Are you involved in music publishing activities and do you require legal advice within the scope of designing contracts, structuring projects, cooperating with co-publishers and sub-publishers, or administrating proceeds? Do you need legal support in tracking legal violations out of court or in court? Or are you a composer or songwriter/lyricist and looking for expert assistance in negotiating your contracts and protecting your interests with respect to publishing companies and agents?
What we offer
We provide support for music publishers in acquiring rights, utilizing rights, and the production and marketing of their artists. Thus, we support music production from a legal view, right from the start, and will support you in the business side of your music career. We will review, design, and negotiate contractual works (including sample contracts), and we will handle legal advice regarding public relations and advertising (e.g. right to use a name, right to your own image, general personality right, copyright, trademark right, and competition law). We will indicate to you any potential risks and notable processes in connection with the respective projects and will work together with our clients to find solutions for the avoidance thereof.
We advise composers and songwriters/lyricists in securing their rights, within the scope of developing an evaluation strategy, in the legal questions in connection with co-authors (e.g. in bands) or authors of associated works, in designing and negotiating contracts and, if necessary, in the legal enforcement thereof, as well as in the relationship with the pertinent collecting societies such as GEMA [German Society for Musical Performance and Mechanical Reproduction] or VG Wort [German collection society for written works].
Our activities also include the tracking of copyright violations and the violation of other protective rights by means of an official warning, in proceedings for a temporary injunction, or complaint proceedings, which are part of the special strength of our law practice due to the many years of practical experience and the technical expertise of the attorneys and specialized lawyers.
Scope of service
- Examination and assessment of the technical and legal situation
- Consulting with respect to the legal options and the strategic procedure
- Designing, reviewing, negotiating contracts with composers and songwriters/lyricists (e.g. single title author contract, author exclusive contract, publishing contract)
- Reviewing compensation regulations
- Designing, reviewing, and negotiating contracts between co-authors and authors of associated works
- Designing, reviewing, negotiating contracts for evaluating copyrights to musical works for the production and use in the area of film, TV, games, online services, mobile devices, and advertising, particularly
- Reviewing, designing, and negotiating sponsorship agreements
- Reviewing, designing, and negotiating option and film adaptation agreements
- Designing, reviewing, and negotiating administration contracts
- Designing, reviewing, and negotiating co-publishing contracts and sub-publishing contracts
- Designing, reviewing, and negotiating work-for-hire production agreements
- Consulting and designing contracts for production libraries
- Consulting and designing contracts in the area of music printing
- Designing, reviewing, negotiating contracts regarding the leasing of sheet music (declaration of commitment)
- Advice and representation with respect to collecting societies such as GEMA and GVL [German Collecting Society for Performance Rights]
- If necessary, Representation before all district and regional courts in Germany in the course of temporary injunction proceedings and in regular complaint proceedings
Costs
We normally offer our consulting services to you calculated according to the time spent at a suitable hourly rate. We believe that cost transparency and cost reliability form the basis of successful cooperation. We will be happy to provide you with an estimate of the expected costs before taking the job.
