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Overflow Seminar - 7 March - Pasadena - System 7 Live
Monday’s seminar was such a success that a second
opportunity has now been scheduled for Friday 7
March from 9:30 to 12 Noon at Jaguar’s world headquarters in Pasadena,
California.
At the seminar, Deloitte & Touche presented its
thought provoking research on the potential for
driving increases in licensing revenues through the use of integrated
systems, while Jaguar presented System 7 Universal
Rights Management to a packed house in the main conference room of the
Entertainment Technology Alliance Conference (Shutters on the Beach
in Santa Monica on 24 February). The response was so overwhelming that we
have decided to offer a follow up seminar to those that found early Monday
morning in Santa Monica to be too challenging and for attendees that
would like to recommend that an associate see the
state of the art in Contract Rights Management. This presentation
will also be an opportunity for those who wish to review more detailed
components of System 7 than is feasible with a larger group.
WHEN
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Friday, March 7, 2003
9:30 AM to 12:00 Noon (registration and coffee at 9:00)
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WHERE
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Jaguar Consulting
117 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 225
Pasadena, California 91105
626.796.1955 (maps available)
Seminar is free, Parking is $6.00
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WHAT
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Informational Seminar
Driving Revenues Through Licensing Systems
System 7 Universal Rights Management
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HOW
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To register visit
http://www.jaguartc.com/seminars/ |
For additional information contact Marlene Willet at
626.796.1955 or
mwillett@jaguartc.com
Registration required by 12 Noon Thursday March 6 to assure
the availability of seating and seminar materials.
Taking the Initiative
with System 7 Universal Rights Management
Companies select System 7 for innumerable rational
economic reasons, including: Return on Investment, Revenue Expansion,
Growth Management, Sales Force Integration, Lawsuit Avoidance, Customer
Outreach, and many others. Frequently overlooked, however, is another
powerful reason: employees and managers are sick
and tired of being passive, reactive punching bags for their customers,
their vendors, their executives and their own psyches. They want
to be in control of their daily working lives. They ache to wake up in the
morning anticipating that their efforts will be respected and successful.
They desire the simple satisfaction of knowing that from every angle, they
are doing an excellent job at fulfilling their daily, weekly, monthly and
long term responsibilities!
System 7 users know those
joys and much more. They enjoy the personal career benefits of
building a reputation for competence, intelligence and productivity. They
enjoy the peace of mind of effective collaboration with their peers, of
deadlines met and crises averted. They enjoy the power of knowing that no
matter what comes up during the day, they have the tools in hand to handle
the issue quickly and easily. They are inspired by the vision of countless
electrons moving magically all around them, with infinite accuracy and
intelligence, performing key Rights Management, Royalty Collections and
Contract Administration tasks that were literally impossible before.
They know that when they reach home, their spouses, children and pets
respect them more, without even knowing the reasons why.
These six samples show how System 7
users are taking greater control of their destinies:
Library Sales Campaigns
Intellectual Asset Libraries can be vast, cumbersome
and confusing to represent and license. Important assets in major
territories destined for prime uses justifiably get most of management’s
attention in this area following the 80/20 rule. The open question
is: What happens to the other 20% of revenue
opportunities from a given collection of assets? System 7 creates
the opportunity to maintain and exploit a 100%
accurate asset inventory that is easily made available to sales
representatives, agents, master distributors and previous licensees at the
push of a few buttons. This scenario contrasts directly with the usual
“waiting patiently by the telephone” procedure that passively relies on
customers to discover that you have control of an asset that they can use to
add value to their business. The resulting revenue increases are achieved
with a minimum of additional overhead costs. System 7 pays for itself within
a matter of months by simply exposing your existing asset’s hidden
potential. Pure profit!
Contract Renewal Negotiations
In contract negotiations of all types, precedents play
a vitally important role in determining what is acceptable in a “go forward”
business relationship. However, information about the most important
precedent of all, the actual economic performance of previous acquisition,
creative or sales agreements is clouded in mystery within myriad
impenetrable personal computer and paper files. The negative impact of this
ignorance on the speed and success of negotiations is particularly powerful
in contractual relationships that revolve around royalty payments and
multi-dimensional guarantees. Contract extensions are frequently executed
before the success of the previous agreement is clearly understood by either
party. System 7 integrates details of contract
terms, subsequent amendments, actual payments, guarantee shortfalls, royalty
reporting and updated projections into an Executive Contract
Query that is continuously updated and instantly available from anywhere
in the world.
Executive Approval Workflows
The most important agreements
typically involve numerous interrelated Assets, complex Territories, staged
Exclusivity windows, innovative Rights groupings, detailed Distribution
Channel restrictions, contingent Advance payments, Guarantee
cross-collateralization, dynamic Royalty formulas, multiple interested
Parties and challenging Production and Distribution plans. A
whole cadre of legal and operational executives must understand, review and
approve these terms in order for a successful contract execution to take
place. The failure of any one of these individuals to fulfill their role
within the process in a timely manner dooms the organization to the kind of
lifeless bureaucratic doldrums that consistently disappoint and disillusion
potential business partners. System 7’s Workflow Management
provides the relentless internal reminders,
responsiveness monitoring, comment documentation, email notification,
product image attachment and direct external business partner interfaces
necessary to proactively manage this process, rather than become its hapless
victim.
Receivables and Royalties Collections
The touch point of Customer Service is
collections. The magic moments of Invoice Approval and Check
Signature bring the economic and administrative success of any business
relationship into the sharpest possible focus. While System 7 will not
assist in assuring that your customer will be satisfied with the quality of
your delivery, it easily takes care of everything else.
System 7 communicates contractual fulfillment
requirements to all involved parties, produces consistently timely and
accurate invoicing, provides Asset, Territory, Right and Distribution
Channel invoice detail, automatically allocates Cash Receipts by invoice
line item, and makes all of this information available in Summary, Detailed
and Exploded forms on Accounts Receivable Agings and
Cash Flow Projections. This kind of informed contractual delivery and
collections attack allows the collection department to abandon endless
pre-call research in favor of focusing on the mailings, emailings and phone
calls that further accelerate customer payments.
Critical Option Decisions
Legal Affairs assumes baseline responsibility
for ensuring that all critical contractual dates such as expirations,
extensions, payments, releases, cancellations, deliveries and options are
carefully anticipated and adhered to. Many of these events are based upon
known dates and are adequately managed through straightforward calendaring
procedures. However, in the intricate world of Intellectual Property
contracts, negotiators are often compelled to
recognize the underlying uncertainty of success by basing important dates
upon the predicted occurrence of required “trigger” events such
as release to distribution in the United States or delivery of a first draft
design document. The result is an administrative nightmare where everything
is uncertain and vital operational information must be re-researched monthly
in order to assure that nothing has slipped through the cracks through the
amendment process. System ‘s Action Management function allows
responsible parties to take control of their own destiny by interlinking an
unlimited number of contingent contractual milestones and automatically
generating pre-defined tickler reminders that reach out to entire internal
and/or external cc distribution lists in the form of Email Generation,
My Calendar Personal Desktop and personalized Executive Key Events
Queries.
Partner Relationship Maintenance
Partner Relationships are driven by
information, delivery and money, but not necessarily in that
order! Far too often, organizations find themselves reactively responding to
the demands of their vendors, customers and partners for accurate reporting,
knowledgeable service and timely payment. Auditors are called in as a
substitute for the trust that is essential to long term collaborative
success. Lawsuits and threats of legal action replace ordinary
communications and compromise as the vehicles of collaboration in a
relationship. Guestimating and questionable calculations become the primary
modus operandi as good intentions are overwhelmed by the relentless reality
of incomplete and overdue information. System 7
steps in to provide the informational bulwark that builds trust, confidence,
respect and commitment in every distribution and creative partnership.
Contractual obligations are carefully monitored, automated and documented.
Payments, no matter how convoluted in their calculation, are accurate,
timely and properly supported. Performance Reporting provides all desired
current details, historical references and integrated projections.
Peace is restored!
"Real Solutions" of Toronto,
Canada
Real Solutions is an independent consulting
group based in Toronto, Canada that has played key roles in two of
Jaguar’s Canadian success stories: Alliance-Atlantis Entertainment
and Lionsgate Entertainment. Mark Madeisky and
Octavian Mitrea form the core of this group’s entertainment industry
practice, with additional group credits at Canadian satellite giant, Bell
Express Vu and the National Hockey League.
 Mark
is a Chartered Accountant with 20 years experience in Business
Management. Mark’s expertise includes the assessment, specification and
implementation project management of entertainment industry applications
ranging from Rights Management and Theatrical Distribution
to Enterprise Resource Planning systems. |
 Octavian
is a Technology Specialist with over 10 years experience in
software design, architecture and development of enterprise-wide
business systems with management of multiple large-scale system
implementation projects. Octavian’s project experience includes
Participation Reporting, Broadcasting Library Management,
Video Distribution, Rights Management and Theatrical
Distribution |
Real Solutions is a prime
example of the deep professional entertainment industry and Jaguar-specific
systems consulting expertise that is available to System 7 users worldwide.
Jaguar’s working relationship with Real Solutions goes back to 1996.
We look forward to presenting additional Real Solutions success stories in
the near future!
Real Solutions may be reached directly at 416.943.8467
System 7 Functional
Highlights
The February issue of Jaguar News discussed two new
System 7 features: My Jaguar Personal Desktop and Contract
Builder Form Designer. This month, Jaguar News investigates three core
System 7 capabilities that in many ways define its success, but are
virtually indiscernible to a demonstration observer: Universal Contract
Database, Multi-Level Rights Inheritance and Custom Rights
Framework. No software development effort in this field can truly
claim to be an enterprise-level solution without the ability to both adapt
to the unique needs of every department and division, and provide sweeping
integration of all workflows and information channels across the entire
organization. These three functions form the
essence of the magic of System 7.
Universal Contract Database
Previous Jaguar systems generations were designed with
separate internal file systems for each major type of contract (Acquisition,
Creative and Sales) in order to maximize performance, security
and stability under earlier software technologies. System 7’s reliance on a
Relational Database and the arrival of multiple gigahertz
servers and workstations has allowed the seamless consolidation of these
disparate agreements into a single Universal Contract Database
subsystem capable of understanding and
administering all types of contracts in a single database. The
primary purpose of System 7 is to manage and process Intellectual Property
Agreements, however, most of Jaguar’s clients also enter other types of
agreements that benefit from centralized intelligent administration, such as
executive employment agreements, property leases, location releases… the
list is virtually endless. System 7 security guarantees complete privacy of
all sensitive agreements and information from prying eyes through carefully
designed functional and departmental filters.
The benefits of contract integration are fourfold:
- Contract Intelligence
reports by Asset, Territory, Right, Distribution Channel, Contractual
Event, Party, Administrator, Negotiator, Division, Company, Salesperson or
Agent that cut across all types of contracts to give clear, concise
answers to important questions.
- Centralized Administration
ensures that Options, Expirations, Obligations, Payments, Triggers,
Financial Reporting, Amendments, Materials Servicing, Billings, Recoupment,
Royalties and Communications are handled with consistent professionalism
throughout the contract lifecycle.
- Consistent User Interfaces
make cross-training and collaboration between functional departments
convenient and practical. Standard procedures and shared expertise ensure
that personnel promotions, emergencies and reassignments do not cause
important contractual responsibilities to be overlooked.
- Universal Document
Assembly of all types of agreements from a single database of
Templates, Antecedent Agreements and Standard Terms and
Conditions encourages both cross-corporate standardization and maximum
opportunities for fully informed creative legal writing. Instant
comparison of clauses from any prior agreement helps to maximize
consistency and stimulate innovative negotiating positions based upon
previously authorized positions within the organization.
Multi-Level Rights Inheritance
Successful real world
Rights Management recognizes that strong Negotiators are
uninhibited by known internal administrative weaknesses as they strive to
document the best possible economic and legal terms for their company.
Negotiators must be allowed to sell packages of Assets that include titles
that are To Be Determined. Negotiators must consider Assets that
include rights restrictions by Term, Territory or use in
Commercial Advertising. Negotiators must be able to assemble
Component Assets into entirely new consumable
assets, easily, efficiently and reliably. Negotiators must
instantly know the economic cost of acquiring additional rights in order to
meet Licensee requirements. Administrators must support unlimited complexity
in both the creation and acquisition of Rights, as well as the licensing and
distribution of Rights. In summation, success in a
contract-driven enterprise requires that optimal agreements be drafted
without arbitrary restrictions imposed by the inability of the Negotiator’s
support staff to fulfill and enforce their terms.
Recording and managing the rights associated with all
possible combinations of Asset Groups, Assets, Sub-Assets and Asset Elements
is a daunting and potentially uneconomic task. Scores of assets are
typically created and cataloged during the production process that
ultimately prove to have zero revenue generating potential.
System 7 automatically recognizes an unlimited
number of “Parent - Child” relationships and assumes that the Parent is the
sum of all of its Children and that each Child inherits the same rights as
the Parent. This facility eliminates hundreds or thousands of
potentially redundant Rights Ownership and Rights Usage
entries. In addition, System 7 allows the attachment of an unlimited number
of Sales, Creative or Acquisition contracts to a specific asset (at any
level in the in the Parent – Child hierarchy) to override the rules on
inheritance. Additionally, every Asset may be identified as being part of
the Underlying Rights Inheritance determination or be specifically
excluded from consideration. Contract Collision Testing is thus
able to determine simple “Yes” or “No” answers in
every situation, no matter how intricate the underlying asset configuration
or complex the involved agreements.
Custom Rights Framework
System 7 transcends previous Jaguar generations by
enabling unlimited leveling, grouping and labeling
of Assets, Territories, Rights, Distribution Channels and Parties according
to the needs of every Department, Division, Contract Type, Asset Type or
Financial Reporting Requirement in the company. This Custom
Rights Framework enables the establishment of anything from a simple
Single Level Asset to an arrangement that runs 7 or
more levels deep, with multiple groupings at every level. The
territory of France, for example, can be part of a French Language Group, a
German Language Group, Western Europe, EEC, multiple Satellite Groups,
Eurasia and the World, without conflict or confusion within System 7. Within
France, individual Cities, Television Markets, Regions, Retail Distribution
Channels, and Sub-Licensing Manufacturers may be related and organized in
any configuration.
System 7 offers a “Reporting Territories”
concept to ensure that rights analysis and sales reporting focuses its
attention on the primary means and style of exploitation, while continuously
providing the option to select other criteria for analysis.
System 7 cross references all of the leveling
hierarchies established so that whenever a cross-department, cross-division
or cross-right report is required, all of the divergent priorities are cast
aside and a single answer is immediately available at whatever level of
vision is required: grand or granular. System 7 uses this
information to give both definitive Rights Clearances and to generate
such highly customizable analytical tools as the Availability Report,
Timeline Report, Disposition of Rights Report, Single Availability Report
and Executive Asset Query. System 7 takes advantage of its Rights
Analysis Engine to minimize the amount of raw
contractual rights component data that is captured to understand each
contract, aiding performance and vastly simplifying analysis and
reporting. For example, in many licensing agreements, Sub-Saharan Africa is
treated and analyzed as a single entity. System 7 stores and reports on all
contractual data at that Group Territory level of consolidation, but is able
to capture financial data from, and recognize conflicts with, any deal that
relates to a specific African country or region (for example, Zimbabwe),
without redundantly breaking out the detail on every deal to that atomistic
level on the remote possibility that such a conflict might occur.
About
Jaguar News
Jaguar News is published periodically for the
purpose of maintaining communications with Jaguar’s clients, prospective
clients and other parties interested in the field of Intellectual Property
Contract Rights Management. Jaguar Consulting was founded in 1985
for the express purpose of designing, developing, installing and
supporting Intellectual Property Software
Solutions. Clients include Alliance-Atlantis Communications,
Cinar, DIC Entertainment, Explore International, Flextech Television,
Goodtimes Video, Hallmark Entertainment, Harmony Gold, HIT Entertainment,
Jim Henson Productions, Lions Gate Entertainment, Major League Baseball,
MGM, NBA, NBC, National Geographic Society, Nelvana, Sesame Workshop,
Southern Star, Warner Home Video and WNBA.
System 7 Universal Rights Management is
Jaguar’s seventh generation software product. It is an all-new design
created specifically to bring contract rights management technology to all
forms of intellectual property, including patents,
copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and
permissions. This groundbreaking system features a
Universal Contract Database, Multi-Level Rights Inheritance and a
fully configurable Custom Rights Framework. System 7 is available in
the following software modules: Contract Administration, Rights and
Restrictions, Workflow Management, Revenue Accounting, Royalties Receivable
and Participations Payable. Further information is available at
www.jaguartc.com.
Jaguar Consulting Inc.
Pasadena,
California
Lincoln Center, New York
London, United Kingdom
For additional information: Visit http://www.jaguartc.com
Or contact
Marlene Willett 626/796-1955 x201
mwillett@jaguartc.com
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