MUSIC'S HOTTEST LAW FIRMS: GREENBERG TRAURIG
Greenberg Traurig’s global Entertainment & Media practice provides clients with the counsel required to thrive in today’s complex multimedia marketplace, serving clients in the music, digital-media, film, television, sports, esports, internet, virtual-reality, literary, theatrical and branded-entertainment industries. GT’s Media & Entertainment Litigation practice, meanwhile, helps clients resolve litigation and disputes arising in the media, entertainment and sports sectors.
GT was among the first law firms to create a branded-media practice, which has emerged as a dominant global player in the digital space, with the largest worldwide practice in this field.
Bobby Rosenbloum
Chairman of the Global Entertainment & Media Practice
Rosenbloum is one of the leading attorneys in the field of digital media, entertainment and technology, having counseled more than 200 businesses on their digital-media strategies. He is considered one of the architects of the modern digital-music business, for nearly three decades representing music-streaming services, social-media platforms, digital-fitness companies, gaming providers, metaverse/Web3 companies, sports leagues and teams and many other businesses in connection with music-licensing matters. Rosenbloum also serves as deputy general counsel for the Recording Academy, the Latin Recording Academy and the Grammy Museum, overseeing entertainment, IP and transactional matters. He represents recording artists, songwriters and athletes in their entertainment and name, image and likeness activities.
Jeff Biederman
Shareholder, Los Angeles
Biederman’s clients include recording artists, producers, composers, managers and music-industry executives as well as production companies, studios, publishing companies, actors, athletes, writers, designers and apparel and accessory companies. He has represented buyers and sellers in numerous music-catalog sales, valued collectively at over $1.8 billion. He’s received many accolades, among them inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Billboard’s “Top Music Lawyers” and Law360’s “Media & Entertainment Practice Group of the Year.” Biederman regularly speaks on entertainment, branding and media topics and has taught a class in international entertainment law in London as part of Southwestern Law School’s summer program.
Jay L. Cooper
Founder, Los Angeles Entertainment Practice
Cooper counsels his clients in nearly all aspects of the entertainment industry. His practice focuses on music-industry, film, television, internet, multimedia and intellectual-property issues. His experience includes negotiating recording and publishing agreements for artists and composers. He also advises actors, directors, producers, and writers in their agreements for film and television, overseeing executive-employment agreements, complex acquisitions and sales of entertainment catalogs. Cooper’s clients include Katy Perry, Jerry Seinfeld, Sheryl Crow, Yo-Yo Ma, John Williams, Mel Brooks and Michael Love.
Lawrence A. Kanusher
Shareholder, New York & Atlanta
Kanusher represents clients in complex entertainment, media and technology transactions related to the acquisition and exploitation of intellectual-property rights in the music industry. He has more than 30 years of music-industry experience, including a variety of in-house business-affairs, business-development and legal-affairs roles at major labels, where he focused on digital business, technology and intellectual property. Prior to joining GT, Kanusher served as SVP of business and legal affairs for Sony Music Entertainment’s Global Digital Business Group.
Jonathan Koby
Shareholder, Atlanta
Koby represents talent in transactional matters throughout the music and entertainment industries. He counsels clients in multiple musical genres and represents both major and independent recording artists, songwriters, producers, record companies, music publishers, production companies, executives, management firms, music festivals and other creators and purveyors of music and entertainment content. Koby brings previous experience as a talent manager to his client relationships. He represents three-time Grammy Award winners Dan + Shay and pop sensation Lauv, among others.
Neil Miller
Shareholder, London
Miller is based at the firm’s London office but is a member of the Atlanta group of the Entertainment & Media practice. Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig in June 2021, he was head of the international music-licensing legal team at Meta (formerly Facebook) and general counsel at SoundCloud. Miller’s practice focuses on digital media and interactive entertainment, with an emphasis on music licensing for social media. Miller has over 20 years of experience in structuring and negotiating complex licensing agreements globally, providing counsel on hosting and monetization of user-uploaded content and related compliance and regulatory matters.
Jake Phillips
Shareholder, Atlanta
Phillips counsels entertainment and digital-media companies as well as high-profile consumer brands on IP-related matters. His practice focuses on entertainment, media, IP and technology transactions. He also provides strategic advice and counseling related to new-media business models, negotiation strategy, legal exposure and risk avoidance to clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies with digital-media and entertainment-related offerings to studios and established production companies to cutting-edge startups and tech companies. Phillips’ experience also includes policy-related advice, advocacy and strategy, as well as entertainment, antitrust and general commercial litigation.
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Steve Plinio
Shareholder, Los Angeles
For over 20 years, Plinio has represented both high-profile and developing clients in a wide variety of matters, including the negotiation of recording, production, publishing, touring, merchandise and sponsorship agreements for artists, groups, producers and composers. He’s also handled complex acquisitions and sales of entertainment catalogs and rights, actor, producer and writer agreements for film and television and JV and production pacts with major distributors on behalf of recording artists and their companies. Plinio also has considerable experience as both an attorney and a business executive counseling companies and clients concerning the issues and rights relating to new media and new technologies.
Jess L. Rosen
Co-Chair of the Atlanta Entertainment & Media Practice
For over three decades, Rosen has guided songwriters, producers, recording artists, actors, writers and executives in critical career decisions, focusing on transactions in the music, film, television and new-media industries. His client roster boasts Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, Reba and George Strait. Moreover, Rosen has developed expertise in the sale of music assets, which has extended to more than 25 different funds or buyers, and has substantial experience in the celebrity beverage and restaurant sectors.
Mathew S. Rosengart
Shareholder, Media & Entertainment Litigation Practice
Rosengart famously led the fight to suspend Britney Spears’ father as her conservator, which resulted in the termination of the conservatorship. He serves as General Counsel to Sean Penn as well as his charitable disaster-relief organization Community Organized Relief Effort. Rosengart has perennially been acknowledged by The Hollywood Reporter and received numerous other accolades, including Variety’s 2022 Power of Law Award, Law360 recognition as Media & Entertainment MVP and the Beverly Hills Bar Association’s Excellence in Advocacy Award. His clients also include Keanu Reeves, Steven Spielberg, Sean Penn, Casey Affleck and Arcade Fire.
Paul D. Schindler
Senior Chair of the New York Entertainment & Media Practice
Schindler enacts endorsement, merchandising, record, distribution and brand deals and JV and touring agreements in new media, film, television, Broadway and other creative arenas and handles catalog acquisitions and sales of music copyrights and recorded works. In addition, he oversees licensing, publishing and record deals for artists, producers, labels, brands, and entertainment companies. Schindler represents Paris Jackson, Jermaine Dupri, Marc Anthony, MANA, Live Nation, Harman International, AGI Agency, Rap A Lot Records and Impact Museums.
Charmaine D. Smith
Shareholder, Atlanta
Smith has practiced IP law for over 22 years. She specializes in music licensing and in developing and implementing licensing strategies for digital-media companies. Smith has helped formulate rates and terms for statutory licensing under U.S. copyright law and represented digital-music services relative to the implementation of new copyright legislation for statutory licensing of music rights. She’s represented clients in negotiating deals with all of the various content licensors (including record labels, music publishers, performance rights organizations and foreign societies) for exploitation in the U.S. and throughout the world.
Jeffrey M. Smith
Shareholder, Atlanta
Swell as purveyors of alcoholic beverages, computer games, cosmetics and sports equipment and recording and publishing concerns. He’s worked with Aerosmith, Jimmy Buffett, Def Leppard, Future, Magic Johnson, Kelly Slater, the Michael Jackson and Bob Marley estates, Margaritaville Enterprises, Eldridge Industries, the Raine Group and the Shoma Group, among others. He’s also the sole trustee of the Margaritaville Alcohol Beverage Trust. Smith co-authored the three-volume Legal Opinions in Business Transactions, Fourth Edition and the five-volume Legal Malpractice.
Jared Welsh
Shareholder, Atlanta
Welsh counsels entertainment and digital-media companies and creators on a range of entertainment and intellectual property matters, with a focus on negotiating complex transactions, particularly digital-distribution deals for music and other media with rights holders including major labels, music publishers and rights societies. He is experienced in the protection and exploitation of copyright, trademark and publicity rights. Welsh is committed to community involvement and has extensive board service and pro bono experience.
