Houchin Consulting PLLC
I got tired of scheduling and paying for hair cuts, so this weekend I had my wife trim my hair to an even 1/4 inch all around. Out of habit I picked up my comb after getting out of the shower – no need for that. Now I don’t get wacky hair after wearing a stocking cap. Gotta love it.
Let’s face it, people don’t hire me for my haircut anyway! 🙂
‘artocracy,’ an elite based on mastery of visual arts, music, and drama.
Another quote in the March issue of Fast Company Magazine got me thinking this weekend. Fast Company says it’s a “good call.” Here’s the quote:
“First came the aristocracy, an elite based on bloodline. Then came the meritocracy, an elite based on academic achievement. Next will be what I’d call an ‘artocracy,’ an elite based on mastery of visual arts, music, and drama.” The person cited as the author of the quote is Daniel H. Pink (author of the books A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information age to the Conceptual Age, and Free Agent Nation. www.danpink.com).
I have not read those books, but I’m going to do so as soon as I can.
While I believe that education must return to more of a liberal arts/problem-solving focus, I have a hard time with the concept of any sort of “cracy” – an elite of any kind really kind of bothers me. Maybe that feeling comes from being raised on a hog farm in Iowa. My background is far from “elite” – at least in my mind. While we didn’t have a lot of money, I went to a good public school (47 people in my graduating class – 25 of us went to kindergarden together), and I was never hungry. I have to recognize that there are milllions of people in the world that would consider my childhood “elite”… While elitism bothers me, I’m not an advocate of forced mediocracy – kids should get graded on tests.
The problem I have with this quote is that in order to become elite based on a mastery of the visual arts, music, and drama a person probably has to have time to practice. Time to practice means time away from earning money to pay the rent – at least until the practice has paid off and the arts in question bring in enough money to pay the bills that add up while the person is off practicing.
Who’s to pay the bills in the interim? The patron of the artist is still the elite until the artist makes the “big time”. Who is that patron, in this age, probably someone from the aristocracy (who made their money the old-fashioned way – inhertance) or from the mertitocracy. And, when you really think about it, isn’t becoming an elite artists really just a form of merit-based respect.
No, I don’t think “meritocracy” will be REPLACED by “artocracy” – it will simply be (and is already) subdivided into different categories of earned, merit-based, respect.
In the March 2006 issue of Fast Company Magazine (page 28), John Mackey – Charman, CEO, and cofounder of Whgole Foods Market, Inc says:
“When there are fewer secrets, there is greater motivation to do the right thing. That’s driving busines. There’s greater accountability, and more businesses are getting leadership that recognizes that we can’t hide.
So we better do the right thing.
I think this is part of a larger trend, toward businesses having a greater responsibility in sociiety than just maximizing profits. Customers want that, employees wnat that, and shareholders want that: They want businesses to be good sitizens. Businesses today have a too-narow concept of why they exist. Particularly with the scandals at the beginning of this century, historians will look back and see that business is being called upon to do more. It’s not an either-or situation — it’s not profits versus good citizenship. And right now, a new generation is becoming CEOs.”
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I like this quote because it pushs back at the legal system. I believe the reason short-term profits have been put at the top of the priority list is that short term profits are the only objective way for JUDGES to make business decisions when the leaders of businesses want to do different things. What is in the best interest of the shareholder – TODAY and ONLY TODAY – is relatively easy to adjudicate. What’s in the best interest of the stakeholder (people in the community, our children, ect. who don’t own stock) is a far more speculative experiment to determine. On one side, it makes sense to look at the needs of the community, or maybe even the needs of the shareholder in the mid- to long-term. But this gives a judge – who may be far more interested in keeping criminals off the streat than figuring out a corporate dispute – a lot of power and responsibility that she may not be qualified to handle.
I think the only real answer are:
1. As leaders, define the corporate mission in terms of values – not profits.
2. As investors, only invest in companies that have defined their vision in terms of values and pull your investment when those values are compromized.
Yes, that’s idealistic – but idealism is one of the things I value. 🙂
It happened again last week. I received a call from a Web designer (let’s call her “Jill”) who said her work had been ripped off. Jill had created a Web site (call it “site 1”) for an organization. This organization then needed another site with similar functionality, but instead of hiring Jill to do the second site (“site 2”), another person (let’s call him “Ted”) volunteered to build site 2.
Turns out Ted just copied Jill’s images and code (not even changing the file names) to make site 2.
Then I asked Jill the big question, “have you registered the copyright for the image and the code?” “No,” she answered in a dejected tone. I told her it was time to get that done and that she’s actually still in pretty good shape.
Now, many of you might be wondering why I would say that – especially if you’ve read my earlier post “$30 Insurance Policy.” One would think that since site 2 (the infringement) was posted before she registered her work, she not be eligible for statutory damages and attorney fees and be limited only to actual damages. In this case actual damages would probably have been a maximum of the fee Jill charged to create the first site – under $5,000.00.
The kicker is that an infringement occurs EVERY TIME someone loads site 2 into the RAM of their computer. Simply viewing the infringing site creates a copy and thus counts as an infringement.
The ACTION PLAN:
I told Jill to register her image and the code for the site right away. A copyright registration is valid from the day it’s received at the copyright office (assuming it’s a valid registration – but that’s another issue…). Any infringement that happens after the date of registration is eligible for an award of statutory damages and attorney fees.
As long as Site 2 (the infringing site) is live after the date of registration, thus infringing Jill’s registered copyright, she has the pieces in place to file a copyright infringement suit in Federal Court and if she wins (which is very likely in this case), she could be award enough money to make the whole process worth her while. Of course, the odds are that the organization, which is liable with the actual designer, and Ted would both remove the infringing site and pay Jill a reasonable sum before this ever hit a court room.
What do creative people need from their lawyer?
Trust
The #1 reason people hire and stay with a lawyer is that they trust the lawyer’s counsel. They trust the lawyer to help them reach their goals, help face their issues, and help solve their problems. This trust is built upon many factors, but rests on the knowledge that the lawyer understands the situation and cares about the people involved. Even if the issue or problem is business related, it is the people and relationships involved in the situation that truly matter. I work very hard to earn my clients’ trust, and always remember that legal issues always affect people.
Creativity
Creative people and businesses are trying to do new, different, and exciting things. They need lawyers with an attitude that says “here are the legal issues and risks – now let’s find a way to make this work…” instead of “don’t do that…” My goal is to enable your creativity, not set hurdles.
Responsiveness
The #1 complaint clients have with their lawyers is a lack of responsiveness and communication. I have been working with clients in various industries for over 15 years and have never been accused of a lack of responsiveness. If we’re working together you will know where things stand. I return calls. I respond to email.
Legal Competency
Legal competency is the minimum qualification to pass the bar exam and get a license to practice. There are hundreds of lawyers in the phone book that have obviously passed the bar. So what makes one different from the other?
Passion for the subject.
Before becoming a lawyer I was a graphic designer, art director, creative director, and marketing consultant. I have a passion for the creative industries.
Summary
My firm is dedicated to helping creative people, businesses, and organizations promote and protect their creative ideas and other intellectual property. My
background in the creative industry makes me one of very few attorneys that truly understand the creative spirit.
I’ll focus on the legal and business aspects of creativity: copyright, trademark, employment, licensing, business formation, business development, contracts, trade secrets, and free speech – letting you focus on what you do best – create.
My clients are writers, designers, producers, artists, musicians, photographers, entertainers, arts organizations, marketing firms, advertising agencies, architects, publishers, and other business with creative assets to promote or protect.
If it sounds like I’m the kind of lawyer you would like to work with, please call or drop me and email. I’ll be happy to talk with you, and don’t worry – there is no obligation or fee for the initial discussion.