Music rights can be complex, both legally and practically, but we’re here to help. Whether you’re a music owner, distributor, funder or licensee, our music team has the expertise to guide you through the issues, to protect your interests and to seal your deals.
We’re experts in music law and music rights worldwide, with many years of experience in the driving seat.
We understand the customs and practices of the music industry and we have a vision of where the industry is headed. This enables us to help those who deal in music to make headway in the face of disruptive change.
If you’re a music owner, our leading rights protection team is on hand to help you to effectively protect and enforce your rights – whether it’s offline or online enforcement, substantive litigation or strategic advice that you’re after.
We’ve been at the forefront of many of the most significant cases for music owners, creating new law in unprecedented scenarios, establishing new precedents and challenging (or defending) legislative changes.
Our team was behind the Newzbin case in 2010, which set important precedents for applying copyright law to the digital world, and the Newzbin2 case in 2011, which established that online intermediaries (internet service providers) can be required to block copyright-infringing websites.
In 2019, we fought for the Warner Music and Sony Music Entertainment groups to establish that an online radio aggregator platform that profits from commercialising copyrighted sound recordings can be injuncted if it refuses to take a licence.
We’ve also brought and coordinated multi-jurisdictional actions where a more global approach is required. We’re trusted to advise many of the music industry bodies on rights protection and rights management.
If you’re a music user, we have many years of experience commissioning and licensing music into film, TV, video games and other productions, so we know the rules. We can guide you through the rights minefield with the minimum of fuss and help close deals on the best available terms.
If you’re making or distributing entertainment content then it’s likely that collective and digital licensing will play a role, and here again we’re your experts. Our clients range from the largest global audio and audio-visual streamers to innovative startups. We’re familiar with all aspects of collective rights management around the globe, and we’re proud of our rare knowledge base. To help with cross-border matters we have built up a worldwide network of music lawyers with local expertise that matches our own.
We understand that the music industry involves the management of vast quantities of data, whether that’s credits, ownership data, streaming and other exploitation figures or royalty allocation and distribution. We have many years’ experience acting for music technology and data companies. Our technical and legal expertise, and knowledge of the ways that the industry works, can help you secure the deals you need with music businesses and make sure you meet the relevant technical and regulatory hurdles.
Last but by no means least, if you’re looking to buy or sell a music catalogue, or finance a purchase, we’ve got the unique combination of music, corporate and corporate finance expertise all under one roof, and have advised on many acquisitions over the years.
In short, we can provide you with legal advice on any deal, project or challenge that involves music, giving expert but practical solutions based on more than twenty years’ experience.
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