Intellectual Property

I am creating a music entertainment website. With a database of over 400,000 songs, this website enables users to upload any song to an online program for free. This program enables users to manipulate and alter songs, similar to what a disc jockey does with records. When the user is finished recording their session, they can save and add the finished product to their online play list, where other members can listen to their online product. What licenses do I need to turn this concept into reality, and even though this is a free public domain, are there still royalties involved concerning the free music?

I'm interested in starting my own business. I want to read to people for pay, i.e., books. As an example visiting senior citizen homes to read to a person one-on-one, or to a group a novel maybe and I would charge by the hour. However, would reading a book to someone for pay violate copyright laws?

I am a freelance writer trying to help the sister of a deceased person get that person's memoirs published. This will not be a commercial transaction, although some royalties may accrue if the memoir is published. The deceased person left her estate in trust to twelve heirs, so we assume the intellectual property rights in the memoirs also belong to those heirs. Eleven of the twelve heirs have agreed, in writing, to having the memoirs published, with the Trust receiving the royalties, if any. The twelfth heir has not responded to e-mails, letters or telephone calls and presumably cannot be reached. Are we required to have the approval of the twelfth heir? Or can we proceed in the absence of her response, on the assumption that 'no response' is not a negative response? An important point, I believe, is that the financial interest of the twelfth heir will not be damaged in any way, since any royalties coming into the trust will be shared among all twelve heirs. She would have no basis to claim that she had been damaged, if the memoir is published in the absence of her assent.

I had a service mark with the State of California, but it expired in 2001. Is it possible to renew a service mark in California that has expired and what would be the fee?

How would you use a patent as collateral for an investor?