What’s in the fine print? A primer on podcast legal issues

Jonathan Lyons is a founding partner of Lyons & Salky Law, LLP, a boutique law firm that provides counseling to clients in all areas of the media industries, with a particular expertise in complex and cutting edge transactions in the print, digital, and audio media space. His podcast practice includes the representation of creators, writers, journalists, talent, editors, producers, composers, studios, and other media companies in connection with the exploitation of their audio projects. His services include drafting and negotiating of licensing and distribution agreements; developing and protecting copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property rights; and negotiating ancillary agreements for live events, merchandising, and dramatic exploitation. As production counsel, he also assists clients regarding employee and independent contractor agreements; website content, terms of service, and data privacy compliance; subscription models, crowd-funding, and other forms of revenue collection; and clearances and pre-publication review. Jonathan has served as an adjunct professor in New York University's Master of Science in Publishing Program, where he has taught a course on contract negotiation. Separately, he is a vice president and literary agent at Curtis Brown, Ltd., where he represents writers in a variety of genres.