Copyright Society of the South

August Mixer!
2025-08-27 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Chicago)
Members, unwind and connect at our August Mixer! Bring a colleague to learn more about membership in the Society! Beverages and Light Bites will be available.
RSVP is required – cutoff date is August 25, 2025.

****This is a private event for Society members and their registered guests. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Copyright Society of the South, or if you are an active member and did not receive your email invitation, contact us at copyrightsocietyofthesouth@gmail.com .**

How Citrin Cooperman Conducts Its Music Valuation Cases - September 18, 2025 - CLE Credit Available
2025-09-18 11:30 - 13:00
Join us for an exclusive, in-depth discussion and opportunity to gain a competitive edge by understanding the intricacies of music catalogue valuation directly from the experts at Citrin Cooperman. Don’t miss this chance to fine-tune your expertise and master the complex dynamics of music valuation. This is a CLE approved event for Tennessee attorneys. RSVP today to secure your spot!
$75 CLE guest fee | $35 Non-CLE guest fee | Active Society members attend free
Barry Massarsky
Barry Massarsky is a partner and co-leader of the firm’s Music Economics and Valuation Services Practice. He has over 30 years of experience acting as a key advisor in the music industry serving the valuation interests of music publishing and recording label firms. He provides strategic counsel to owners of music copyrights, as well as valuation, litigation economics, and performance income review. Barry is known for his high value relationships with performance rights organizations, music publishers, record companies, music industry trade organizations, and music litigation firms.
Barry has pioneered the field of music copyright economics serving revenue-related interests within the U.S. music industry, facilitating strategic opportunities for advancing royalty income, and inspiring new license regimes. His experience also extends to the music production library marketplace where he has led many performing rights initiatives on behalf of both its trade organization and individual market leaders. Barry has worked with commercial lenders, private equity, and other financial investors who are acquiring music asset rights. Previously, Barry was the founder of Massarsky Consulting, a leading copyright economics consultancy, which joined Citrin Cooperman in 2022. Prior to founding Massarsky Consulting, Barry was a Senior Economist at American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

Elon Altman

Elon Altman is a Director of Music & Entertainment Valuation Services with 20 years of experience in performance income review and forecasting, music copyright litigation economics, music licensing, production music libraries, and valuations of music publishing and recorded music catalogs. He works closely with a wide range of the major and independent music publishers, music industry trade organizations, and private equity firms investing in music.
A particular focus in Elon’s work is on the forecasting of PRO income for individual songs and catalogs, based around his detailed modeling of PRO radio and streaming rates and bonuses. Elon also has extensive knowledge in the space of music for film and television. Working with production library clients, he has conducted operational audits of payments for the music used within television programs and advised on the best network opportunities for high value music placements. Elon has also conducted many valuations of TV and Film music catalogs.
Outside of music, Elon is the lead of the new Film & TV Valuation division of the Music & Entertainment Valuation Services group at Citrin Cooperman. Film & TV Valuation focuses on “participation rights” — essentially the share of net profits that high-end talent receives from their film & TV projects. Similar to music catalogs, there is a market of funds that buy these rights. Elon’s experience in the music industry began in 2005, where he spent 17 years at Massarsky Consulting as Senior Economist before joining Citrin Cooperman in 2022.

****This is a private event for Society members and their registered guests. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Copyright Society of the South, or if you are an active member and did not receive your email invitation, contact us at copyrightsocietyofthesouth@gmail.com .***

The Art and Science of Public Performance Music Licensing: A Discussion with U.S. PROs - CLE Credit Available
2025-10-01 11:30 - 13:00
Our October luncheon event will feature a comprehensive discussion on the complex and evolving world of public performance copyright licensing.
Featured Speakers
Gain direct insight from leaders from the following U.S. performing rights organizations (PROs):

Alex Grout (Senior Vice President, Membership and Business & Legal Affairs, ASCAP)
David Schneider (Vice President, Distribution and Administration Services, BMI)
Reid Alan Waltz (Senior Vice President & Counsel, Legal & Business Affairs, SESAC)
Moderator: Kent Draughon (SVP of Publishing Administration and Operations, Capitol CMG Publishing)

Alex Grout
David Schneider
Reid Alan Waltz
Kent Draughon
A wide range of critical topics are scheduled to be discussed, including:

PRO Operations and Data Management: Learn about the intricate process of matching musical compositions to sound recordings, the growing role of ISRCs, and how co-publisher works are managed.
Global Rights and Reciprocity: Understand the crucial reciprocal agreements that ensure U.S. creators are paid for performances abroad and how PROs navigate a global licensing landscape.
Market Trends and Genres: Explore the commercial dynamics of musical genres, including which are the most profitable, which present unique challenges, and how digital streaming is changing genre popularity.

This is a unique opportunity to directly engage with experts at the forefront of the public performance music licensing industry. Don’t miss this chance to deepen your understanding of rights management, data tracking, and global copyright frameworks.

****This is a private event for Society members and their registered guests. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Copyright Society of the South, or if you are an active member and did not receive your email invitation, contact us at copyrightsocietyofthesouth@gmail.com .***

What Litigators Wish Publishers Knew: Ethical Issues Involving the Law of Music Publishing - CLE Credit Available
2025-11-12 11:30 - 13:00
Guest Speakers: Tim Warnock and Megan Pekar
Loeb & Loeb, LLP

1.0 CLE Credit Hours will be available (Dual) – Tennessee Bar Number required.
In the dynamic world of music and intellectual property, staying ahead of complex ethical dilemmas and cutting-edge litigation is essential. This specialized CLE will provide attorneys with actionable insights into the most pressing legal and ethical challenges facing litigators, advisors, advocates, and negotiators in music publishing today.
Gain a sophisticated understanding of the ethical and practical issues underpinning music publishing litigation, including:
-The Advisor Role
-The Advocate’s Challenge: AI and Copyright Infringement
-The Negotiator’s Ethical Tightrope: Conflicts of Interest
-The Evaluator and AI Authorship
Don’t miss this opportunity to refine your strategy, mitigate risk, and competently advise your clients on the most critical ethical and legal developments in music and technology.
RSVP Today to secure your spot and gain an essential edge in your practice.

****This is a private event for Society members and their registered guests. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Copyright Society of the South, or if you are an active member and did not receive your email invitation, contact us at copyrightsocietyofthesouth@gmail.com .***

The Annual Copyright Review With Stan Soocher
2025-12-11 11:30 - 13:00
Stan Soocher is an award-winning journalist and entertainment attorney, as well as the long-time Editor-in-Chief of Entertainment Law & Finance, an ALM publication. In addition, Stan is Professor Emeritus of Music & Entertainment Industry Studies at the University of Colorado Denver, where he served as a Music Department Chair.
Stan has authored the books Baby You’re a Rich Man: Suing the Beatles for Fun & Profit and They Fought the Law: Rock Music Goes to Court. Stan wrote the chapter “Twenty-First-Century Patronage: The Road to Billy Joel’s Madison Square Garden Concert Residency” in the 2020 book We Didn’t Start the Fire: Billy Joel and Popular Music Studies , edited by Joshua S. Duchan and Ryan Raul Bañagale/Lexington Books. Billy Joel wrote the book’s Foreword.
Stan has given speeches on entertainment law and related industry issues to bar associations and/or entertainment industry conferences in Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, Austin, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom, Germany, Las Vegas, Miami, Oregon, Minnesota, Virginia, Washington State, Orlando, Atlanta, Boston, New Orleans, North Carolina, New Jersey and Colorado, among other locations.
Stan is a recipient of the State Bar of Texas Entertainment & Sports Law Section’s “Texas Star Award.” The award is given to an individual “who has made a major and noteworthy contribution to the practice of entertainment law.” Also during his career, Stan has received ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards for excellence in music journalism, including for his music law articles in Rolling Stone, The National Law Journal and Musician Magazine.
Among the many media outlets who have interviewed Stan about entertainment industry issues are the Associated Press, National Public Radio, CNN, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, New York Daily News, The New York Post, Miami Herald, Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Salt Lake Tribune, Entertainment Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, Variety, London Times and BBC-TV.
For many years, Stan covered the federal appeals courts in a weekly section for The National Law Journal. Early in his career, he worked as a reporter and associate editor for the rock music magazine Circus.
In recent years, Stan’s articles also have been published in such media outlets as the cover of the American Bar Association Journal, and in Law.com, The New York Law Journal, Daily Report (Atlanta), American Lawyer, The Recorder (California), Intellectual Property Strategist, Daily Business Review (Florida), Legal Week (UK), Connecticut Law Tribune and Inside Counsel.
Stan holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from the University of Florida and a J.D. from New York Law School. He is also a drummer.

This is a private event for Society members and their registered guests. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Copyright Society of the South, or if you are an active member and did not receive your email invitation, contact us at copyrightsocietyofthesouth@gmail.com .
