Sonnenschein partner David Baum presents "Hey, I Wrote That!: Revisiting Joint Authorship" as part of a panel discussion at the Copyright Society of U.S.A. luncheon on May 5th.  The program starts at noon at the Princeton Club in New York City.

Event overview:

Artistic collaborations often present thorny issues under copyright law, in part because, strange to tell, artists engaged in the creative process seldom give much thought to the legal consequences of what they're doing at least until long after it's done.  But is copyright law part of the problem, and are the abstract legal doctrines of ownership, intent and originality ill-suited to deal with the realties of how artists actually produce their works?  In the case of sound recordings, which often involve spontaneous, copyrightable contributions from many writers, musicians and technicians, the problems appear repetitive and especially acute. What are the rules that govern creative collaborations and joint authorship?  And have the legal consequences of joint authorship been rendered more uncertain by the recent Second Circuit decision in Davis v. Blige?  Our panel will delve into a number of recent and controversial decisions involving joint works, and will give us the benefit of their personal litigation experiences and views.