Legal aspects of the fiddle thing - Discussion Forums - Fiddle Hangout

I get grief for bringing up legal aspects. ?That is completely unwarranted. ?It is entirely possible to get sucked into a nightmare in the fiddle world. ?I'm not going to give an entire treatise on things that can happen but do keep in mind the legal context.

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Intellectual property

Copyright infringement - this is pretty clear, don't use without permission, and permission is easy to get. ?Commercial use can get you highly zapped.

Copyright loss - do watch those click through agreements

Patent infringement - watch what you copy and especially copy and sell

Sales

Contracts don't have to be in writing.

It's easy to become a "dealer"

Dealers get to be held to the standards in the UCC

Express and implied warranties - if you have no idea what that means, you are setting yourself up for trouble if you're selling

Performance

Let's just say you should read your contract to perform very carefully

If you're performing copyrighted works, then do be careful about the license held by the venue

If you're recording and distributing, think carefully

Torts

Civil wrongs. ?Defamation. ?Assault. ?All that nonsense. ?If you're playing in public and especially if there's alcohol, it's not as difficult as you think to get sucked into a civil suit.

Crimes

Victim of scam. ?Very easy. ?Think of yourself as a "mark" when you're dealing with strangers, especially remotely.

Selling in interstate commerce. ?Accidental misrepresentation can look like wire fraud.

Bailee?liability

Holding someone else's instrument for them for a few days? ?Insured against that?

Put your instrument into a shop? ?Are they insuring it?

Oops. ?The shop went bankrupt. ?Who owns the instrument you had in there?

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Most of the issues I see are contract and fraud. ?But do be careful. ?I have dealt quietly and privately with a surprising number of musical instrument owners who have been completely blindsided by problems obvious to me. ?Usually they are totally, completely out of luck, and didn't need to end up there.

General rules:

• Get it in writing
• Writing doesn't have to be a contract
• Electronic "signatures" count - see UCC
• Too good to be true usually is (not always - I got a 17th C Italian fiddle in pieces for $225)
• Listen to that warning tingle
• Learn basic contract law
• Learn basic tort law

Source: http://www.fiddlehangout.com/topic/31118

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