Nashville Copyright Lawyers
Songs, recordings, and catalogs are assets. Protect them like it.
Nashville runs on copyrights. Our Nashville copyright lawyers register and license works, recapture rights under the Copyright Act's termination provisions, and litigate infringement claims in the Middle District of Tennessee and the Sixth Circuit — for songwriters, publishers, labels, producers, and the businesses that license their work. Shareholder Michael A. Johnson is listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Copyright Law.
17 U.S.C. § 412
Register before infringement starts — or within three months of publication — to keep statutory damages and attorney's fees available.
What we handle
Registration
A recorded song is two copyrights: the musical work and the sound recording. We register both, use group registration options where they fit, and correct Copyright Office records when splits or ownership were filed wrong.
Songwriter and producer agreements
Split sheets, co-publishing and administration deals, producer agreements, and work-for-hire terms. Most ownership disputes in this town start with a write or a session nobody papered.
Licensing
Synchronization licenses for film, TV, advertising, and games; mechanical licensing, including the blanket license administered by the Mechanical Licensing Collective for streaming; sample and interpolation clearance; and diligence for catalog purchases and sales.
Termination and recapture
Sections 203 and 304 of the Copyright Act let authors and their heirs recover rights granted decades ago — but only by serving notice inside a fixed window. We map the window, prepare and serve the notices, and enforce recaptured rights.
Infringement litigation
Prosecuting and defending infringement claims in the Middle District of Tennessee and the Sixth Circuit, DMCA takedowns and counter-notices, and pre-suit substantial-similarity analysis with musicologists when the case calls for it.
AI and voice
Tennessee's ELVIS Act (2024) extended the state's right of publicity to a person's voice. We advise artists and companies on AI-generated vocals and likeness alongside the copyright questions raised by AI training and output.
Why Nashville copyright work is different
Music copyright cases are a steady part of the Middle District of Tennessee's docket, and Sixth Circuit precedent governs them — from its strict rule on sampling in Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films, 410 F.3d 792 (6th Cir. 2005), to its termination and recapture decisions. Counsel who litigates here knows how those cases are actually argued and decided.
Representative matters
Every matter depends on its facts; past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Roger Miller Music, Inc. v. Sony/ATV Publ'g, LLC
6th Cir. 2012
Significant copyright termination and recapture case in the Sixth Circuit.
Parker v. Hinton
6th Cir. 2023
Summary judgment affirmed on appeal in a copyright infringement case.
Your Nashville team
Attorneys in our Nashville office who handle this work.
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Talk to our Nashville office.
222 Second Ave. South, Suite 1250, Nashville, TN 37201. Shareholder-led from the first call.