Daniel Gary Rosenthal’s Answers

As my colleagues noted, you clearly need an attorney. The fact that you directed this video without a contract, makes it difficult for you to prove what your payment rates were, whether you even WERE the director (as opposed to a producer, grip, associate etc.) The fact that they want the hard drive is your leverage at this point. Seek counsel immediately.

Quit being creepy. Don't post things online that you KNOW are possibly hurtful to others, and were certainly private in nature. Most importantly, quit being creepy.

Yes, its legal. Please read my guide about it below.

If you want the next kickstarter, go for it -- you won't make any money but hey, why not. If you're looking for an investment crowdsourcing though, see the answer from the other attorney here. Also keep in mind that 99.99999999% of the time, if you've got a business idea for something on the internet, and you're asking for your legal advice on Avvo, it's going to fail. If you're serious, hire an attorney, get a real feasibility study and business model, talk to investors, and do it the right...

It doesn't sound to me like you hired this attorney. I would be very careful about posting content online in which you denigrate a licensed attorney's practice with claims of "false advertising" (per the tag above), refer to him as a douchebag, and imply that he lacks competency because he is newly admitted (Competence is required in order to be admitted to ANY state's bar, regardless of how long the attorney has practiced since admission.) Additionally, after looking at Attorney Onu's site,...

There are a million different ways to do this, as each situation is unique. One possible situation would be to create a separate LLC owned by the label's LLC. But that may not work depending on your investment structure, if you have one. You really need to sit down with a business attorney to hash all this out. For the business name issue, it's a matter of filing simple paperwork, potentially registering trademarks in the new name, and updating your documentation. You may also consider a d/...

I love that this was somehow classified under "Mental Health." Seems appropriate...

No, this is likely copyright infringement, and not only that, the app sounds like it has very little value and will be lumped together with other "shovelware" that clutters up the app store. Instead, consider finding a way to provide some real value with a quality app.

I take a slightly different perspective than my colleagues here. I almost always advise that "earlier is better" for registration. Note also, that your intellectual property's protection will operate separately than your corporate registration -- your copyright, trademark, and patent (if necessary) registrations should be done ASAP. Copyright can be done fairly quickly and cheaply, but trademarks and patents take much longer to register. You will want to get that done before your site blows up...

Yes, and no. Prior arrangements can be useful for your attorney in his negotiations with the State's Attorney Office, however, they do not guarantee that such an outcome will happen in your particular case. You absolutely need a defense attorney to handle this; he or she will know how to present them to the prosecution far better than you will. I do not mean this as a slight, but rather that an experienced defense attorney knows the local court system much more intimately than you can, and will...