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EASL'S ANNUAL MUSIC BUSINESS AND LAW CONFERENCE
Friday, November 17, 2017
New York Law School | 185 West Broadway | New York, NY 10013
EASL Section Members: $219 before September 15th | $249 after
NYSBA Members: $289 (Join EASL Today for only $35 and save $35 on your registration)
Non-NYSBA Members: $329 | Law Students: $149
Accountants receiving CPE Credits: $299
The Music Business and Law Conference will once again feature a variety of speakers from law, finance, business and technology. Join us for as we bring you up to date on the latest trends and look ahead to opportunities and challenges in the music industry.
AGENDA:
8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. Registration (continental breakfast provided)
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. (plenary panel)
Music Publishing and Digital Media
Streaming. It is heralded as the future of the business. How does the writer, the publisher, the label and the recording artist get paid? Is the industry at large becoming dependent on Spotify which continues to lose money, but may be too big to fail? Do we next rely on Facebook Apple Amazon Google and Spotify (FAAGS) for the revenue from the industry? Will Free services or Freemium services sustain the business? This panel of industry leaders will address the issues that publishers and writers face in monetizing their rights, and preventing infringement, as well as where the industry is headed. Attendee questions about rights management, monetary recovery and related issues will be addressed as well.
Speakers:
- Marc Jacobson, Esq. – Marc Jacobson, P.C. (Moderator)
- Seth M. Goldstein, Esq., Vice President, Legal & Business Affairs, MediaNet
- Noah Becker, President/CEO AdRev (AudioMicro, Inc.)
10:10 a.m.-11:10 a.m. (two panels choose one):
Music Business Basics – Publishing / Recording / Sampling
This panel will cover basic concepts of publishing and recording agreements, including how sampling fits into those realms, along with a discussion of the role of a talent agent for a band. Sample agreements will be provided. Attendees are encouraged to bring questions about 360 deals, administration, co-publishing and publishing agreements, agency roles, and the roles of management.
Speakers:
- Ralph DePalma, Esq., Pryor Cashman LLP (Moderator)
- Joseph Lloyd Serling, Esq., Partner, Serling Rooks Hunter McKoy & Worob LLC
- Natalia Nastaskin, Esq., Head of US Music Operations, United Talent Agency
- Andrew G. Tavel, Esq., Tavel & Shulman, P.C.
- Keith Hauprich, Esq., General Counsel & Senior Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs, BMG-North America
You Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone – the Implications of Bankruptcy
Nothing can disrupt a business deal – for better or worse, depending on your position in the deal – like a bankruptcy filing. This panel will address the practical intersection between bankruptcy law and the music industry. The panel will also address bankruptcy treatment of unpublished works, copyright licenses and trademarks and the unique benefits of buying and selling assets through a bankruptcy proceeding.
Speakers:
- L.P. (Lynn) Harrison III, Esq., Partner, Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP (Moderator)
- Allen G. Kadish, Esq., DiConza Traurig Kadish LLP
- Melinda D. Middlebrooks, Esq., Managing Partner, Middlebrooks Shapiro, P.C.
- David B. Shemano, Esq., Partner, Robins Kaplan LLP
11:20 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. (two panels choose one):
Licensing Music for Broadway
Speakers:
- Roberta L. Korus, Esq., Roberta Korus Attorney-at-Law
- Karen A. Kowgios, CPA, Partner, WithumSmith+Brown, PC
- Jason Baruch, Esq., Sendroff & Baruch., LLP
International Focus - Global Database Efforts
Speakers:
- Jeff Liebenson, Esq., Liebenson Law & President of IAEL (Moderator)
- Dan Millington, Performer Development Manager, PPL-UK
- Mark Isherwood, Chief Operating Officer, DDEX
- Christos Badavas, Sr. VP & General Counsel
12:45 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Keynote Lunch
Luncheon Speaker: Willard Ahdritz, Founder/CEO, Kobalt
Willard Ahdritz founded Kobalt in 2000 with a mission: making the music industry more fair and rewarding for creators. He wanted to give artists, songwriters, musicians, labels and publishers the freedom and transparency they needed to build their careers.
1:40 p.m. - 2:40 p.m. (two panels choose one)
Travelin' Band - Taking the Band on the Road and Accounting For It
John Forgerty penned a song “Travelin’ Band” about the trials, tribulations and thrills while he was in the heavy touring band Creedence Clearwater Revival. He wrote in part, “Playin' in a travelin' band, yeah. Well, I'm flyin' across the land, tryin' to get a hand, Playin' in a travelin' band”. From independent to heritage bands and all the pop and rock stars in between, touring continues to be a major source of income for artists. Further, assembling a great team for touring and structuring an economical plan for a particular band is very important to the success of the band and for a tour to be in the black. Given the tremendous amount of touring today, how does a band get on the road and “get a hand”? What type of planning is needed and how does the band’s team work with tour promoters? Further, how do you figure out a budget for the tour, including production expenses, employee pay and equipment costs? Who handles travel arrangements and problems as they occur while the band is touring? This panel will discuss the crucial components of touring and tour accounting. Topics will include: assembling a strong touring team, booking and routing a tour, tour budgeting and income and expense accounting, tour management issues, structuring and negotiating promoter, production and merchandising contracts, and settlement matters.
Speakers:
- Joyce Dollinger, Esq., (Moderator)
- Jason Browning, President-CEO, The Browning Group, Inc.
- Joseph P. Callaghan, CPA, Prager Metis
- Peter Pappalardo, Agent, Artist Group International
- Monika A. Tashman, Esq., Partner, Fox Rothschild LLP
Ethics – Legal and Accounting
Speakers:
- Lewis Tesser, Esq., Senior Partner, Tesser, Ryan & Rochman, LLP
- Kevin A. Burke, Esq., Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
2:50 p.m. - 3:50 p.m. (two panels choose one)
Trends in Branding and Merchandising
The music may still be the message, but a recognizable and known brand has become the key to popularity, and to many a musician’s livelihood. Not only does it help create a filter through which brand partnerships, sponsorship and endorsement opportunities can be measured against, but it creates an intellectual property that can be exploited in lots of new territories. Merchandise may have once consisted primarily of CDs and t-shirts bought as keepsakes of a fan’s concert experience, but now a broader array of merchandise permits the fan to identify more closely with the artist.
With brand partnership and sponsorship becoming a $1.4 billion business in 2017 and music merch soaring to $3.1 billion in 2016, traditional models are being disrupted and the methods used for putting these deals together have taken on new complexity. From celebrities and media moguls to aspiring artists and bands, the issue is no longer whether to brand yourself but how.
Join us for a panel discussion with experts in branding and merchandising who will explore the many trends emerging in these fast-growing sectors. Some of the conversation will revolve around: new branding and marketing strategies; the structuring of brand partnership and sponsorship deals; enhancements in artist-fan connectivity; the use of music to market other products; developments in trademark licensing and issues particular to celebrities.
Speakers:
- Kim Youngberg, Esq., Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Screenvision Media
- Terri DiPaolo, Esq., Head of Licensing, Sponsorships & Endorsements at TKO
- Jason Boyarski, Esq., Partner, Boyarski Fritz LLP
- Andrew Hampp, VP-Brand Strategist, at MAC Presents,
It’s Still About the Money – Royalty and Licensing Audits in the Music Industry
The music industry is an increasingly complex place with a mix of new income streams and new licensees that are constantly popping up. This along with an active market for catalog transactions spurred on by an influx of private equity and investments in passive income stream have led to a dynamic environment fraught with disruptions and ripe for underreporting royalties. What's a right holder to do? Call the royalty auditor. Royalty audits are now more than ever a best practice to maximize revenues and protect value for recording artists, songwriters, record labels, and publishers alike. This panel will discuss reasons to audit, the process of exercising audit rights, really reading royalty statements, the royalty audit itself and strategies you need to know when the parties can't reach an amicable settlement.
Speakers:
- J. Christopher Hull, CPA, Partner, Prager Metis CPAs, LLC (Moderator)
- Mark A. Levinsohn, Esq., Levinsohn Associates, P.C.
- Brian D. Caplan, Esq., Partner, Reitler Kailas & Rosenblatt LLC
4:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m. (plenary panel)
Copyright Law and Litigation – Annual Review
The last year has seen many exciting copyright and entertainment cases in the litigation arena. Four experienced litigators who have litigated extensively in the music industry will examine some of the high profile cases (e.g., the Blurred Lines appeal, Estate of Barre v Beyoncé, Estate of Jimmy Smith V. Drake, etc.), as much for their results as to highlight the parties' litigation strategies. From substantial similarity issues and developments in the "fair use" defense in music sampling cases, to courts' increasing readiness to resolve of cases in early dispositive motion practice, the panel will also look at the practical effects and implications of these cases and trends for the industry going forward.
Speakers:
- Stephen B. Rodner, Esq., Senior Counsel, Pryor Cashman LLP (Moderator)
- Paul V. LiCalsi, Esq., Partner, Robins Kaplan LLP
- Brian D. Caplan, Esq., Partner, Reitler, Kailas & Rosenblatt LLC
- Robert W. Clarida, Esq., Partner, Reitler, Kailas & Rosenblatt LLC
- Ilene Farkas, Esq., Partner, Pryor Cashman LLP
Registration includes:
- Full Day Continuing Education Program with up to 6.0 MCLE Credits / 7.0 CPE Credits (this program is not transitional and therefore does not qualify for newly admitted attorneys)
- Continental Breakfast, Refreshments and Luncheon
To register over the phone please contact out Member Resource Center at 1-800-582-2452. For questions contact Beth Gould at bgould@nysba.org
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