Law Students

Billboard Lists Top Music Law Schools
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By Teresa Lo

Posted on July 18, 2017

Summary: Billboard Magazine has ranked the top law schools for aspiring music attorneys.

While the music industry continues to evolve, it will never die; and its artists and business people will continue needing attorneys to help broker deals, protect intellectual property, and litigate disputes. Because of the need, Billboard devised a list of the top law schools for music attorneys, and the list includes everything from east coast schools to Ivy League majors.

“With the rise of new business models and the growing dependence on brand licensing and streaming, attorneys are more important than ever. The scope of their legal expertise is also wider, moving beyond issues of contract law to questions of intellectual property in the digital age and social justice in entertainment,” Billboard said.

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Cardozo School of Law is located in New York City and costs $58,764 a year in tuition and fees. The school’s FAME Center (fashion, arts, media and entertainment) added courses this year in international intellectual property, intellectual property licensing, and negotiation in sports and entertainment. This is in addition to the 20 other music-related classes on the law school’s roster.

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Brooklyn Law School

Brooklyn Law School offers a certificate in IP, media, and information law and allows students to take an entertainment law course as well as a workshop. The Brooklyn-located school has well-known alumni, which includes Nneka Norville, senior public affairs manager of BET Networks.

Cornell Law School

Cornell Law School may cost a whopping $86,771 a year in tuition and fees, but the Ithaca, New York-based school allows students to immerse themselves in numerous entertainment courses that range from privacy to contracts. One notable alumni is Kendall Minter, who wrote the music business book, “Understanding and Negotiating 360° Ancillary Rights Deals.”

Fordham University School of Law

New York’s Fordham University School of Law already has a strong course catalog that includes contract law, business and corporate law, and intellectual property; and they have a music class taught by Derek Dessler, who worked at Universal Music Group for 14 years. The school plans to launch a new entrepreneurial law clinic that will benefit students planning a career in the music industry.

University of California Berkeley School of Law

UC Berkeley law students can take music industry-related classes such as “Social Justice Issues in Entertainment and Media Law,” “Intro to Intellectual Property” and “Fundamentals of Internet Law.” Well-known industry alumni include Jeffrey Harleston, the executive VP business and legal affairs at the Universal Music Group.

University of California Los Angeles School of Law

The Hollywood Reporter listed UCLA as one of the top entertainment law programs in the country, and one reason for this is its powerful alumni and the Ziffren Center for Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law. The Ziffren Center offers students the opportunities to work with industry members and scholars.

University of Miami School of Law

Welcome to Miami! The University’s law school has a partnership with UM’s Frost School of Music, and this relationship allows students to take music law and earn dual degrees in music business and live entertainment management. The music law classes are overseen by former Loeb & Loeb partner Harold Flegelman.

University of Pennsylvania Law School

Ivy League university, U-Penn, costs $63,364 per year with tuition and fees; but its aspiring music attorneys can take more than a dozen classes that range from intellectual property transactions to patent law litigation. The law school also has a legal clinic that enables students to provide pro bono advice in areas such as copyrights or licensing.

University of Southern California Gould School of Law

Los Angeles-based USC has a Media, Entertainment & Technology Law program, which allows students to apply contract and copyright law to hypothetical scenarios in the music industry. The school costs $62,712 a year in tuition and fees, and thanks to its location and connections, students have access to entertainment leaders such as Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos.

Yale Law School

U.S. News & World Report has ranked Yale as the number one law school in the country, so it’s no surprise that the school would have a strong entertainment curriculum. Besides quality courses in intellectual property, corporate law, and contracts, the school has an Information Society Project which focuses on entertainment issues.