“Music Publisher Rates Royalties and Fees: 2026 and Beyond”

Understanding and navigating the complex world of U.S. music rates and royalties can be a daunting task even for experts. Copyright Royalty Boards, industry wide as well as private voluntary negotiations, Federal Rate Courts, litigation, legislation, mandatory arbitration, regulated and unregulated entities, competition, collection agents created by Congress and Consent Decrees are just some of the factors that need to be dealt with.

This panel will discuss what you need to know when dealing with the primary revenue areas of Performances, Mechanicals and Synchronization.

Moderator:
Michael R. Morris | Partner, Valensi Rose, PLC

Panelists:
Jeff Brabec, Esq. | Senior VP Business & Legal Affairs, BMG Rights Management
Todd Brabec, Esq. | Author, Educator, Attorney, and Consultant
Serona Elton | Head of Educational Partnerships, The MLC

Questions? Email is at questions@theccc.org

Biographies

Michael R. Morris | Partner, Valensi Rose, PLC

Michael R. Morris has blended his tax law expertise with his passion for music and entertainment, resulting in a practice that is unique.

As a former trial lawyer for the IRS and a Certified Specialist in Taxation Law, Michael provides insightful resolutions to his clients’ complicated tax, estate and business transaction issues. In the entertainment industry, Michael has developed a strong reputation of providing valuable and effective business solutions in areas such as copyright and contractual matters.

Although Michael’s core competency is within the tax arena and entertainment, he has developed significant expertise covering a wide range of businesses.  His diverse  client base includes  major studio executives, recording artists (including Grammy winners), production companies, film and TV composers,  talent agencies,  payroll companies,  skin healthcare companies, post production houses, software companies, and an award-winning winery.

Jeff Brabec, Esq. | Senior VP Business & Legal Affairs, BMG Rights Management

Jeff Brabec is Senior Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs for BMG Rights Management (U.S.) LLC (BMG). Brabec specializes in evaluating, analyzing, projecting income and negotiating music publishing catalogue acquisitions. A graduate of New York University School of Law, he has also been a government legal services attorney.

Brabec is the co-author of the best-selling book Music, Money, and Success: The Insider’s Guide to Making Money in the Music Business (8th Edition / Schirmer Trade Books/Music Sales). Variety magazine selected the
8th Edition as one of “The Best Music Books of 2019.” He is also co-author of the “Music Publishing” chapter of the 2018 Juris Publications’ multiple volume treatise The Essential Guide to Entertainment Law. He has been awarded the Deems Taylor Award for Excellence in Music Journalism, The Texas Star Award by the Entertainment & Sports Law Section of the State Bar of Texas for Outstanding Contribution and Achievement in the Field of Entertainment Law, and the 2019 California Copyright Conference Apollo Award, Honoring Leadership and Achievement in the Music Industry.

Brabec is an adjunct professor at USC Thornton School of Music/Business Division where he teaches music publishing and licensing. He Is also on the board of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), which was established by the Music Modernization Act..

Todd Brabec, Esq. | Author, Educator, Attorney, and Consultant

Todd Brabec, former ASCAP Executive Vice President and Worldwide Director of Membership, is an Entertainment Law attorney, a Deems Taylor award-winning co-author of Music, Money, and Success: The Insider’s Guide to
Making Money in the Music Business (8th edition) and the “Music Publishing Law” chapter in the two-volume The Essential Guide to Entertainment Law. and He’s an Adjunct Professor at USC, teaching “Music Publishing,
Licensing and Film, Television and Video Game Scoring and Song Contracts.”

During his 37-year career at ASCAP, he was responsible for signing many of the Society’s most successful film and television composers and songwriters, in addition to changing many of ASCAP’s payment, distribution
and survey rules including those that significantly increased the royalties for film and television score and themes. He has written or co-written hundreds of articles on the business and law of music and is the recipient of the Educational Leadership Award (MEIEA), the Texas Star Award for Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment Law, and the California Copyright Conference Apollo Award for Leadership in the Music Industry.

Serona Elton | Head of Educational Partnerships, The MLC

Serona Elton serves as Head of Educational Partnerships for The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC). In this role, Elton directs The MLC’s efforts to engage future members of the music industry currently studying music business and related subjects at colleges and universities across the country and around the world.

With extensive experience as a music industry professional and educator, Elton is also the Vice Dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, as well as a full professor and Chair of Music Industry at the school. In 2023, she was named Music Business Educator of the Year by the Music Business Association. She is also a Yamaha Master Educator.

Elton has worked for or with many top music companies including Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Universal Music Group, as an expert in licensing and royalties. She is co-author of the book Music Business Handbook and Career Guide (13th edition), and has contributed to news stories for NPR’s Marketplace, CNN.com, The New York Times, Billboard and other outlets.

Elton also serves as a council member on the College Music Society’s Council on Music Business-Industry and serves as a Director-at-Large on the American Musicological Society Board of Directors. Elton has served as a president of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association, as a trustee of the Copyright Society, as the chair of the Florida Bar Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Section, and on the Recording Academy, Florida Chapter, Board of Governors. She is also an alumnus of the Nashville-based Leadership Music program, and a licensed attorney in New York and Florida.

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