[Harp-L] Jason Ricci...what constitutes a PRO

[Larry C <lcharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>]

I am certainly not a "PROFESSIONAL" musician like many of you, but as an attorney I consider myself a professional at interpreting rules and assigning logic to resolving disputes.  So in an effort to give back to the harp-l community from which I have been generously given a wealth of information about harmonicas and music that I would otherwise have not gotten, I suggest:  
   
  1) Read the written rules of the "MARS contest" and see if the definition of "NON-PROFESSIONAL player" is specified.  Iceman's email said: "This MARS contest was for NON-PROFESSIONAL players only. In other words, if you made part or all of your income from gigging as a musician, you were supposedly not allowed to compete, as this was considered an unfair advantage."-- is that what the official rules said?  If YES, then there should be no trouble in ascertaining if Ricci qualified or not.
   
  2)  In the absence of written rules or in the absence of the specific definition within the rules, a reasonable court being asked to resolve the dispute would look for: first, evidence of the intent of the organizers of the contest; and second, evidence showing what specific definition other, similar contests in this industry have used.  So ask the guys who organized the contest what they intended.
   
  3)  Look into the mirror and ask yourself if you are so jealous of Ricci that you think you would be more famous and successful than him if you won the gear and sat in with the Fabulous Thunderbirds.   
   
  Peace,
   
  LC  


Larry C
 
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