Business Idea - Internet Copyright Protection Company

[Neshro]

I want to get some people's feedback here. I'm a small business owner in a completely unrelated field right now, think luxury items.

Recently I've been thinking of possibly starting up an internet copyright defense company. Some of you guys might have heard of Media Defender. I'm sure there are other companies doing this same business but I want to work in a way that doesn't alienate people too much. The growth of Torrents, and media sharing websites is going to create a huge demand for a co. like this in the future from Copyright holders (musicians, movie producers etc.)

I wanted to get people opinion, how a company like this could get started, whether others would be interested in doing it etc.

Initial financing wouldn't be a problem.

[maziy300]

Are you a lawyer? If you're not, can you hire one?

[2gould]

This is a good idea and you are correct, there are other companies doing this exact thing. In fact, a couple years ago I applied to work at one. The companies in this arena seem to be a mix of business executives and lawyers (at least up here in the Northeast). The previous poster is correct, an in-house lawyer or one on a constant retainer would be a must. Personally, I think you would find it more cost efficient if you had the attorney in-house or as a founding member instead of paying outside counsel.

Either way, I think it is a good idea and there are some people out there making a decent living doing just that. Good luck!

[Neshro]

I'm not a lawyer... I guess we could hire one on retainer if we needed to. I wanted to get an idea as to who else is in this field at the moment.
2Gould, how was it working for this company? How do they work with their clients. I know MediaDefender for example I think would charge based on each copyright, let's say a specific movie etc. Could you just give some more information about your experience there.

Thx

[2gould]

If you proceed with this idea I would definitely retain an attorney for a variety of reasons, credibility and confidence being amongst the most important. I actually did not end up working for the company, so unfortunately I can not give you any operational details. However, I can tell you that the company appeared to act as an intellectual property consultancy dealing mainly with trademarks and copyrights. They were looking for another attorney for the team which is the reason I applied. If you have any other questions feel free.

Charley