In an industry driven by beats, lyrics, and an insatiable thirst for the next big hit, one might not consider the question: What role does legal expertise play in the music world? While, on the surface, it may seem that the answer lies in intellectual property lawyers, the answer is actually much deeper, as there are various crucial roles that the legal team of a music project requires. One of these is the legal case manager.
A legal case manager is an individual well-versed in the art of managing a legal case-any sort of case, be it criminal or civil. In order to accurately and efficiently manage a case, a legal case manager must have a comprehensive grasp of laws surrounding the particular field; they must also be able to tolerate stress in the face of disorganization, as they are the ones who must create order out of chaos, setting all information and data in an organized, efficient manner.
Although legal case managers work in various fields, in this current digital age, their services are increasingly desired in the world of entertainment, as the 77 billion-dollar industry, which is growing 4% annually, vies to protect the rights of musicians, promoters, venues, studios, and everyone in between:
- Musicians have myriad different arms to their public image, including record labels, studio producers, venue promoters, and so forth, making it no surprise that legal case managers have become very much in demand.
- Moreover, the digital nature of modern contracts requires organized upkeep, which further highlights the need for management in music law.
A legal case manager is needed to collect and preserve all contracts, artist development materials, and so forth. Managing the case means organizing the data in a manner that allows for relevant information to be easily accessible to legal counsel. The manager, then, acts as a bridge between the legal case and the music case, allowing for a smoother process that will avoid any disputes about the timeliness or management of the case.
As a legal case manager in music, one may have the opportunity to work on some very high-profile cases and thus meet some celebrity clients. Such fame, however, brings its own set of challenges, as the case manager must be able to shield the client from the drama that comes from certain legal matters. Celebrities are always in the public eye, after all.
For example, if an artist signed a poorly written contract, then needs to borrow money from a label to produce more music, a case manager will once again need to step in to mediate. A label may want exclusivity, while the artist may want to maintain their artistic freedom. While the artist may want to control the promotional process, the label may want to budget the project, maintaining tight control over finances and limiting costs. It’s up to the music legal case manager to get all parties on the same page and reach an agreement, while remaining cool, calm and collected throughout the process.
And once the contract is signed, sealed and delivered, a case manager’s work has only begun. Throughout the production process, case managers may need to help set up release events, ensure proper licensing of current songs (if an artist want to sample older tracks), help plan and execute charity events, and meet with staff, guests, venues and artists to ensure everything runs smoothly.
This may sound easy, but even the most difficult of legal battles require organization. A case manager needs to be able to read and analyze contracts and ensure amendments are made on time, or perform detailed research on precedent to ensure the current case can receive full adjudication.
Legal case managers – Even though their role is not obvious in the music industry, they are a necessary cohort of all the different players involved in the creation of music.
For more information on the role of legal professionals in various industries, you can visit Wikipedia.
