"Four years of college, three years of law school, a bar exam and years of practice, just to learn the things we've distilled into this book."
That's how Sneaker Law co-founders Kenneth Anand and Jared Goldstein describe the wealth of knowledge in their new book, Sneaker Law V2, the follow-up to 2020's Sneaker Law. A 655-page tome of information on the sneaker industry and its inner workings — that's more than twice as long as the first volume and which includes, in the duo's own words "Customs, copycats, and counterfeits, insights behind hundreds of collabs, explanations of the latest sneaker industry cases and contracts" — Sneaker Law V2 is equal parts love letter to the footwear industry and guide to those who want to partake in it.
No matter if you want to learn more about how, exactly, a collaboration comes together, the legal steps you need to take to make sure your resale business is sound, or how copyright infringement lawsuits relating to sneakers are resolved, Anand and Goldstein have touched every corner of the industry, and approach the book's various topics from an expert point of view. Anand was formerly the general counsel at YEEZY Apparel, and currently helps creatives navigate the footwear and apparel industry at Jayaram Law (a notable example is his representation of John Geiger in the designer's trademark infringement case with Nike). Goldstein, for his part, is the legal council at internet marketing service LiveIntent and has worked across the footwear and apparel industries as well. The duo founded Sneaker Law out of a shared passion for footwear and a desire to empower the creatives who drive it, and see Sneaker Law V2 as the pinnacle expression of that ethos.
Ahead of the book's launch, Anand and Goldstein sat down to discuss the changes they've seen in the sneaker industry since the first volume of the book launched, why it's so important for aspiring entrepreneurs to ensure they're on solid legal footing, the importance of "paying it forward" and even what a sneaker lawyer PE might look like.
Besides the positive reception and overall success of the first book, what inspired you to create a second volume?
The best part about the sneaker industry is that it’s always changing. We always envisioned Sneaker Law as something that evolves with the business, but after the success of V1, we knew we had to hit ‘em with V2.
The second volume is much longer than the first. Was that a conscious decision from the beginning, or did it just happen to work out that way?
V1 was kind of like our debut album or mixtape. We worked really hard on it and just wanted to get it out to the world. With V2, we made our Reasonable Doubt or The Black Album. We aren’t playing games with this one. We created an all-encompassing encyclopedia for the sneaker business.
Is there anything in particular in the new book you’d like to highlight?
V2 has been completely overhauled. Aside from all new visuals and the “V2 Blue” colorway, all of the content is completely updated, including a brand new chapter on "Customs, Copycats, and Counterfeits," insights behind hundreds of collabs, explanations of the latest sneaker industry cases and contracts and even a two-page sticker spread so you can tag your laptop or notebook and let people know you’re serious about the sneaker game.
What changes have you seen in the footwear industry between the first book and now? How are those changes reflected in the sneaker industry’s legal world?
Immediately after we dropped V1, sneaker cases skyrocketed. Brands started defending their intellectual property vigorously in court. Who would’ve thought Nike would finally pull the trigger and sue BAPE? V1 covered about 20 cases while V2 covers over 50 cases. There’s also been a lot of developments with sneaker deals, whether they are collabs, endorsements, or licensing deals. In our "Art of the Sneaker Deal" chapter, we break all of the different deal types down and how to effectively negotiate these deals with actual contract clauses included.
Do you feel that brands are more litigious today than they’ve ever been before?
Of course. With so many new brands competing for industry market share, the stakes are higher to protect intellectual property. Also, the established brands are now realizing the value of their retros, so they scramble to protect designs that were once unprotected, and will pursue infringers that try to copy or steal those designs.
It’s on everyone’s tongue so we have to ask: how do you see AI affecting the world of sneakers, both from a larger standpoint and a specific legal standpoint?
From a larger standpoint, AI is going to continue to streamline and make certain processes, such as design, manufacturing, distribution, and marketing easier for individuals and sneaker companies. From a specific legal standpoint, there are a lot of open questions about AI’s impact on intellectual property rights. We will have to stay tuned to see how it all unfolds!
"We created a book that's a guide for entrepreneurs everywhere on how to properly start, run and protect a business. We're just using sneakers as the vehicle to make it fun and exciting."
There’s a wealth of business advice in Sneaker Law V2. Do you find that aspiring entrepreneurs in the sneaker market often don’t take the proper steps to ensure they — and by extension, their business — are on solid legal footing?
Aspiring entrepreneurs in every market often don’t take the proper steps. We’ve worked with enough creatives and creative businesses to know that this information is often overlooked or not easily understood. So we created a book that's a guide for entrepreneurs everywhere on how to properly start, run, and protect a business. We’re just using sneakers as the vehicle to make it fun and exciting.
From a public perspective, it seems as if “legal” sneaker news is largely confined to lawsuits between brands and “imitators.” What percentage of actual sneaker legal work is devoted to pursuits like that? If it’s not a majority, what is the majority of the work like?
There's a lot of work outside of litigation when you're representing a sneaker company. In fact, we would say that a majority of legal work related to sneakers is outside of the courtroom. Some of this work includes negotiating deals, drafting agreements, intellectual property matters, employment, corporate governance, compliance with applicable laws and regulations, sustainability and ethics, privacy, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, and much more.
What’s the best story — that isn’t protected by attorney/client privilege, of course! — that you can share from your years in the courtroom or working on footwear-related cases?
We can’t talk much about the confidential matters we’ve worked on, but the worst part about being in the courtroom is not being allowed to wear kicks.
There’s a lot to learn in the book — what, if anything did you, yourself learn over the course of putting it together, and what were the biggest challenges and rewards of the process?
People don’t realize this when they see the quality of the book and the wealth of information inside, but Sneaker Law is independently published. We had to figure everything out ourselves: find an editor, design the book, find and clear all the images, find a manufacturer and warehouse, devise a marketing and rollout plan and much more. It would have been hypocritical to write a book about entrepreneurship and then just hand our baby over to a publisher; so we wrote the book and built the entire business. That has been the most challenging, but also the most rewarding. Like JAY-Z, we own our own masters 100%.
What’s the biggest takeaway you think a reader can get from this book?
That anyone can be an entrepreneur and be successful in business. By using Sneaker Law as your guide, you can navigate through the business and legal aspects of any business, not just sneakers!
Do you guys feel like it's important to share your knowledge and pay it forward? The book's overall tone is very welcoming and honest, which is refreshing as the world of sneakers can sometimes be extremely exclusionary.
It’s essential to share knowledge. And believe us, the legal industry is even more exclusionary than the sneaker industry. Four years of college, three years of law school, a bar exam, and years of practice, just to learn the things we’ve distilled into this book. We were tired of this information not being made accessible or easily understandable to the people who need it the most, so we changed the game. Read Sneaker Law now, thank us later.
What would a Sneaker Law PE look like?
It would be cool to collab with a brand on our first one — as we all know, doing an independent silhouette as your first sneaker is difficult. Obviously collabbing with a major brand like Nike, adidas, or New Balance would be a dream; however, there are so many amazing smaller brands that are taking parts of the market share these days. ASICS, Salomon, On, just to name a few. Or we go the luxury route and partner with a Louis Vuitton, Dior, Gucci, Prada, or Balenciaga. We love it all!
'Sneaker Law V2' is available now via the Sneaker Law website. It's priced at $150 USD, bound in black leather and stamped with blue foil. The custom dust cover shown above is limited to the book's friends-and-family edition, and Sneaker Law will host an invite-only launch party with a DJ set by Plain Pat.
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