Intellectual Property Section Meeting

Join the MCBA's Intellectual Property Section and the Northern California Chapter of the Copyright Society for a virtual webinar on Recent Developments In Music Copyright Law to be held on Tuesday, May 11th from 12:00 to 1:00 PM.

We are excited to announce that Judith Finell, a nationally known and highly regarded musicologist, president of a music consulting firm in New York and LA, and professor of forensic musicology at UCLA, will be joining us as a co-panelist. Judith was a key expert in the Blurred Lines case, one of the decisions that is a focus of the presentation.

Recent years have seen major developments in the law of music copyright. Legislatively, the enactment of the Music Modernization Act in 2018 was a major milestone that dramatically altered the landscape for licensing of musical works and, for the first time, extended federal protection to pre-1972 sound recordings. Case law developments have been equally dramatic, especially in the Ninth Circuit. After first lowering the bar for establishing infringement of musical works in the 2018 and 2019 "Blurred Lines" and "Stairway to Heaven" decisions -- setting off a wave of challenges to major recording artists -- the Ninth Circuit reversed course in 2020. Overturning a number of earlier decisions, including the 2019 panel decision in the "Stairway to Heaven" case, the court sitting en banc once again raised the bar for establishing infringement of musical works. David Kostiner, Judith Finell and Jeff Knowles will walk you through these developments.

There will be time for Q&A following the presentation.

1.0 CLE will be provided.

Jeffrey G. Knowles and Steven A. Nielsen
Co-Chairs, MCBA Intellectual Property Section

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