THE BIG STORY: Billboard’s annual list of Top Music Lawyers has arrived, offering a comprehensive look at the attorneys guiding superstar artists and music companies through the thorniest legal issues, from catalog sales to record deals to copyright litigation.
Among those highlighted was J. Douglas Baldridge, a partner at the law firm law Venable who has served for years as a top attorney for Taylor Swift. There’s no shortage of work: Over just the past year, Baldridge and his firm have helped the megastar buy back her masters, beat a copyright case, get a restraining order, fight a trademark lawsuit, fend off subpoenas and trademark her voice.
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Any attorney representing famous clients has an added layer of difficulty: public relations. After years of working for the most famous artist on earth, Baldridge knows that problem better than most.
“Every decision requires exacting focus not only on the legal strategy but also on how that strategy will be perceived,” Baldridge told me for the story. “It calls for an arduous and challenging process to respect not only the law but also the expectations of those who are the foundation and support for the art itself, the fans. Neither can yield to the other.”
For more, go read Billboard’s Top Music Lawyers — complete with the full story on Baldridge and similar breakouts on many other key lawyers involved in this year’s music industry news.
You’re reading The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday, subscribe here.
Other top stories this week…
-The major music publishers agreed to end a long-running lawsuit against Elon Musk’s X over copyrighted music on the social media site. No word yet on specific terms of any settlement deal.
-Warning of a “Frankenstein” copyright, Bad Bunny asked a judge to reconsider a recent ruling that allowed a sprawling lawsuit over the origins of reggaeton to move ahead.
–Lil Durk will go to trial next month on federal murder-for-hire charges after a judge admonished prosecutors for tacking on new charges and seeking more time: “You had over a year.”
-Sony Music Entertainment filed a new lawsuit against Udio that added more than 30,000 new songs, doubling down on continued litigation against an AI lab that already settled with UMG and Warner.
–Travis Scott was hit with a civil assault lawsuit claiming he attacked and threatened the crew of a chartered yacht in Miami two years ago.
-Madison Square Garden sued Wired for defamation over an article claiming the Manhattan venue kept a database of hundreds of music stars that included their sexual orientation.
–Nicki Minaj asked to be dismissed from a lawsuit claiming she owes $275,000 to a concert production company, calling it “an ill-advised attempt to sue a famous deep-pocket.”
-Ye (formerly Kanye West) was hit with another lawsuit over unlicensed sampling, this time on a French Montana song that included a clip of Ye’s infamous 2013 fight with paparazzi.
–R. Kelly’s legal team began lobbying President Donald Trump for clemency as the singer serves a decades-long prison sentence for sex crimes.
–Snoop Dogg, Diddy and Notorious B.I.G.’s estate were hit with a copyright lawsuit claiming two 2000s hits ( “I Wanna Thank Ya” and “Nasty Girl”) used an uncleared funk sample.
–Offset will serve 50 hours of community service and enter anger management to avoid misdemeanor charges that he attacked a security guard at an L.A. cannabis dispensary.
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