011, ¶4).  Because of the decision by the group to have a “prayer break”, they were spared injury during the incident.  The defendants feel that Sugarland should have been more aware of the weather and cancelled the concert (Zobaib Ahmed, 2011, ¶7).  

While my heart goes out to the families affected by this terrible tragedy, doesn’t common sense have a place in this lawsuit?  Just because their contract stated Sugarland had final say…the attendees should have used common sense to “get out of the weather” if they felt threatened and should not have relied on other people to make a decision for them.  I do not think the duo could have ever imagined what happened or would have allowed the concert to go on had they had any clue how serious the weather really was. 

In late spring, 2011, Curb Records filed lawsuit claiming a breach of contract due to the delivery of McGraw’s last recording of his “Emotional Traffic” album.  McGraw’s contract specified how soon he could deliver a new album after the release of the previous one.  “Emotional Traffic” was delivered in Oct. 2010 after being “written and mastered” in 2009/2010 (Maher, May 25, 2011, ¶4).  McGraw countersued Curb by asking for “advance payment and recording-fund reimbursement, unspecified damages, and a jury trial.”(¶1).   There are other issues between Curb and McGraw concerning country radio’s perception of the album and problems with business relationships involved in his tour (¶5).

This case was a little more complicated to form an opinion.  McGraw had a 20-year, incredibly successful, relationship with Curb Records. It feels like Curb took advantage of their long-standing contract and by causing issues with business acquaintances.  McGraw won his suit against Curb and was released to choose his own label or form his own. (WYRK, 2011, ¶3).

References

Ahmed, Z. (2011, November 23). Fans File Lawsuit against Country Duo Sugarland. Music, Videos, News and Lyrics. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from http://www.kovideo.net/fans-file-lawsuit-against-country-duo-sugarland-news-sugarland-4504.html

Alan, B. (2011, November 30). Tim McGraw Wins Lawsuit Against Curb Records - Country 106.5 WYRK Radio. Country 106.5 WYRK Radio - Buffalo Music. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from http://wyrk.com/tim-mcgraw-wins-lawsuit-against-curb-records/

Conaway, A. (2011, December 5). Brad Paisley Reportedly Sues Record Label. Country Music News - Taste of Country. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from http://tasteofcountry.com/brad-paisley-sues-sony-records/

Post. (2011, November 22). Indiana State Fair Stage Collapse: 48 Victims Sue Sugarland (DISTURBING VIDEO). Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/23/indiana-state-fair-stage-collapse_n_1109385.html

Maher, C. (2011, May 17). Tim McGraw Hit With Breach of Contract Lawsuit by Curb Records Over ˜Emotional Traffic™ Album. Country Music News - Taste of Country. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from http://tasteofcountry.com/tim-mcgraw-lawsuit-curb-records/

Maher, C. (2011, May 25). Tim McGraw Files Countersuit Against Curb Records. Country Music News - Taste of Country. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from http://tasteofcountry.com/tim-mcgraw-curb-records-lawsuit/

New Page. (2011, November 23). Fans File Lawsuit against Country Duo Sugarland. www.onenewspage.com. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from www.onenewspage.com/n/Entertainment/74mxa2xjb/Fans-File-Lawsuit-against-Country-Duo-Sugarland.htm

Shannon. (2011, December 4). NashvilleGab - Country music news and Nashville gossip: The Legal File. NashvilleGab - Country music news and Nashville gossip. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from http://www.nashvillegab.com/the_legal_file/

Waddell, R. (2011, May 17). Tim McGraw Sued By Label for Breach of Contract | Billboard.com. Music News,

              Reviews, Articles, Information, News Online & Free Music | Billboard.com. Retrieved January 8, 

              2012, from http://www.billboard.com/news/tim-mcgraw-sued-by-label-for-breach-of-contract

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