Where’s My Royalty?

Composer & Songwriter Rights In The Digital Age

As we careen forward into an age of online downloading and streaming of music, video and film content, the existing systems for collecting royalties for the creators of that content are in jeopardy. Is there a performance right in a download sale? Is there a mechanical right in a streaming performance? This panel brings some light to a murky process, and helps composers understand what they can do to protect their rights as the creators of this content.

DEAN KAY is President/CEO of his own precedent setting venture, Demi Music Corp., his platform for reinventing the music publishing business for the digital age. He is a member the Board of Directors of both ASCAP and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and co-chairs ASCAP’s New Technologies Committee. He has also served on the Boards of the Country Music Association (CMA), the Academy of County Music (ACM), the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP), and the California Copyright Conference (CCC). He has been a recording artist, produced recordings and television commercials, and has been a successful songwriter including having written Frank Sinatra’s hit, “That’s Life.” For 18 years he was the COO of Lawrence Welk’s music publishing companies after which he became the president of the U.S. division of the PolyGram/Island Publishing Group. Today Dean’s daily news digest, The Dean’s List, chronicles the rapid – and irreversible – transformation taking place in the entertainment industry and is read by industry professionals, politicians and prominent members of the legal community throughout the world.

JAY COOPER’s law practice focuses on music industry, motion picture, television, internet and intellectual property issues. Jay has lectured at Harvard Law School, UCLA Law School, Stanford Law School, Boalt Hall, the Florida Bar Association, the Texas Bar Association, MIDEM, the American Film Market and the Cannes Film Festival, amongst others. He is the former President of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). He is a member and former President of the California Copyright Conference (CCC) and the former Chairman of the American Bar Association Forum Committee on the Entertainment and Sports Industries. He has been honored by his peers and listed in BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA continuously since 1987, he has been listed in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SUPER LAWYERS continuously since 2004, and he was honored as ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER OF THE YEAR in 2003 by the Beverly Hills Bar Association and in 2006 by the Century City Bar Association, and recipient of the 2006 TEXAS STAR AWARD by the State Bar of Texas Entertainment & Sports Law Section.

JEFFREY GRAUBART is an entertainment lawyer, a former staff attorney at Capitol Records, Inc., a former Governor of the Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco chapters of the Recording Academy, and a former Vice President and Trustee of the Film Music Society.

TED COHEN is the Managing Partner of TAG Strategic, integrating his expertise in music, mobile, IPTV and product & service development. Cohen was instrumental in crafting the licensing agreements upon which the Rhapsody subscription service and the iTunes Music Store were built. In his previous role as Sr. V.P. of Digital Development & Distribution for EMI Music, Cohen worked to establish company-wide digital policies, which have provided EMI’s artists and labels a substantial advantage in the digital music arena. Prior to his role at EMI, Cohen served as Exec. V.P. of Digital Music Network Inc., where he co-founded and served as Chairman of the Webnoize conferences. Cohen also led two highly successful new media consulting operations, DMN Consulting and Consulting Adults, attracting clients such as Amazon.com, Microsoft, Universal Studios, DreamWorks Records, Liquid Audio, and others. Cohen has held senior management positions at both Warner Bros. Records and Philips Media. A 30-year industry veteran, Cohen was recently elected Chairman of the Mobile Entertainment Forum Americas board, and currently chairs MidemNet. Cohen also serves as a NARAS L.A. chapter Governor as well as the national Trustee Board.

CHRISTOPHER AMENITA is the Senior Vice President of ASCAP’s Enterprises Group, which is the entrepreneurial division of ASCAP. The Enterprises Group focuses on two main areas: The first is the society’s internet activities, which includes ASCAP’s licensing efforts as well as the evaluation of emerging technologies surrounding the digital delivery of music on the internet. The second area centers on investing and partnering in developing technologies and ventures. Chris was responsible for overseeing ASCAP’s creation of Mediaguide, which is the largest Broadcast Monitoring and Data Information company utilizing audio fingerprinting technology. Chris currently serves as Chairman of DDEX (The Digital Data Exchange), a consortium of organizations that represent songwriters and publishers, digital service providers and record labels whose mission is to develop and maintain standards to support the digital distribution of digital content.

RAY COLCORD is an L.A. based composer of music for film and television. He is a past President of the Society of Composers & Lyricists, served as a Music Governor for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and was on the National Film Preservation Board.