Directory of companies and business professionals

This book presents a guide to the resource acquisition, legal, and financial necessities of producing an independent film.  Every aspect of the planning and execution of the business side of filmmaking is discussed, including hypothetical situations based on the personal experience of the entertainment lawyers who co-authorized the book.  The book introduces the roles of producer and lawyer, then outlines the film development process through deal making, financing, hiring, licensing and distribution.

As is pertains to my project, this book provides valuable insight into the warranted concern that filmmakers have had with the 21st century dispute over Internet distribution rights.  In the case of Viacom v. Youtube, the exclusive rights per the 1976 Copyright Act for copyright owners to reproduce their works became the basis for allegations against YouTube for a count of direct copyright infringement.  The authors of this book advise filmmakers to negotiate with distributors on the basis that they "cannon distribute on the Net until there is adequate 'border protection' to prevent access outside licensed territories" (132).

Erickson, Gunnar, Harris Tulchin, Mark Halloran, and J. Gunnar Erickson. The Independent Film Producer's Survival Guide: A Business and Legal Sourcebook . New York: Schirmer Trade Books, 2005

The rights to intellectual property and the revenue thereof can make or break an entrepreneurial business.  This book covers the gambit of trade secrets that tech-savvy entrepreneurs may need to protect intellectual property in the dynamic arena of copyright law, licensing, patenting, and trademark acquisition.  The book makes examples of the infringement issues faced by international business icons such as Microsoft and Amazon.com.

As it pertains to my project, the book also goes over the provisions for statutory versus actual damages in the 1976 Copyright Act (115).  These provisions are under review in the Viacom v. YouTube case.

Guide, Gilbert. The Entrepreneur's Guide to Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets & Licensing . New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 2004

Walker, Juliet. “Racism, Slavery, and Free Enterprise: Black Entrepreneurship in the United States before the Civil War.” The Business History Review, 60 (1986). .

In this article, Walker describes the role of African Americans in the area of business prior to the end of the Civil War. The business world was sparsely populated with African Americans; free individuals at the time still faced incidences of racism, while slaves were faced with legal boundaries that prevented them from interacting with other businessmen. The article describes that as the economy prior to the Civil War became more dynamic, more African Americans became involved in business and partnership. The trend of slavery continued here, however, as many black businessmen went back to a position in which they were subject to serving white families. There was a need to protect private property among white landowners, which often resulted in the revival of slavery and the concept of blacks serving whites.

With the possibility of free and enslaved African Americans becoming future entrepreneurs, it is strange that the film Gone with the Wind depicts such individuals in a negative, degrading light. This, in fact, is one of the biggest critiques of the film. The film tends to highlight the minute positive aspects in the life of a slave, such as his or her comic character or slight contribution to a quarrel or discussion occurring among a white family. In regard to the article’s statement that the majority of free and enslaved individuals during pre-Civil War or Civil War times continued to work for white owners, Gone with the Wind portrays these slaves as fully devoted and loyal to their masters, and in turn, the masters treat the slaves as immature members of the family, presenting them with gifts for so-called good behavior and providing their opinion in matters regarding the family. The slaves in the film who stay loyal and do not bring up the idea of eventually working elsewhere, for example in the field of business, are considered less threatening and therefore acclaimed among Scarlett and other individuals in society; however, those who broach the topic of freedom and personal fulfillment are belittled and rarely supported.

    In the chapter entitled The Entrepreneurial Mafia and the Heroin Economy author Pino Arrlachi described the detailed steps that are required to get heroin from Middle East to the United States and once here what is required to distribute it efficiently.

    The heroin production starts in the middle east or in Southern  Asia as an opium that must be made from the poppy plant. The value of this step in the gradual production into heroin is incredibly low considering what can ultimately be obtained as revenue for fully processed heroin. The author gives the details of prices for both the poppy plant and then the fully processed morphine and shows how the value of the morphine increases as one moves closer to the United States. From Afghanistan to Milan the price of Morphine can increase six fold.

    In the next section the author deals with the market for heroine which , he describes as essentially the perfect sellers market with an almost completely inelastic product. In this section the mafia or organinized crime plays its necessary role. According to the author, there are three things that are necessary for the successful sale of opium, they are capital, physical violence, and insurance of inaction from law enforcement. With these established, the returns to heroine sale are enormous and can be anwhere from 10 to twenty times cost of morphine purchase.

    In “The Godfather”, the main conflict centers around the character of Sollozzo who brings the possibility of drug trade to Don Vito Corrleone. Sollozzo offers the Don three hundred percent return on his investment inside of a month. The Don intelligently refuse because as was shown in this section Sollozzo was asking the Vito to put up to of the essential factors for the drug trade capital and political connections. Understnading these elements of the drug trade helps to provide some insight into the decisions that were made in the film.

This article alerts reader to the fact that it has already been three years in which the recording industry has put forth a great effort to persuade music lovers to pay for online songs yet still illegal downloading is widespread and the overwhelming public sentiment is one of apathy. The article says that "s consortium of 6 retailers, including Best Buy Co. and Tower Records, is investing in online service Echo Networks Inc." The music retailers are at their ultimate low and are now considering to become allies with the technology that continues to destroy them.  Many music retailers are announcing plans to get "into the online music business."