Pryor Cashman LLP

Music Group

Partner

Partner Frank Scibilia is co-chair of Pryor Cashman’s Music Group, and is a member of the Litigation, Intellectual Property, Media + Entertainment, and Digital Media Groups; he is also co-chair of the firm’s Copyright, M+E Litigation, Music Litigation, and Music Transactions Practices. In the fast-moving entertainment field where new technology is constantly reshaping both the business and legal landscapes, Frank stays in front of the key issues affecting his clients.

A highly accomplished intellectual property and entertainment lawyer, Frank represents content owners on all aspects of copyright law - including litigation, licensing, enforcement, rights clearance and due diligence - with a strong focus on digital music issues. His work has a direct financial impact on his major music industry clients, their songwriters and recording artists, and the industry as a whole.

On the Forefront of Digital Music

Frank’s knowledge and understanding of the complex rules governing music copyrights make him a formidable advocate for clients navigating new media challenges and opportunities. He regularly handles and litigates complex copyright and licensing issues, especially those concerning the technological exploitation of music.

In addition to his experience litigating complex and novel DMCA and other digital music issues, Frank has negotiated licenses for the reproduction, distribution, and public performance of copyrighted musical compositions and sound recordings on a myriad of digital music platforms. It was Frank who negotiated the original “New Digital Media Agreements” that are now recognized as the “template” agreements by which record labels may obtain rights from music publishers that they may then bundle in licenses with music service providers for certain types of digital music products.

Frank has also negotiated licenses with virtually every type of digital music service entering the marketplace, including on-demand streaming services, non-interactive streaming services, cloud locker services, user-generated video services, lyric services, crowd-sourced music information services, and sheet music and guitar tab apps and services.

Prospective buyers and sellers of catalogs of music assets (including major catalogs of musical composition and sound recording rights) also turn to Frank for his skillful and thorough copyright due diligence of these assets, which provides invaluable assistance to such clients in determining the overall value of their catalogs.

Copyright Society of the USA

University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (J.D., 1995) New York University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1989) Phi Beta Kappa