Milbank Litigators Snag “Litigators of the Week” title for the second time this month
Milbank Chairman Scott Edelman and Litigation partner Atara Miller were named “Litigators of the Week” by The American Lawyer for achieving a major victory against the Department of Justice for client BMI.
In its article titled “The Team Who Made the Feds Sing,” The American Lawyer noted that Mr. Edelman and Ms. Miller won the ruling striking down a Department of Justice directive on music licensing that critics said would have thrown the recording industry in turmoil.
The American Lawyer added: “The Milbank Tweed lawyers contended that the government wrongly interpreted a 1966 consent decree between their client, Broadcast Music Inc., and the Justice Department to prohibit fractional licensing of songs with more than one composer. U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton of the Southern District of New York agreed, ruling on September 16 that ‘nothing in the consent decree gives support to’ the government’s position. Stanton also said the decree neither bars fractional licensing nor requires full-work licensing.”
The decision, which impacts more than 750,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in the more than $2 billion music performing rights industry, came down on September 16 allowing the status quo of efficient fractional licensing of the public performing right that has been prevalent in the industry for decades to continue.
The Milbank team led by Mr. Edelman and Ms. Miller also included Antitrust partner Fiona Schaeffer and special counsel Rachel Penski Fissell.
Read The American Lawyer’s article here.
This recognition follows on the heels of another significant Milbank victory on behalf of client AXA in a high-profile dispute closely watched by the financial community. The lead partner, Sean Murphy, was named “Litigator of the Week” by Am Law on September 1.
