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Practice Areas

 

  • Arts and Entertainment

  • Intellectual Property

  • Cultural Property

  • Museums

  • Corporate and Nonprofit Governance

  • Hospitality

  • AI

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Arts and Entertainment

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.”
- Albert Einstein

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche

         Every human-made item in this physical world first began in someone’s imagination, Someone had an idea and was inspired to bring it out of their mind and into this world for others to enjoy.


      Invenio Legal Studio is dedicated to supporting creatives in arts and entertainment – those who create music you listen to that lifts your spirits, your favorite movies, crafts to adorn your home and workspace with, beautiful artwork that speaks to you, and books that nourish your mind. We empower our creative clients to do their best work by concentrating on the business end of things and protecting their creative works, freeing them up to do what they do best.

Intellectual Property

“Everything is created twice, first in the mind and then in reality.”
- Robin S. Sharma

        Imagine being a wine merchant in a bustling marketplace in the Ancient World. You sell the finest wine among your competitors, but your casks look the same as all of theirs. You have an idea to place an insignia on your casks. This simple act helps customers find your wine in the crowded marketplace, and they tell their friends to look for the wine casks with the special insignia. Trademarks have been called the world’s oldest consumer protection scheme, and this is how it was born.


         Copyright law was developed much later. Although the idea that creators should have certain rights (such as the right of attribution) was accepted for some time, it wasn’t until the early 18th Century that a new piece of technology – the printing press – that infringement became possible on a massive scale. This led England to pass the world’s first copyright law, the Statute of Anne in 1707.

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       Today, the law of intellectual property is vastly more complex than its humble beginnings, and is still evolving in response to technological advances. Invenio Legal Studio’s Principal Barron Oda has been nationally recognized for his copyright expertise and has taught intellectual property as an adjunct professor. Invenio Legal Studio is proud to represent a diverse array of creatives, nonprofits, businesses, and cultural institutions, providing good counsel on intellectual property.

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Museums

“The law is not designed to make us honorable, only bearable. The law, as a rule, sets a lower standard than that required by ethical codes, but the legal standard has clout.”
- Marie C. Malaro, Museum Governance: Mission, Ethics, Policy (1994)
 
      Invenio Legal Studio serves as outside counsel and as a consultant to museums on all aspects of administration, operations, and governance. Its principal, Barron Oda, began his career as a two-time intern at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in 2006 - 2007. His first internship focused on visitor experience and collections management. His second internship focused on museum administration, which would become Barron’s passion in museology.
            Barron is a museum legal expert, having served as Co-Chair of the American Bar Association’s Museums & the Arts Law Committee and Secretary of the Western Museums Association; having lectured at Harvard Extension School’s Graduate Museology program and Seton Hall University’s Institute of Museum Ethics; and having presented at the annual meetings of the American Alliance of Museums and Western Museums Association. He is the creator of the Small Museum Legal Toolkit, a valuable resource for smaller museums without in-house legal counsel.
         What Barron believes makes the profession of museology so remarkable is ethics, which is essential for effective museum administration. The profession is remarkably good at self-regulation through its own ethical codes. As museum professionals, we hold ourselves to a higher standard than what the law prescribes. Invenio Legal Studio helps to elevate our institutions and fulfill their responsibility of public trust.

Corporate & Nonprofit Governance
 

      A corporation, whether for-profit or nonprofit, is a creature of law and is given existence and shaped through its governing documents. Bylaws are but one of several of any organization’s governing documents which all must be interpreted as a whole. Articles of Incorporation set up the organizational structure; bylaws set up the governance framework; and policies and procedures provide clarity and detail to flesh out the organizational structure and governance framework.
       A well-run organization begins with inspired leadership and good governance practices. Sound policies maximizes an organization’s potential, and procedural adherence and good
recordkeeping improve its overall health and minimize risk exposure.
           Invenio Legal Studio focuses its practice on corporate and nonprofit governance. Its Principal Barron Oda has been providing good counsel to organizations for over a decade, and has presented and lectured on good governance practices. Invenio Legal Studio is also a thought partner and provides counsel for risk management and organizational growth, and also offers leadership development.

Hospitality

      Creating memorable experiences – whether through food, drink, storytelling, or events – is a hallmark trait of the hospitality industry. Invenio Legal Studio’s focus on creativity is aligned
with the hospitality industry. Its principal Barron Oda has deep roots in the industry going back three decades. Barron’s first high school job was as a dishwasher. He learned the industry from the bottom to the top through the years, and has consulted on experience philosophy, guest service improvement, front and back-of-the-house efficiency, and administrative organization.
       In addition to consulting, Invenio Legal Studio helps its hospitality clients be their best by
providing counsel on HR matters, legal compliance, transactions, brand protection, and trade secrets among other areas.

AI

“From its beginning, the law of copyright has developed in response to significant changes in
technology. Indeed, it was the invention of a new form of copying equipment — the printing
press — that gave rise to the original need for copyright protection.”
- Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 US 417, 430 (1984)

     Technology evolves so much faster than the law can respond and adapt to. Today, we are
witnessing how artificial intelligence, or AI, is transforming how we work and how we create,
and there is no system for regulation yet. This technology and its capabilities raises questions about ethics, best practices, privacy, and safety.
      Invenio Legal Studio’s Principal Barron Oda is at the forefront of AI and the law. He was among the first in the nation to publish an article on AI and copyright law in 2023 through the American Bar Association. He proposed a uniform standard for attributing AI-generated images when none existed. He was also among the first in the nation to present about the risks of incorporating AI into an organization’s operations and proposed good practices for its responsible use.

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