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Blog For Empowering Creatives: IP and Digital Media Lawyers Insights

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When I think of Frank Sinatra's "My Way," I see a connection to the main ideas behind intellectual property law. "My Way" embodies personal expression and an individual's journey through life, which parallels the concept of the ideas-expressions dichotomy in copyright law. It echoes the principle that music, literature, or art can be copyrighted while allowing others to explore the same ideas without infringing upon that particular expression. Sinatra's anthem also celebrates uniqueness, which is reflected in the definitions of all of the varying types of intellectual property.

The Purpose of This Blog

The articles on this blog are all written, reviewed, and edited by me, Mr Peter Adediran, the Digital Media and Intellectual Property Solicitor at PAIL Solicitors. They are intended to empower the new generation of business executives, professionals, business owners and creatives who want to keep up with intellectual property, digital media and entertainment law in the digital age. Most importantly, empower the community of creatives who want to create works "their way". In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, staying informed and increasing knowledge in specialised legal services is crucial for e-commerce and digital technology businesses. At PAIL® Solicitors, we understand the unique challenges start-ups, business owners, professionals, business executives, creatives, writers and talent face in protecting their intellectual property and navigating legal complexities. By reading this blog and engaging us as your legal representatives you can safeguard yours and your company's reputations, make informed financial decisions, and confidently expand into new markets by focusing on continuous learning and expertise in these areas.

This blog contains articles on the following themes:

  • Advice on Protecting Digital Content

Encouragement to Stay Informed and Protected

For creatives and businesses alike, staying informed about legal issues surrounding intellectual property is critical. Knowledge is a powerful tool for safeguarding one’s work from infringement or misuse. We encourage individuals to engage with our resources, participate in discussions, and keep abreast of developments in IP law. 

Internet Solicitors

 

Internet Solicitors

Instructing lnternet Solicitors – 7 tips on instructing lawyers on the Internet

lnternet Solicitors – Introduction

lnternet Solicitors have a set of skills acquired through experience in legal practice and continuous study that allows them to identify, analyse, and  find the appropriate solution to an Internet related legal problems. With this in mind we thought that it would be helpful to list 7 tips on instructing lnternet Solicitors you find via a search engine or Google ads on the Internet.

1. Budget – This is the most straightforward of the 7 tips. A solicitors firm is a business like any other. Like any business, solicitors require payment for third party expenses and giving advice, and usually charge a prevailing hourly rate. Buying a service is different from paying for a product. Products are usually exactly the same (i.e. a Samsung TV is the same product whether you buy it from Tesco or from Currys). With products the main driver for evaluating a purchase is price. A service is a lot more complex. Evaluation principles should be based on several different criteria including the ability to deliver on time and on budget, skills and knowledge in the practice area, performance record, flexibility on price and in responding to changes in specification. Internet culture tends to reduce every business exchange into a commodity exchange. There are price comparison websites for everything, even services that are not necessarily suitable. While financial products such as insurance, credit cards, personal loans and gas and electricity tariffs are appropriate for price comparison, intimate and complex professional services are not necessarily suitable.  Accordingly, instructions resulting from Internet search engines or Google advertising form a significantly smaller proportion percentage of  overall business for successful law firms; the highest proportion percentage still comes from terrestrial word of mouth referrals.

2. Clear and detailed instructions – Internet culture has made short-form informal chat-room communication the norm. But expressing yourself in a 140 character limit when  procuring legal services is not only inappropriate, it is also ineffective. Solicitors, even those that specialise in Internet related commercial law, are professionals and communication between a potential client and a solicitor should reflect this. Problem solving is difficult. Clients have to give clear and comprehensive instructions.Without a careful detailed analysis of the problem a lawyer is unlikely to be able to give a quotation or advise, in a comprehensive way, to deal with the problem.

Hourly rates will vary, but the County Court Solicitors Charge Rate for London 2 (W1, WC1, WC2, SW1) for Grade A Solicitors (over 8 years) experience is £317 per hour.

3. Risk – Have you done a costs/benefits risk evaluation? If your problem involves a high degree of risk – the stakes are high if something goes wrong you could end up being sued for a substantial sum or run into problems with the authorities. Apart from undergoing years of previous study, continuous study, practice experience, being recertified annually, all solicitors are required to have compulsory minimum insurance cover which is renewable every year. All solicitors pay substantial premiums to have that cover. Cover can only be obtained on the open market from a small number of insurers in a very risk averse insurers market. Solicitors who have had professional negligence claims or a long track record of adverse regulatory history, including competency, either have to pay prohibitively high premiums or are unable to get insured. Additionally solicitors are heavily regulated so using them is a shrewd way of minimising your risk.

4. Doing some research yourself –  Do some basic research yourself so you have some understanding of the subject-matter. But don’t assume that you understand the issues and procedure from a few hours of personal research. Again solving legal problems is difficult. How you address a problem will partly depend on the type of problem with which you are faced. It is simply inaccurate that lawyers apply the same solution to every problem, or that they reformulate the problem so that it fits neatly into the category of problem which they have dealt with before. This is a popular misconception. Every set of facts is different. This is true whether you are registering, licensing or litigating over intellectual property, writing website terms and conditions or music/film contracts.

5. Control – You might find it difficult to let go of  the urge to micro-manage or control every situation.  It is not cost effective for busy entrepreneurs or/and business owners to take the time to deal with legal problem themselves. Also specialists often have an instinct (quite apart from knowledge and specialised skills) for problem solving that can only be acquired through experience.

6. You are creative and enjoy business development and strategy – Dealing with legal problems is mostly procedural and rule based. It is not very appealing work for an entrepreneur, additionally delegation is a necessary skill for a business manager or/and entrepreneur.

7. lnternet Solicitors Specialist – Go to specialist lnternet Solicitors. Specialist lnternet Solicitors are more likely to have the knowledge to evaluate what is needed to solve your problem more accurately and in a timely fashion.

To obtain a quotation, please contact us at (020) 7305-7491 or at peter@pailsolicitors.co.uk. We would be delighted to assist you. Mr Peter Adediran is the owner and principal solicitor at PAIL® Solicitors.  Subscribe to our newsletter to get blog post updates and other information about the firm straight to your inbox.

Meet The Team: Peter Adediran; Maya El Husseini; Gabrielle Felix; Poppy Harston

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