VP, Legal Affairs

Full Time Job
Job Description:

At Warner Music Group we're all about our people. Our global company is made up of knowledgeable, passionate, and creative individuals. Our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion fosters a culture where you can truly belong, contribute, and grow. We believe in each individual's value and encourage applications from people of any age, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religion, ethnicity, disability, veteran status, and any other characteristic or identity.

It is the mission of every member of the WMG team around the world to create a nurturing environment for artists, songwriters, and the people behind the music – at every stage of their career. We strive to set WMG apart by embracing innovation – an integral part of our company's DNA.

Consider a career at WMG and be a part of one of the most influential forces in culture today.

Vice President, Legal Affairs

A little bit about our team:

Warner Music's Center of Excellence for Shared Services, opened in 2017, is home to the financial, legal and administrative functions that provide critical support and best-in-class services to our US Recorded Music and Publishing businesses. The Nashville center embodies the innovative and creative spirit that stems from the company's deep history in nurturing entrepreneurial thinking and artist-focused innovation, enabling our employees to develop a wide range of skills through cross-function collaboration and development opportunities.

The Legal Shared Services Department is responsible for enforcing WMG's rights in the recorded music catalog repertoire controlled by its US record labels, assisting with litigations involving WMG's recorded music catalog rights in conjunction with WMG's corporate litigation in-house counsel, fielding inquiries and resolving pre-litigation claims from third parties, researching WMG's recorded music catalog rights for various business units, filing applications to register copyrights in and to WMG's recorded music repertoire, and managing WMG's relationships with the labor unions with which WMG's US record labels have collective bargaining agreements.

Members of the Legal Shared Services Department work closely with employees in the Business Affairs, Finance, Production, Operations, New Media, and Marketing departments of each label client to fulfil the above-referenced responsibilities for the recordings those labels release.

Why this could be your next big break:

The candidate hired to fill this position will:

(1) Manage a team of attorneys and analysts responsible for providing centralized legal support to WMG's US-based record labels.

(2) work with WMG's Business Affairs, Finance, A&R, Digital Operations, New Media Licensing and Marketing teams on various issues and initiatives.

(3) find creative solutions to complex and atypical issues, with a focus on the management and resolution of incoming legal claims.

Here you'll get to:
• Manage the team that fields, researches, and resolves incoming catalog inquiries (including royalty-related inquiries) and legal claims from recording artists, producers, and other third parties, and their representatives, including accounting claims, copyright claims, sample claims, reversion-of-rights claims and other claims;
• Independently research and resolve the aforementioned inquiries and claims where they are complex or sensitive in nature;
• Work alongside outside counsel and WMG's corporate litigation counsel to assist with the management of active catalog litigations and related issues;
• Represent WMG in various capacities, including in negotiations with the labor unions with which WMG has entered into collective bargaining agreements and in music-policy related working groups;
• Oversee the copyright registration process, and provide advice and guidance to the U.S. record labels on related policy issues where necessary.
• Supervise general catalog legal research the team performs for various business units pertaining to WMG's rights in its existing recording agreements and other contracts, as well as independently reviewing, analyzing and interpreting various provisions in recording agreements and other contracts and advising internal business units accordingly;
• Oversee the enforcement of WMG's rights in its US recorded music catalog repertoire;
• Perform other tasks as requested by Legal Shared Services' senior management and various business units across WMG.

About you:
• A Juris Doctor degree from an ABA-accredited, US law school and license to practice law in Tennessee is required;
• At least 5 years of relevant experience in law firms or in-house legal departments working on music and entertainment matters;
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to mentor and develop staff and peers;
• Candidate must be a problem solver, with the ability to find timely and creative solutions to unique issues and initiatives;
• Candidate must be able to meet deadlines consistently and effectively while working under pressure;
• Candidate must be an expert at prioritization, with the ability to manage a high-volume of issues and assignments at any given time and prioritize them effectively and appropriately;
• Candidate must have experience reviewing and drafting various agreements and memoranda;
• Candidate must possess excellent verbal and written communication skills, including demonstrable experience clearly and concisely communicating the relevant details of complex legal matters to senior managers and/or clients;
• Candidate must possess excellent analytical, mathematical and organizational skills; and
• Candidate must have strong computer skills and proficiency using Microsoft Office's Excel, Word and PowerPoint applications.

It would be music to our ears if you also had:
• Experience working in-house at a record label or similar music industry organization working on catalog legal issues;
• Experience managing and/or supervising a team of direct reports;
• Experience with music and copyright related regulatory matters, legislative initiatives, and general music industry policy initiatives;
• Experience briefing senior executives on complicated legal issues and related developments.

About us:

With its broad and diverse roster of new stars and legendary artists, Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry including Asylum, Atlantic, East West, Elektra, FFRR, Fueled by Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Rhino, Roadrunner, Sire, Warner Records, Warner Classics and Warner Chappell Music, one of the world's leading music publishers with a catalogue of more than one million copyrights worldwide.

For more than four decades, WMG has been an industry-leading force in providing a world-class array of services designed to help artists and labels grow their careers and their businesses. Artist & Label Services is the umbrella for WEA (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic) – the pioneering WEA distribution and marketing network – and Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) – the ground-breaking global distribution company for independent artists and labels.

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