The Questions

The questions that I chose are of personal interest to me.  Some of them have to do with intellectual property and how that would affect the music/audio that I help produce, but some of them have to do with running a business and can affect me in my current position as an executive assistant to a professional chef who has his own startup company.  The questions that I came up with aren’t necessarily the ones that I actually ended up asking.  As the conversation progressed, some of the questions ended up getting modified or ignored completely. So here is the list of questions that I originally wanted to ask.

Does my work have to be published to be protected?

The name of my company was approved when I incorporated - Doesn't that mean I am free to use that name as a trademark?

Can I fight a trademark infringement?

What is the difference between a patent attorney and a patent agent?

What is fair use?

Is secretly recording to prove harassment legal?

Infringes on copyright, what is my recourse?

In music, is it more important to copyright, trademark or register on ASCAP?

How would an artist go about keeping a contract?

I recorded some music while at the school; does it mean that the school owns the copyright?

At what point in starting a business and having staff, am I required to officially have them listed as an employee and start paying FICA and the like?

What are the legal requirements to having independent contractors as opposed to employees?

When do copyrights/trademarks become official and cover you in case of infringement?

What percent of a song would need to be modified in order for it to be no longer covered by the original copyright/registration?

What do copyright laws protect when it comes to “ideas” for audio for music?