MP3 and the Digital Music Revolution , which he published through his publishing company, OTC Press. He also runs a website dedicated to independent music and media. Haring believes the complexity of putting together an online business to promote and sell entertainment can trip up independent artists who don't have the benefit of legal counsel and managers. Artists must be prepared to respond to labels that may ask them to give up rights to their domain names, and to do battle with fans who infringe on their intellectual property. So Haring joined with entertainment lawyer Anita Rivas to put on a conference that he hopes to take on the road to help musicians, filmmakers, and authors capture the power of the Internet.
Instant stardom is still there.
The way to protect published work is to register it with the United States Copyright Office, he said. Using that technique doesn't necessarily qualify work as copyrighted materials and could damage a case if an artist tried to have an injunction filed against a company that was illegally using the material. In addition to protecting themselves from external threats, artists should also be thinking about forming limited corporations so that they can protect themselves from internal fights and government tax collectors. She said the problem for independent companies comes from the strict guidelines required of corporations by federal law, such as developing bylaws and recording minutes from company meetings. If they are not, someone can pierce that corporate veil and remove the protections that you thought you had.