Ultra Light Startups featured a Legal Roundtable discussion this week led by three attorneys who specialize in helping entrepreneurs understand the legal complications of starting and maintaining a new business.
Jonathan Freedman, Andrew Lerner and Charles von Simpson discussed a variety of topics including when to incorporate, trademarks and immigration and employment issues.
Freedman began the evening by cautioning new businesspeople about the liability issues that can crop up if you don’t incorporate a company.
“Every thing that goes wrong in a business is your financial responsibility until your form a legal company,” said Freedman. “Upon forming a legal entity, the liability shifts away from your personal assets and onto the company itself.”
Freedman says the other time to form a corporation is when you take on a partnership or sign a material contract.
Charles von Simpson engaged the group talking about copyright and trademark issues. He says that the distinction between fair use and copyright infringement may be unclear and not easily defined.
He also outlined four factors for copyright use:
- Purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educations purpose
- The nature of the copyrighted work
- The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
- The effect of the user upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work.
Andrew Lerner discussed the various challenges that have resulted from increasingly strict immigration laws. Lerner cautioned that if you’re a foreign national or a U.S. Citizen that has hired one, the paperwork must be perfect because government agencies are hunting for the slightest mistake.
Tagged as: Andrew Lerner, Charles von Simpson, Graham Lawlor, Jonathan Freedman, Ultra Light Startups
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