In an unprecedented movement, the Artist Empowerment
Coalition ("AEC") and prominent entertainment attorney Londell McMillan
(Prince, DMX) have joined forces with three of today's leading labor
unions– the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial
Organizations (AFL-CIO), American Federation of Musicians (AFM) and
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). Together, the
AEC and these labor unions are leading the charge, to bring about change in
the treatment of artists in the business of entertainment.
"In too many instances, artists have been creatively and financially abused
due to contracts of unfair and long-term servitude. It is time for a
business model in the music industry that places a fiduciary duty on record
labels as well as reasonable limits to long-term recording contracts," said
AEC general counsel, L. Londell McMillan.
The overall mission of the AEC and labor unions is to work together to
"bring about economic justice to the workplace and social justice to our
nation." The AEC aims to utilize the gift and creation of music, art and
culture to make the world a better place and promote changes and reform in
the relationships between artists and the companies that exploit, market and
distribute their creative work.
Earlier this week, recording artists and L. Londell McMillan, joined forces
with New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assemblyman Roger
Green, to unveil a proposed legislation that would limit the length of
recording contracts in New York State. The proposed law, known as the
"Artistic Freedom Act," would provide recording artists with an "escape
hatch" from the long-term contracts that unfairly bind them to entities that
dominate the entertainment industry.
