Featured Articles
Purple Reign: Lessons Learned from Prince
By Morgan Wisted & Barry Neil Shrum Just over half way through, and already it has been a tough year of losses in the music industry. Glenn Frey, one of the members of [...]
Monkey See, Monkey Do?
by Erin Thiele and Morgan Wisted NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. Casey Dienel is suing Justin Bieber and his producer, Sonny Moore, p/k/a Skrillex, (among other defendants) for copyright infringement involving her song, [...]
Direct Sound has success at NAMM in the Music City Center
A special thanks to my client and friends at Direct Sound Headphones, who made the short trek from their headquarters outside of St. Louis, MO to Nashville to be a part of the show. Nashville [...]
Apple’s Straw Man Marketing Arguments have Deadly Consequences
Apple has spun a very integrate and systematic marketing web in its ill-advised stand against the FBI in the San Bernardino terrorism case. The San Bernardino case is the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil [...]
Music City Scores Top Ten Hit!!
I can hear the late Casey Kasem’s lead in on Top 40 right now: “At number 9 this week is a city that is more well known for producing top ten hits from country artists [...]
AMFM Entertainment Cuts Electronic Dance Music Deal with Mogul Boys Production
For many years now, I have represented Freddie May in his various endeavors, including his production company Starpath Productions. About 10 years ago, Freddie started working with a young female artist living in rural Kentucky, [...]
Sammy Mitchell signs with Razor & Tie Music Publishing
We just put the finishing touches on my great client, Sammy Mitchell’s, exclusive co-publishing deal with Jackie Boyz/Razor & Tie Music Publishing joint venture. The partnership between Jackie Boyz (the Grammy-award winning songwriting/producing team of [...]
Lockean Theory of property and its impact on the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and modern day Copyright Law
“[E]very man has a property in his own person. This nobody has any right to but himself. The labour of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his….”[1] John [...]
Recent Legislative Efforts Bode Well for Songwriters
Since taking over Mary Beth Peters as Register of Copyrights in 2011, Maria Pallante has been listening and responding to the concerns of a number of her constituents, particularly those in the music industry, and [...]
In the Thicke of Things: Reprise – THE VERDICT: THEY’VE “GOT TO GIVE IT UP”
My associate, John Inniger, does a nice job of covering the basics of the Thicke/Williams litigation against the estate of Marvin Gaye in this LOR post. But since a jury verdict in favor of the [...]
In the Thicke of things
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams spent 2013 on the top of the charts with their hit Blurred Lines, but due to allegations of copyright infringement suit leveled by the children of legendary singer Marvin Gaye [...]
The Creative Spark
You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. As it does every year, this new year marks a new beginning. I plan to continue my Twitter series [...]
Preliminary Considerations for Starting a New Business in 2015
As people say goodbye to the December holidays and begin planning their goals for a new year, many considering starting a new business in order to be their own boss and start down the road [...]
Considering a new U.S. copyright act
Is it time for Congress to draft a replacement for the 1976 Copyright Law? In point of fact, the law was drafted almost half a decade ago now and its last major amendment came in [...]
The Evolution of the Disney Princess Brand: Becoming the Best Selling Entertainment Licensor
By Samantha Jervey* When Walt Disney decided to personally license the image of Mickey Mouse in 1929, he had no idea that he would start a licensing revolution.[1] This deliberate act made by Walt is [...]
Oiling the engine of free expression
The concept of fair use, codified at 17 U.S.C. [...]