Saturday, August 7, 2010
The Eastern Shore
There is a place on the Eastern Shore of Maryland that all the old elephants go to at the end of their lives -- when they are on their last set of molars. It is a place where those who were once the Askari's of all the great media and military moguls -- or those who were the trust fund beneficiaries of those moguls -- go to end their days in accustomed comfort among fellow warriors and hunters. It is a place where gentlemen hunt waterfowl and birds with best English, US, Italian, and German shotguns from the 1920's to the 1950's -- when a shot gun was a piece of hand-crafted art. It is a place that all the old sailing crowd goes -- the crowd that crewed the big IOR boats of the moguls when we were all so young and beautiful and careless. It is a place where sport horses and gun dogs hold top spot in all our hearts -- we have all learned and loved enough women, and they us, in such sweet sorrow. It is a place where at the end, we all take care of each other, respect each other for our feats of daring and our lives of adventure and flat out living, where we all go when we have mis-timed the outflow of our wealth and need to re-fill our piggy banks among friends who will keep us and shelter us in the manner in which we have grown accustomed -- and bury us when the time comes and tell of our adventures and capers so we live on. It is a place of retired big game hunters, and admirals, and CIA guys, and outlaw watermen -- all having grown old enough to be sick of the killing. It is a place of shooting farms that rival Scotland and horse barns that rival Millbrook's. And it is the waterfowl capital of the world -- where annually waterfowlers from all over the world converge to celebrate the sport, its dogs, its customs, and themselves. It's a guy's "guy place". I'm going back and live in one of the houses on one of the big shooting estates amongst my brethren. It is time. I am on my last set of molars.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
International IP Market
My firm is very much international -- both on the buy side and the sell side. Fortunately for me I am well-traveled and lived abroad for some time, so I understand that people are informed and molded by their cultures and each culture sees matters and points of view that are seen through their cultural prism. I won't go into cultural stereotyping, but suffice it to say that it is very evident to me that the stereotypes actually reflect some element of truth. My European clients, for example, have a very different way of approaching business from my Asian clients, who are different from my Eastern European clients.
I have had to adjust my personality and become, on the whole, a little more solicitous. My abrupt, all business demeanor does not work well with the Asians or Italians or even the Germans. Inquiries as to the health of ones family, current holidays, latest dining precede business discussions. And of course, "Flat or gas water?" is de-rigour after seating. Pointed discussions as to the tax impact of a certain transaction, or the operating pro forma subtleties need not be pointed out to the Asians -- they have already studied the financials you sent ahead and know them inside out.
The ip copyright -- its provenance, attribution, historical and artistic value -- is what international clients enjoy discussing with an agent firm like mine. Maybe over lunch with a nice bottle of wine. It slows down the transaction and allows it to be savored and enjoyed and appreciated for what it is -- the trading of art.
It is too bad that Americans do not have more of a flavor or appreciation for the way the rest of the world conducts business. It seems only we Americans and the Britts are hell-bent to quantify and measure beauty and life in terms of sterling or dollars.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Chase Your Demons
Now that it is over, chase your Demons. I no longer can keep them at bay for you. Be a good Girl. Your Dad was right, you always get what you want. Thank you for setting me up with a new home and a new life and money for a new start. I am sorry I didn't get it right away. But now I do. If you ever need me, I will always be here for you.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Scoring Copyrights
A year ago I made an attempt to score music catalogs with Ocean Tomo and the music industry's leading economist. It went no where. As I wrote in a blog, I was giving up on scoring music copyrights. Too many variables from new delivery modes --too long a grip on manufacturing and distribution by very bad people. Well, I'm back -- but this time I am going to model a scoring system to quantitatively score video copyrights. This new mentality is the result of the new patent application I co-wrote providing a method for cleaning up video copyrights, the result of a book I read called "Quants", and my firm's need to qualify products for ICAP's intellectual property auctions to maximize the auction price and attract buyers -- selling product in a buyer beware structure as personal property is not very satisfying.
Using the same elements outlined in my patent application, I not only believe that I can score video copyrights, but I can build a computer model to analyze them. Once I have a model with a 95% confidence level, I can then mimic the same procedure Ocean Tomo has seemingly abandoned to create a financial product that could even be traded. No, at least I haven't given up on making ip an asset class. I still see the same dynamic that happened on Wall Street and formed the basis of all the really successful hedge funds -- no more luck, no more bets, no more traders trying to beat the system -- a quant approach to buying, selling and hedging copyrights.
Fortunately for me now that I live in Chicago, I have access to the University of Chicago's vast data bases and geniuses to help me. It was the U of C that bred the quants that changed Wall Street forever and put the quants in control. I have met with 2 professors who will help me -- while they view me as a cross between a Wall Street financier and a used car salesman, they believe my idea is right on and is a direct application of what the University did for predicting the "random walk" of an asset. They also like my alpha attitude in search of "Truth" (read the book to understand what these mean).
Collectors, producers, et al who are used to stealing the art of artists -- video, audio, photo, text -- are in for a rude awakening much like the music publishers and labels. Using computer models to track the use of digitized images, infringement can now be claimed by owners and infringers can now be sued by trolls. The days of networks or channels or clip services running video without worry of consequences will shortly be over. In fact, it is already happening with law suits claiming infringement popping up daily, with a new exchange that trades movie futures.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Lesson for Son #2
My #2 Son,
I must teach you the meaning of Italian love. When you say, "I love you" to a very special woman -- as we all have and continue to do because being in love is the highest experience in life -- it is a lifetime commitment to that very special woman. It is not a light-switch that gets turned on and off. It is commitment for thinking and wondering about her for the rest of your fucking life. Forever, after you commit your love to a woman, you must look after her and provide for her -- even from afar, even without interaction, even anonymously. Leave it to lawyers who know your heart, and accountants who know your returns to figure out the best way to look out for her. No saying, "I love you lets move in together" -- even with non-disclosures on marriage-- without understanding that you are taking on a life-time of providing for her -- even if you never talk or see her again. You are Italian. You are a gentleman. You are an artist. You are the son of an Italian son. Leave her like the man you are -- for her sake. Set her free.
Dad
