Music

Pryor Cashman’s Media + Entertainment Group has supported and advocated on behalf of music clients for more than 50 years. From vinyl to digital, Motown to disco to hip-hop, we have had a front-row seat through radical industry changes, business paradigm shifts, and technological innovation. Throughout these momentous decades, we have helped shape the legal framework, taking on cases involving unprecedented issues, challenging the existing law, and establishing new music business standards and practices. Our unique historical perspective has also fostered long-standing relationships in every branch of the industry that enable us to facilitate connections and further our clients’ business.

What We Do

With one of the preeminent music practices in the country, we represent a broad spectrum of music clients - from Grammy Award-winning artists and up-and-coming bands to major and independent labels and the top music publishers. We advise clients on the full range of business and transactional matters, such as:

• Negotiating recording, producer, management, publishing, and songwriter agreements
• Financing and formation of record labels, production companies, and other music industry businesses
• Valuing copyrightable assets for individuals and companies seeking to sell, purchase or securitize music publishing or recording catalogs

As technology rapidly advances, our group helps clients keep pace. We optimize and protect copyright assets by crafting forward-thinking agreements for licensing of musical compositions and sound recordings for digital media distribution. We also counsel creators of electronic media, developers, and leading digital streaming platforms, as well as influential industry trade organizations in matters that are refining business models to reflect the changing realities of how music is created, shared, and monetized. Our work has helped create a new recording industry standard for licensing to digital media services as well as established guidelines for royalty rate-setting for streaming services.

Our Music Transactions team routinely assists our music industry clients with negotiating copyright purchase, sale, administration, and license agreements, navigating the complexities of copyright and other applicable laws to preserve the value of the assets that they are buying, selling, or administering. We are thoroughly versed in the intricacies of the statutory termination provisions of Sections 203 and 304 of the Copyright Act and routinely advise clients seeking to understand these provisions, to avoid pitfalls in acquiring rights that may be terminable, and to make deals with authors and their beneficiaries (including negotiating and drafting agreements for post-termination rights) that fairly value their works and enable our clients to retain worldwide ownership. 

The firm’s Music Litigation team also continues to chart new territory on hot-button issues that arise as new devices and media are rolled out, and more channels and inventive ways to distribute content emerge. Our attorneys have handled several seminal cases that have defined the scope of liability for unauthorized copying and distribution on the Internet, including significant litigations involving digital sharing and streaming services such as Napster, Aimster, Grokster, and MP3.com. 

We also help creators, licensees, and owners of intellectual property protect their exclusive rights by asserting and defending infringement claims alleging unauthorized reproduction, distribution, and performance of copyrighted content. We also provide counsel on many other music industry challenges, such as digital piracy, plagiarism, cybersquatting, and misappropriation of trademarks and famous brands.