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Many people are surprised to learn that the LLC business entity is a fairly recent phenomenon. Wyoming was the first state to legislate the creation of LLCs in 1977. Most states didn’t jump on the LLC bandwagon until 1988 when the IRS classified the LLC as a pass through entity for tax purposes. This ruling turned LLCs into the popular monster they are today. Now every state has legislation allowing the creation of LLCs and California is no different.

Qui tam is law terminology associated with whistleblower protection laws for individuals who inform the government about fraud or other corporation misdoings. The phrase is derived from the Latin expression ‘qui tam pro domino rege quam pro seipse’, which translates to ‘he who sues for the king as for himself’. In general a Qui tam lawsuit is filed by private individuals on behalf of the government in an attempt to prevent abuse of funding and finances.

You’ve done your research and have decided on a business entity. You’re chomping at the bit to open a bank account and get moving. You file your corporation or LLC with the Secretary of State and wait…and wait…and wait. Just how long is this going to take?

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled peer-to-peer sites such as Grokster, Kazaa and Morpheus can be held responsible for copyright infringement by their users. In a rare 9-0 decision in favor of Plaintiff MGM, the Justices held that a business distributing technology with the active intent of promoting copyright violations could not escape liability for subsequent copyright infringements. Although unanimous, the ruling is a strained effort to isolate file sharing from other industries.

If you’ve taken the necessary steps to register your copyrighted works, you inevitably will have an opportunity to royalties off of them. To take advantage of the opportunity, you will need to be familiar with copyright license agreements.