Truck and Barter: Aaliyah Changes Places on the Balance Sheet

May 29, 2004

Aaliyah Changes Places on the Balance Sheet

By Ian

To those Law and Economics types out there, I thought this might be of interest: Aaliyah's Record Label Gets Its Day in NY Court

A Manhattan judge has ruled that rhythm and blues singer Aaliyah, who was killed in a 2001 plane crash while filming a music video in the Bahamas, was an "asset" of her record company rather than an employee, freeing the company to sue for negligence in her death.

I'm assuming that this is based on the nature of a contractual relationship that defined Aaliyah more as a component of an overall production system than as an employee directed and tasked by the recording company (the difference between a record deal and being a sound engineer, I suppose). Though it does raise interesting issues. Does a company have a right to the income stream from an employees future productivity they way they do an asset? In situations where this sort of relationship exists (such as football players, as noted in the article), does the company have the right to prevent the actual person from engaging in behavior that could damage the productivity of the asset, such as smoking, drinking, etc.?

Posted at May 29, 2004 08:38 PM

Comments

Hey, i heard this today ;-)

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed.

The other guy takes out his phone and calls the emergency services.
He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?"

The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead."

There is a silence, then a gunshot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "OK, now what?"

Comment by Jokes Page! at September 30, 2004 12:43 PM | Permalink