Paul I. Menes

ADLI Secures New Employment Agreement for Entertainment Academy Executive

On June 23, ADLI finalized difficult negotiations and our client entered into a new, multi-year employment contract to continue to run one of the entertainment academy’s charitable wings, on a more lucrative basis than the client’s current contract with the Academy. ADLI provides all manner of entertainment transactional services to clients in all facets of…

Read More...

ADLI Secures Registered Trademark for Large Senior Care Facility

On June 23, 2020, ADLI was successful in securing a registered trademark (No. 6,083,332) for a large senior care facility. With this trademark, ADLI’s client is offered protection from others infringing upon the unique brand identity that distinguishes them. ADLI’s trademark law services include searching trademark/brand availability, applying for, prosecuting and securing trademark registrations both…

Read More...

Virtually Sustainable? The Current Viability of Virtual Influencers

Virtual influencers (“VI”), those creations of CGI and artificial intelligence (“AI”), were the rage and “next big thing” in influencers when the first one, Miquela Sousa, a/k/a Lil Miquela, stormed the Internet in 2016. Created by the start-up Brud, she was a 19 year old living in California, with a passion for fashion and music,…

Read More...

Know the Risks of Video Teleconferencing!

In an effort to stay connected during the COVID-19 crisis, many of us have turned to video teleconferencing platforms and apps (“VCPs”) to stay connected and do business while staying at and working from home. VCPs, like FaceTime and What’s App, were originally designed for virtual social meetups and conversations with friends and family who…

Read More...

Influencers, Use Your Influence to Save Lives!

According to several recent articles and advisories I’ve read quoting infectious disease specialists, including from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the “CDC”), many Gen Y and Gen Z-ers (I’ll now refer to them in this article the “Gens”) have been ignoring “Stay at Home” orders, social distancing, and other advice of medical…

Read More...

Fyre Fest Scandal Reignites, and Influencer Agencies, Management and PR Firms Are Getting Burned

Earlier this year, I wrote an article for Entrepreneur magazine about the now-infamous Fyre Festival. Among other topics, the article dealt with how not only influencers, but recently brands, agencies, and others involved with influencers, were being scrutinized by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) for failures to properly disclose endorsements.   It also posited that…

Read More...

A Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words – And Maybe A Lawsuit

What do Gigi Hadid, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez, Khloe Kardashian, and Victoria Beckham have in common? They’re just some of the celebrities, big and small, who’ve been sued for copyright infringement by photographers, often paparazzi, for posting photos on their own social the photographers took of them. Often, this was after…

Read More...

When It Comes To Posting Your Photos, Ask Permission, Not Forgiveness

There’s a theory to which my girlfriend subscribes: “Ask forgiveness, not permission”. While I generally agree, it doesn’t apply to posting photos of you someone else takes.   Recently, a federal court threw out a lawsuit against influencer and supermodel Gigi Hadid, for posting to Instagram a photo of herself that was taken by a…

Read More...

No Ifs, Ands or Bots. Bot Use Disclosure Now Mandatory In California.

As anyone who shops online knows, many sellers and service providers offer messaging options that allow visitors to ask questions and interact with the site. Often, the “person” they’re communicating with isn’t real (although it often seems human – “Hi! I’m Tina! Can I help you?”).   It’s a chatbot, a type of bot that…

Read More...

Authenticity – Influencers Should Never Have It Take A Vacation

I read a surprising article about a couple, the Smiths, who run the Instagram @The_greatescape.blog, which claims about 28,000 followers. The blog details their two year round-the-world trip. The article is about Ms. Smith admitting that she wasn’t honest in her blog about the couple’s experiences during their three months in the Dominican Republic.   She’s…

Read More...