NEW STATE BUDGET A MIXED BAG FOR LOCAL FILM INDUSTRY The State budget for 2021 that was signed into law by Governor Cuomo on April 3, 2020, maintains the annual amount of tax credit at $420 million, but made a number of substantial changes to the film tax credit. The news is mostly bad for…
Exiting Unfavorable Contracts We work with someone that designs, manufactures and distributes certain goods internationally. Under prior management, they entered into an unfavorable contract granting to a particular company exclusive distribution rights in a very lucrative foreign territory. There was no minimum sales requirement. The contract also stated that it could be terminated only upon the…
Planning for Business Succession and Exit Congratulations on successfully building and growing your business. The odds were against you surviving more than 5 years[1], but you beat the odds. Have your thoughts now turned to retirement? Or cashing out? Planning for business succession and exit successfully will require as much planning as growing it. Business…
Planning for Business Succession and Exit Congratulations on successfully building and growing your business. The odds were against you surviving more than 5 years[1], but you beat the odds. Have your thoughts now turned to retirement? Or cashing out? Planning for business succession and exit successfully will require as much planning as growing it. Business…
Nothing Stays the Same A historical safe harbor has been doing business using a corporate or limited liability entity. Officers and employees were protected against claims for their actions as long as they were acting within the scope of their authority in the performance of activities on behalf of the company. Another safe harbor was…
ARTFUL ZONING IN THE HUDSON VALLEY On September 8, 2016, I attended the Orange County Chamber of Commerce breakfast to hear a great presentation by my partner, Gary Schuster, and Adam Demchak from Polich/Tallix Foundry, discussing the economic and cultural benefits associated with the many creative arts associated businesses, entrepreneurs, artists and non-profits operating in…
Someone’s In the Kitchen Cooking shows on TV like Chopped, Iron Chef, and Hell’s Kitchen are all the rage. Everyone seems to want to be a chef. Here in the Hudson Valley we are blessed to have the Culinary Institute of America, which turns out truly talented chefs every year. Many of these choose to…
ZOOM IS TOO FAST The glossy advertisements and promotion for using Legal Zoom evidence that going too fast isn’t the best choice. Going the cheapest is also dangerous. Establishing an entity for a new business is much more than filing forms. There are many important decisions that should be part of any business entity formation….
In New York, artists and crafts people are protected by the New York Arts and Cultural Affairs Law. Galleries and dealers that take artworks and crafts on consignment from their creators are burdened with a fiduciary duty for the benefit of the creators. The law provides that the purchase price is held by the gallery…
Who wrote the song “Happy Birthday”? Who has the copyright? It is reported that the most frequently played song in the world is “Happy Birthday”. Can anyone sing it, play it, record it, rebroadcast it? Can anyone use it for commercial purposes without having to pay royalties? The answers to the above questions were recently…
