The business of podcasting is getting bigger by the second and everybody who’s anybody is creating audio content nowadays; but not everyone knows the legal risks that come along with building your own platform.

You may not have gone to law school, but understanding the fundamental legal realm of podcasting doesn’t have to be difficult. It is something that requires consideration if a podcaster is looking to protect their intellectual property. If you’re new to the legalities of podcasting, you might be asking yourself, “What the heck is intellectual property?!” Don’t worry, it’s just one of three basic points you want to keep in mind when educating yourself on legal risk prevention, and we’ll go over them all.

Intellectual Property

First up, intellectual property is known as ‘IP’ in the industry. IP basically describes the ideas that pop into our heads. 

How many times have you heard some random person online claim that a big time Hollywood producer has stolen their idea for a movie, just because both movie plots have something minuscule in common like a protagonist with the same last name or something, all the while there’s no connection, let alone proof of the IP theft? That’s because many creatives fail to understand what is considered IP, so let’s break down what exactly is Intellectual Property. 

Intellectual property (IP) is a work or invention that is the result of creativity, such as a manuscript or a design, to which one has rights and that one can apply for a patent, copyright, trademark, etc. If you develop a new product, service, process or idea it belongs to you and is considered your IP. There are IP rights that provide IP owners with the time and opportunity to commercialize their creations. For a business, for example, the name, brand, product, and service all help the owner identify what IP to protect in the future. Registering your IP, or conducting an asset register, clearly states who’s in ownership of the IP and its value. 

There are so many avenues of IP protection rights suited for all different types of IP. The two most common types of IP rights are LLCs and Contracts; let’s dive into these further.

LLCs

Over the last couple of years, you couldn’t go on twitter without seeing a viral tweet that told you to get an LLC for your business or get an LLC to set up your life, and while it may have turned into a silly meme, it’s definitely still very solid advice! Since LLCs obviously exist outside of twitter, we know them as a limited liability company and as the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a corporation.

It’s not necessarily a corporation but more so a legal form of a company that provides limited liability to its owners, with certain limitations. LLCs are great for the flexibility they provide to, let’s say, business owners. What this means is that under the umbrella of LLCs, they can be organized as a not-for-profit, depending on the owner’s choice.

Contracts

Like IP, contracts are also as easy or as difficult as you make them. We know them as a written or spoken agreement, especially one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is enforceable by law as a formal and legally binding agreement. Let’s say a business decides to collaborate with an influencer on a campaign or a contractor for temporary employment, you would draw up a contract so that both parties could protect their respective assets, implement boundaries for either party, confirm deliverables, or a variety of agreements that help your company. 

Now that we’ve covered some of the legal jargon, here’s your first step

Stuff like this can overwhelm anyone at any stage of podcasting and luckily for the podcast community, Andrea Sager, Attorney at Law and host of the Podcast The Legalprenuer is taking it to BPC for a webinar in all things legal, where she touches on Entities and LLCs, Contracts, and Intellectual Property, plus much more. She will break things down into super user-friendly information. 

The Legalprebnuer, Andrea Sager, has made it her career goal to empower podcast creatives and business owners in educating them in the legalities of podcast producing, whether it be through her seminar tours or her podcast. Sager believes in the importance of general legal knowledge for everyone to protect themselves from any legal issues along the way.

If you’d like to learn more join our webinar, visit link here