Irwin IP is pleased to announce that after extensive negotiations while representing one half of a southern rock duo, War Hippies, in his dispute with the other member of the band’s LLC, Reid Huefner, Alexa Tipton, and Katie Schelli successfully secured our client’s buy-out of his former partner’s share and protected the integrity of the band LLC. A band agreement—in this case, an LLC Operating Agreement—governing the management and business practices of the band, is essential to ensure that the musical group can stay focused on what matters most – its music. A comprehensive agreement will cover ownership rights in the band’s intellectual property, voting rights, member responsibilities, disbursements, as well as how the members will handle the dissolution and wind-up of the band in the case of disbandment. Fortunately for our client, the band did have an agreement that governed many of the bandmembers’ disputes. However, it failed to adequately address winding-up of the band, the LLC, and associated member responsibilities, thus leading to heightened discord during those negotiations. Although it may feel uncomfortable to plan for the end while starting a new venture with close bandmates, a band agreement that governs everyday practices and disputes is often essential to maintaining a harmonic relationship and a long career as musical partners.
If you are part of a band that currently does not have an agreement, you should strongly consider creating one to protect your rights in both the art and business that you create. If you have any questions, please reach out to Alexa Tipton at [email protected].
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Irwin IP specializes in mission-critical intellectual property and technology litigation, catering to a diverse client base, including Fortune 500 companies and innovative startups. Our expertise extends to enforcing and protecting intellectual property portfolios, ensuring our clients’ product lines, worth hundreds of millions annually, remain secure. Notably, we routinely, successfully litigate against the largest, most prestigious law firms representing the largest companies in the world on matters valued in the tens and hundreds of millions.