2024 TOP MUSIC LAWYERS

Facing an impasse in her young career, Lepera turned to Martin Silfen - her former law professor at New York Law School and a music attorney who represented clients like Blondie, LL COOL J and Aerosmith - for advice. The case dragged on for years, featuring countersuits, multiple appeals and an atte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Billboard 2024-03, Vol.136 (5), p.63-104
Main Author: Donahue, Bill
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attorneys
Careers
Composers
Copyright
Court hearings & proceedings
Defamation
Jay-Z (rapper)
Law schools
Ludacris (Chris Bridges)
Music industry
Musical performances
Partnership agreements
Perry, Katy
Trials
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Summary:Facing an impasse in her young career, Lepera turned to Martin Silfen - her former law professor at New York Law School and a music attorney who represented clients like Blondie, LL COOL J and Aerosmith - for advice. The case dragged on for years, featuring countersuits, multiple appeals and an attempted appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court before ending in the late 1990s with a victory for Lloyd Webber in a high-profile jury trial. The attorney's trajectory culminated in 2022, when she won a federal appeals court decision that Perry's 2013 single "Dark Horse," another Hot 100 No. 1, had not infringed the copyright of an earlier song. When facing such situations as an attorney, Lepera says she sticks to the "facts and the law" of a given legal argument and is not intimidated by the celebrities involved or the PR dimensions that can accompany it.
ISSN:0006-2510