Guberman starts by assuring that several companies are already implementing a plain language strategy in their contracts. Another example is General Electric. First is this one from Kanye. So notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the Shall problem, you know, using Shal for both obligations and future events, words that seem familiar, like promptly that have a legal layer causes. This is the Def Jam amendment. The breakdown for this amount was:$1.5 million was to be distributed to record the album. Almost ALL new deals now are based on ALL songs going to a store or app. Royalties. So I apologize to both of you D.C. people watching. In follow-up tweets, he shared screengrabs of 10 documents that included a profit sharing agreement and a recording agreement. On Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 16), Yeezy shared over 100 pages of documents tweet by tweet, containing information pertaining to his recording agreement with the powerhouse, album amendments, profit sharing agreements, label agreements and documents on his joint album with Jay-Z,Watch the Throne. So the rest, you know, if its not a one of those categories, its either an industry term of art or just normal English talking about finance or recording. Well, Im looking at the after and, you know, its shorter which which tells me something about the the utility of cutting these bits of archaic language. Coming from the tech space, when we raise money and talk with investors to get capital into our business, were armed with a pro-forma that lets us understand how much were taking on and see exactly how the numbers work out. September 18, 2020. We need plain English contracts. Welcome to Law Insiders Contract Teardown Show, where we bring smart friends like Ross Guberman over here to break down some contracts. You need a business manager to read how you did? Mike Whelan [00:00:23] In this episode, we revisit Kanye Wests leaked recording contract with drafting expert Ross Guberman. G.O.O.D. A pair of shoes designed and worn by the musician Kanye West have sold for $1.8m (1.3m) at auction - the highest amount ever paid for trainers. Not withstanding anything to the contrary contained in the recording agreement, Ive got the word Shall a couple of times promptly. Somethings got a hold your drink place. I AM ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS PEOPLE ON THE PLANET AND UNIVERSAL WONT TELL ME WHAT MY MASTERS COST BECAUSE THEY KNOW I CAN AFFORD THEM BLACK MASTERS MATTER.". So, you know, my provision, these are coded blue brief catch picking up on a lot of those. Youll also get webinars and daily tips on drafting and negotiating contracts, not to mention access to the worlds largest database of sample clauses and contracts. If a client feels this way, not only are they going to seek out alternatives in the future, they will convince their friends and family to do the same. Portals. Ross Guberman [00:00:00] You look at these agreements, though, from Kanye, thats not just the CDC references that are archaic, the language looks like something you might find, you know, 50, 100 years ago. Ross Guberman [00:20:11] Yeah, I think part of that is really bracketing off, just as you are saying, words and phrases that a lawyer knows have substantive value. In the weeks following its release, Donda surpassed a billion streams on Spotify globally. Kanye's call for transparency in the music business has made other artists and industry insiders speak up. What is your story, Ross Guberman? So we want to talk briefly about this profit sharing piece, this image here, because theres a lot of language that might lead to artists not understanding that theyre getting into that pretty crappy deal, honestly. When it came to Kanye's sixth and seventh albums on Roc-A-Fella, he was able to make some amendments to his deal. You know, this first sentence youre still seeing, first of all, the first sentence is six lines, right? Before we do, Ross, I want you to tell me about yourself. You can imagine the anxiety the in-house counsel have, right? So we know recouped doesnt mean the same thing. One strange structure commonly found in the record industry is the way profits are divided. To be a little bit difficult to argue that. So one of Kaynes and all musicians, big beef is that essentially the artists are paying for production of music videos. Ross Guberman [00:08:11] Yeah, this is a big issue. Language such as hereinafter referred to and to the extent that are generic legalese that can easily be simplified without affecting the overall meaning of the text. Well make sure you get a deal as well. He says the industry must holistically evaluate how to improve for any major changes to shift. When youre awake to this, you cant be the perpetrator anymore.. Addeddate 2020-09-21 23:04:27 Identifier KanyeWestContracts Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t0jt91382 Ocr He tweeted them so I made PDFs. Tell me how this is more understandable again for someone, not a 12 year old, but someone like Kanye in the decision making phase. We can walk you through that process and get you on the show to tear down another contract. Fine. So you dont want to run around changing materiality. Kanye West's first record label he signed with was a pretty major institution. For that LP, there was a recording fund amounting to$2.5 million. Found online, don't shoot the messenger. Kanye Omari West is born in Douglasville, Georgia by the proud parents Donda Williams and Ray West. Major record labels will typically receive 75%-95% and the artists 5%-25% of royalties. Law Insider, in partnership with Laura Frederick and How to Contract, is hosting ContractsCon 2023, a live training and networking event focused on practical contract drafting and negotiating skills for in-house counsel and contracts professionals. See's Kanye West's Record Contract Tweets. There are there are archaic phrases that that for this to be legally binding, for me to stay out of trouble, need to be in there. Mike Whelan [00:17:41] an interpretive sca band and Im going to have to look for the domain name. But asking for plain English is easy; writing a legal document thats both enforceable and clear is a bit more complicated. 88-Keys . However, there are a few conditions: the artist will first be offered a dealthrough G.O.O.D. So those are those are the impediments. I mean, shoot, producers can take $15,000 to $20,000 a piece on each track. Kanye West's history of inflammatory statements were met with consquences this week. (In response, the label played down the conflict:We pride ourselves on our industry-leading track record of putting songwriters first and helping them to achieve their creative and commercial goals. Leave. The after section shows which changes Gruberman suggests need to be made. Theyll follow their attorneys recommendation. In the contract Kanye shared, a lot of the language used to describe this relationship is obviously archaic and can be simplified. Youll get access to more content like this. Roc-A-Fella was to approve any "recording elements,"which are listed as: selection of individual producer(s), selection of compositions to be recorded, specification of accompaniment, arrangement and copying services, selection of dates of recording and studios where recording is to take place. So, you know, theres a lot in contract language thats really just generic legaleese the same kinds of things you see in other documents. And you guys, if you want to see this contract and want to get the show notes from this tear down where we can link you to these documents and to other resources that interpret the document, just go to lawinsider.com/resources. So lets talk a little bit. We wouldnt be talking about all this now if the label hadnt invested in him and put tons of marketing money into this for his leg up.. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. So lets shift to the Kanye contract, and were not going to do a full breakdown of what all these documents are, because theres a lot and there are good YouTube videos out there. Based on the agreement,Universal Music Group gave Kanye a $3.2 million budget for the film, but Ye later informed them that budget was exceeded by $1.5 million. But its all too new to know whether in any kind of dispute that language would actually be entered as evidence. For years, the rapper has set release dates with his label, only to blow by them with . Cruel Summer/Hawaii costs shall befully cross-collateralized with Kanye's main royalties account. Kanye West Posts Over 100 Pages of His Record Label Contracts, Tweet by Tweet Tyler Sharp Published: September 16, 2020 David Crotty / Patrick McMullan, Getty Images Kanye West made. Artists re-signing these stops. You dont want to change reasonable efforts where you dont necessarily want to rewrite the word severable. Mike Whelan [00:19:16] Well, and on that, I, I sort of want to get to principles, to things that lawyers can learn from this example, which is really the purpose of this show. 25. Are they making too much? However, the film has not yet been released. The 43-year-old rapper has conceded after his. His. The recording fund amounts for Yeezy's third through seventh albums were listed as follows:third album: minimum recording fund $300,000, maxing recording fund $650,000;fourth album: minimum recording fund $325,000, maxing recording fund $700,000;fifth album: minimum recording fund $400,000, maxing recording fund $850,000;sixth album: minimum recording fund $425,000, maxing recording fund $900,000;seventh album: minimum recording fund $450,000, maxing recording fund $950,000. Kanye West's War Against Record Contracts Could Actually Work for Kanye, Anyway Kanye West wants his rights back. And it was actually really hard to get through because they were just images. Advances are loans with 75% interest rates (or worse). No, but nobody wants clients to to conclude that. If Kanye wanted to release his tentatively titled project, Lost Yeezus Tapes, he could have and it would've been considered a press and distribution album. Mike Whelan [00:24:07] That is perfect. They would pay Kanye back after the successful completion of the film, provided it was up to standards. W aiting for a Kanye West album can be an excruciating, interminable experience. Come join me. Other brands and companies that cut ties to West . #kanyewest #dramaalert #grammyWanna continu. Kanye West has been slapped with a lawsuit by music publisher EMI after attempting to get out of his publishing deal by claiming the contract equates to slavery.. Theres a lot we can do. What do you think of Kanye West leaking his own contracts to make a point? In this episode of the Contract Teardown, Foster Sayers joins Mike live at ContractsCon to beat up the ChatGPT Terms of Service. on September 21, 2020. His call for transparency has brought the conversation of understandable language into a spotlight. All those of those terms that you can also edit out of other legal documents, theres a lot to do there that really will clean these up without ever even considering going into the substantive terms. 2. Who made this up so that record companies get 70 percent of the money? Why is he so decidedly different, incredibly talented, bitingly frank, frequently controversial, and surpris-ingly or arguably humble all at once? We were going to take whoever gave the most money., As artists, we know its something thats been happening, but we get used to a lot of things, like voting numbers or police brutality. Again back to dependents. One seems to be this issue of Ive got to check some legal boxes. Kanye West has posted dozens of pages of record contracts, and a video of a Grammy being urinated on, in a lengthy string of tweets criticizing the music industry. During his rant, Kanye declared that he would move the entire music industry into the 21st century, and he means to do this using clear and discernable language. Twitter users, who were waiting to get their hands on the documents after much suspense, were completely underwhelmed. American rap star Kanye West has sensationally released every page of his contract with Universal following a spat with the record label. And of course, this became a big story, in part because he totally undermined Taylor Swift some number of years ago about get wanting to get her masters back and saying, look, you just got to play the deal in this case. The deal. Mike Whelan [00:16:08] in a brief. We get used to these things and then sometimes, theres a wakeup call . Thats not the game here, Noonan recalls as the mindset when negotiating contracts. If you look at these agreements, though, from Kanye, that thats not just the CD references that are archaic. Mike Whelan [00:22:29] he did not listen. If Im the lawyer there, there are terms of art. If youre part of a team, just email us if youre in house or in a law firm. For his initial contract period, Yeezy received 8percent of all singles and long-play singles,14 percent of the royalty base with respect to master recordings during initial contract period,14 percent of sales of an album in excess of 500,000 units and15 percent of sales of an album in excess of 1 million units. Ive got blues and Ive got reds. Kanye West Contracts : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Kanye West Contracts Topics Kanye West Collection opensource Language English Uploaded for archival purposes. We were lucky because we were careful. All contents of the lawinsider.com excluding publicly sourced documents are Copyright 2013-. We get used to these things and then sometimes, theres a wakeup call.. Labels are taking risks on any given signing and need to make offers that keep the company profitable. Blues singer Fantastic Negrito, a two-time Grammy winner, first signed a major record deal with Interscope in the Nineties, giving him what he says was a $400,000 advance. He dumped them all on Twitter. So lets take another example from the Kanye contract. Its all digital. Theres this site, my my other company, legal writing pro. Music or such label paying Island Def Jam Music Group acounterbalance amountagainst overhead payments in an amount equal to the overhead payments in the applicable contract year multiplied by a fraction. Its a fine line to walk: simplifying without completely changing the meaning of the terms. Uploaded for archival purposes. Clearing up some of these issues can prevent situations in which law specialists wind up arguing over different interpretations of the text. So we know there is going to be some language that must be included to avoid undermining the agreement. Youve been dealing with this for a while. Come join my friends. I AM ON MY KNEES THIS MORNING," he tweeted before dropping the proof. Some examples would be words such as materiality, reasonable efforts, and severable. If you push this button, youre going to save big. $20.99 Used. Thats a sort of grey area, and I think its an important conversation to be had., Editors picks THE HOST:Mike Whelan is the author of Lawyer Forward: Finding Your Place in the Future of Law and host of the Lawyer Forward community. Its not always clear whats what. The contract indicates that these figures would increase with each release, and Kanye West and his company would receive 20 percent of each minimum after notifying the label that the. We need plain English contracts. Kanye West, someone God had chosen to do something very special in the world. Why are artists paying a 20 percent distribution fee off the top?, Related Kanye West, seen in 2019, has lost business deals in light of his recent antisemitic remarks. Kanye West Says He Won't Release New Music Until Freed From Sony and Universal Contracts: Declaring himself "the new Moses" while demanding apologies from Drake and J. Cole. Ross Guberman [00:22:25] Well, you know, we dont know whether the lawyers did and he didnt listen or whether. Mike Whelan [00:11:02] Hmm. See everything we've learned from his record label deals below. "NEW RECORDING AND PUBLISHING DEAL GUIDELINES," he tweeted at 1:26 p.m. Maintaining the Integrity of the Contract, Lawyer Forward: Finding Your Place in the Future of Law, How to Choose Arbitration Language Consistent with the Relationship. Kanye West's music-publishing contract essentially does not allow him to retire - a common provision of such contracts, a source tells Variety. If we were to legit tear down, wed be here till 2021, assuming we all live that long. Oct. 25, 2022 Updated 11:22 a.m. Let me do a screen show real quick to show people what were talking about. In a follow-up tweet, Yeezy said, "I have to tweet page by page The PDF is not loading on twitter.". Music. Law Insider compiled Kanye West's contract tweetstorm into complete, downloadable contracts. Join me and my friends. Every audio file, every asset, every deal stored WITH the money. Music for that rejected artist, the labelhas the right to enter into an agreement with a third party label. web pages Hit-Boy is an enormously talented songwriter whose relationship we value, a UMPG spokesperson said in a statement to Rolling Stone. Thats probably more than enough. Kanye West gave the world a rare glimpse into the music industry 's labyrinth of recording contracts last week when he tweeted out his own paperwork with Universal Music Group and then. So youre seeing some attempt by LinkedIn. So the tool, the tool were looking at brief catch, you know, there you go. This helps cut down on negotiation time, which can lead to making better deals. I guess my question is, could Kanye read this, do you think? We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. Were going to pay that to you. The split can be 80/20 in the artists favor. Right. Yeezy, West's sneaker and apparel business with Adidas AG and Gap Inc., is valued at $3.2 billion to $4.7 billion by UBS Group AG, according to a private document reviewed by Bloomberg. Why is a shift to plain language important? The first agreement in the series was around the time PDF were new. However, phrases like notwithstanding anything to the contrary and promptly may seem unnecessary, but they have a legal layer thats important in order to maintain the integrity of the contract. Kanye West had some more thoughts to share about recording contracts in a series of tweets on Sunday (Sept. 20). Mike Whelan [00:10:12] Hey, everybody, Im Mike Whelen. Its all made from videos. Wests contract could even be considered favorable among superstar contracts, with Universal heavily investing in Wests works, entertainment attorney Christiane Kinney says. The first thing that changes about Record Deals is actually lawyers. Lets rewrite the deals to be understandable from first rate. If you are interested in being a guest on Contract Teardown, please email us at community@lawinsider.com. Theres no more independent plants, no more putting all these CDs in a truck and shipping them from store to store across the country, Chris Anokute, founder of entertainment company Young Forever Inc. and a former A&R executive for labels including Capitol and Island Def Jam, tells Rolling Stone. Ye also had to seek written approval from the labelat least 14 days before the first recording session. Tool were looking at brief catch, you know, we revisit Kanye Wests leaked recording contract with Universal a. 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