World Intellectual Property Day 2025

IP and Music: Feel the Beat of IP

This year, we celebrate the vital role that intellectual property plays across the entire music ecosystem — from creators and performers to the innovators, entrepreneurs, and industry professionals behind the scenes. Whether it's negotiating rights, enabling new technologies, supporting business growth, or ensuring fair access to markets, IP is the backbone of a thriving and dynamic music industry. Here are just a few examples of how our member firms have helped protect, support, and elevate the work of clients connected to the world of music — enabling them to navigate complex legal landscapes and unlock new opportunities.

A legacy reimagined: bridging generations through IP

In a standout project this year, G. Elias advised a leading Nigerian investment banking group on the production of a series of commercials aimed at enhancing brand awareness — with music, identity, and legacy at the heart of the collaboration.

The campaign featured a prominent third-generation Afrobeat artist performing a song originally composed by one of the genre’s most iconic pioneers. To bring this vision to life, G. Elias negotiated a series of complex intellectual property agreements, including music licensing and image rights arrangements with the estate of the late artist.

These agreements enabled the respectful and legally sound use of both the composition and the late artist’s name, image, and likeness — connecting the cultural heritage of Afrobeat with a modern brand identity. The project is a clear example of how IP can preserve and extend the value of creative works, long after their creators have passed, while opening new avenues for collaboration between artists, estates, and businesses.

On World IP Day, this work underscores the power of copyright to honour artistic legacy, inspire new generations, and fuel creative partnerships across time.

 

Law in the key of C: Contracts, copyright & creativity

In the ever-evolving world of music, intellectual property is the backbone of creativity — ensuring that those who create are recognised, protected, and empowered to innovate further. At Miller Thomson, the Entertainment group works closely with a diverse range of clients across the music industry, including recording artists, songwriters, producers, record labels, and publishers. Their work spans the full spectrum of IP-related legal support — from drafting and negotiating songwriting and recording agreements to advising on licensing, acquisitions, distribution, royalties, and collective rights management.

This hands-on experience gives the team a unique insight into how IP law operates not just as a legal framework, but as a vital force that fuels creativity and sustains the commercial viability of the arts. By championing strong and strategic IP protection, Miller Thomson helps ensure that creators can focus on what they do best — making music that inspires, connects, and endures.

 

Amplifying Creativity: Building value through IP

As the music industry continues to evolve, strong legal foundations are essential to ensure that creativity is both protected and empowered. Dottir has supported this goal across Finland’s creative sector, working with artists, rights holders, cultural institutions, and entertainment companies to help shape a fair and sustainable ecosystem for music.

This has included legal guidance for Teosto, Finland’s leading music rights organisation, which represents composers, lyricists, arrangers, and music publishers in protecting their works and collecting royalties. Dottir has also supported major cultural events like Flow Festival, managing production-related agreements, and advised on key music industry transactions such as Warner Music Finland’s acquisition of The Fried Music record label.

Whether enabling independent artists to manage their rights or helping institutions navigate licensing and copyright, this work illustrates the critical role of IP in both preserving cultural heritage and enabling new creative expression. On World IP Day, it is a reminder that behind every performance, recording, and collaboration lies a network of rights — and the legal expertise that helps bring them to life.

 

Setting the tempo: Sampling, copyright & the future of music innovation

At the heart of today’s music industry lies an enduring tension between creativity and copyright — particularly when it comes to sampling. Schalast has been closely involved in one of Germany’s most significant legal sagas on this subject, helping to define the boundaries of what it means to use and reuse creative content in a digital age.

The team has played a key role in a long-running legal battle surrounding the use of audio samples, with far-reaching implications not just for artists and record labels, but also for the broader understanding of copyright law in the age of artificial intelligence. Their work has contributed to developments in German copyright legislation, reflecting the growing need to adapt legal frameworks to evolving technologies and creative practices.

More recently, Schalast has advised high-profile clients on similar disputes — including cases involving international artists and cross-border complexities — exploring new exceptions to copyright such as “pastiche” and what they might mean for creative freedom and innovation.

As questions around AI, music production, and copyright continue to develop, Schalast remains engaged in the important work of helping shape the legal landscape in support of both artistic expression and intellectual property protection.

 

Enforcing rights in a global music landscape

As the music industry becomes increasingly global and digital, the enforcement of copyright and contractual rights across borders has never been more complex — or more important. In a recent case, LHAG is advising a joint venture between a regional airline group and a major international music label in a legal dispute involving the termination of an exclusive artist agreement. The case centres on an artist’s independent release of music that allegedly breached the terms of an exclusive agreement with the record label. In response, takedown notices were issued to streaming platforms, and a counterclaim was filed to enforce the agreement and seek damages.

The dispute raises key questions around copyright ownership, cross-border IP rights, and the enforceability of exclusive contracts in a global marketplace. It touches on the interaction between local and international copyright laws — including the implications of registering works abroad, the application of foreign law under the Berne Convention, and the limits of takedown mechanisms in the digital era.

The outcome is expected to clarify important aspects of Malaysian copyright law and artist-label relationships, with broader implications for the music industry across the region. On World IP Day, the case serves as a reminder that creativity and commerce depend not only on innovation — but also on clear, enforceable rights.

 

Legacy on trial: Navigating IP rights in live performance

TRINITI JUREX is currently advising Žalgirio Arena, Lithuania’s largest and best-known events venue, in a complex trademark dispute involving the legacy of one of the country’s most iconic bands, HIPERBOLĖ.

The case centres on the continued use of the band’s name in recent performances and promotional materials. A former member of HIPERBOLĖ claims that the trademark is being used without his consent, naming both the remaining performers and the venue as co-defendants. The dispute raises key legal questions around the use of artistic identities in legacy music acts — touching on trademark, copyright, and personality rights.

TRINITI JUREX is advising Žalgirio Arena on all aspects of the case, including liability, strategy, and reputational considerations, and is coordinating closely with co-defendants to reflect the full context of the band’s history, prior use of the name, and existing trademark registrations.

The case highlights the legal complexity of managing creative legacies in live entertainment, where identity, ownership, and public recognition often overlap. On World IP Day, it is a reminder of the importance of clear rights, responsible platforms, and the evolving role of IP in cultural life.

 

Behind the beat: Legal foundations for music & media

At HEUSSEN, intellectual property sits at the core of the firm’s work across the creative industries — from protecting innovative platforms to advising on complex copyright issues in music, media and entertainment.

One recent example includes securing EU trademark protection for Flowkey GmbH, a company transforming piano education through digital learning. This trademark supports their vision of making music more accessible for learners around the world.

HEUSSEN also advises a wide range of clients — from global brands and broadcasters to production companies and artists — on the legal use of music across multiple platforms. This includes drafting agreements with composers, negotiating rights with collecting societies, clearing music for use in TV shows and advertisements, and structuring music publishing and distribution arrangements.

Their work reflects the increasing complexity of using music in today’s multimedia landscape, whether it be live DJ sets, film scores, primetime television, or international ad campaigns. By guiding clients through the evolving IP landscape, HEUSSEN helps ensure that creativity is both protected and empowered — a mission fully in step with the spirit of World IP Day.

 

Protecting voices: Empowering creativity through IP

Karanović & Partners plays a key role in protecting intellectual property within the music industry, particularly through its representation of GRUBB (Gypsy Roma Urban Balkan Beats) — an organisation dedicated to empowering Roma youth through music and the performing arts. The firm assists artists in securing their copyrights and navigating the legal challenges associated with music-related IP protection.

GRUBB Centres aim to improve the academic prospects of young Roma by offering programmes that support mainstream education while fostering a strong foundation in the arts. Through initiatives like the GRUBB Show, participants develop pride in their work, a sense of ownership over their creativity, and key life skills that support their academic growth, confidence, employment potential, and connection to Roma heritage.

Notably, members of the Roma hip-hop group Pretty Loud, nurtured by GRUBB, were recently featured in the Love and Other Bonds campaign by the Belgrade fashion brand Questionmark, celebrating unity and inclusivity. The group has also performed before institutions including the UN, UK, and EU, and even appeared in Vogue magazine.

Karanović & Partners ensures the band’s IP rights remain protected at all times and provides ongoing legal support to GRUBB and Pretty Loud — advising on contracts, copyright, taxation, and scholarship opportunities.

 

Bringing lost music back to life: Arzinger supports the revival of a historic symphony

A powerful piece of music silenced for decades has finally found its voice — with a little help from Multilaw member firm Arzinger.

Commissioned by the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, Arzinger provided pro bono support for the long-awaited premiere of Ukrainian-Jewish composer Dmytro Klebanov’s Symphony No. 1, written in 1947 in memory of the victims of the Babyn Yar massacre.

Suppressed under the political climate of the time, the symphony was never performed during Klebanov’s lifetime. Now, more than 75 years later, the Memorial Center has brought this poignant work to life for the first time — and Arzinger was proud to support the project by handling copyright clearance and securing the necessary licences.

The result was a powerful and deeply moving performance in Kyiv that gave long-overdue recognition to both the composer and the lives his music honours.

See more: https://babynyar.gov.ua/events/41/

This was a pro bono project, and Arzinger was delighted to play a part in preserving and sharing such an important cultural and historical work.