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ARTICLE · 29 APRIL 2025

Harmonizing IP Practices: How The Music And Tech Industries Navigate Due Diligence Challenges

Caldwell Law
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The recent surge in music catalog acquisitions offers valuable lessons for intellectual property due diligence across all innovation-driven sectors.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Keegan Caldwell
Keegan Caldwell
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The recent surge in music catalog acquisitions offers valuable lessons for intellectual property due diligence across all innovation-driven sectors. Over the past five years, music catalog transactions have exceeded $20 billion, with headline-making deals like Sony's acquisition of Bruce Springsteen's catalog for over $500 million and Universal Music's purchase of Bob Dylan's songwriting portfolio for approximately $300 million. Behind these eye-catching figures are sophisticated IP due diligence processes that parallel challenges faced by companies in technology, healthcare, and manufacturing.

So, as we celebrate World IP Day 2025, with this year's theme "IP and music: Feel the beat of IP," it's worth examining how the music industry's approach to evaluating IP assets mirrors and informs practices in other sectors—specifically tech. Companies across industries encounter similar challenges when assessing IP portfolios during acquisitions, though implementation

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