My business will be located in New York, NY so the need to interview a New York entertainment attorney was imperative. After researching potential candidates online to interview for the leadership portfolio, the choice ended up being with Mr. Corey Boddie. He had very little time to speak with me but I did speak with him over the telephone. I respected that his time was sensitive so I suggested that I email the questions and he obliged and also referred me to his website for his practice. Boddie is an entertainment attorney practicing in New York in the areas of music, film, fashion and television.
Corey Boddie received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia in 1994 and a Juris Doctorate degree from Southern University Law in Louisiana IN 1999. Shortly thereafter, Boddie started his own practice named Boddie & Associates, P.C. He is a member of The Entertainment Law Committee of the New York Bar Association and is a board member of this organization. In addition, he is also a member of The Entertainment Sports Law Forum of the American Bar Association and is an officer with this organization. Lastly, he is also a member of the Recording Academy for the Grammys (http://www.boddieassoc.com/corey_boddie.html).
One of the questions that I emailed Mr. Boddie was asking him about his favorite moment while practicing law. Boddie (personal communication, March 22, 2010) noted that it was when he was appointed the General Counsel for the Manhattan Short Film Festival in 2001. Another question in the email was general advice related to the start up of my business. Boddie (personal communication, March 22, 2010) noted that he could not give me legal advice but in general to make sure that I have all the proper licenses since I will be dealing with music. In addition, another question I asked was about becoming an entertainment attorney. My goal is to start law school in 2011. Boddie (personal communication, March 22, 2010) replied saying to make sure this is something you really want to do because it requires a lot of sacrifice but the rewards are great. He also noted that to join sports and entertainment organization at the school if applicable. In addition, I asked what are some of the major legal liability and challenges in entertainment law. Boddie (personal communication, March 22, 2010) said that infringement is definitely number one and warns clients of this before he starts to do business with a client that comes to him for legal advice.
These emails were very helpful but also referred me to his website for some of the things he has been involved with such as high profiled cases. One case that I found interesting was the Ginuwine versus King Music Group. I personally am a big fan of Ginuwine’s music and have purchased all of his music from 1996 through his latest effort in 2009. He is an artist that is on my business plan list that I would like to perform at my venue. Boddie represented Ginuwine with the claims of negligent misrepresentation, entertainment business fraud and breach of contract. The deal was for King Music Group to provide an advance of $500,000 with the deal totaling at $1.75 million. Ginuwine never receive payment. In addition, this held up Ginuwine from recording anywhere else at the time. Damages of $4 million was asked for to settle this case. The lawsuit stated that King Music Group did not exist so the contract is null. The lawsuit was later dropped by Ginuwine and he is now signed to Notifi/Asylum/Warner Records (http://www.usentertainmentlawyers.com). Other notable clients are Oscar nominated director Josh Raskin, Kool & The Gang, Bad Boy recording artist Black Rob and reggae artist Wayne Wonder.
Corey Boddie was very helpful and I sent him an email saying thank you for your time. He replied (personal communication, March 22, 2010) saying that he will be available to speak with me for an hour on March 26, 2010 at 10am. For the assignment purposes, the email and the short time we had on the phone had to suffice but I look forward to speaking with him on this day to go into more detail about my career goals and more of the things he has done in the entertainment industry.
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