LA Copyright Society

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

1:00pm Pacific

Translating Music Into Law:

A Presentation by Dr. Lawrence Ferrara

Renowned musicologist Dr. Lawrence Ferrara has rendered expert advice and testified on behalf of clients ranging from Paul McCartney to Lady Gaga to The Weeknd (to name just a few), as well as the entities that publish and distribute their works. But what exactly do musicologists do, and how do they do it? Dr. Ferrara will walk us through his work on a paradigmatic case involving Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera,” reprising his testimony at trial (complete with piano accompaniment). He will also address the recent “Stairway to Heaven” case where, working alongside LACS member Peter Anderson, he served as an expert on behalf of prevailing party Led Zeppelin. For those who love music and copyright, this is not to be missed.

Dr. Lawrence Ferrara, Director Emeritus of all studies in Music and the Performing Arts at NYU's Steinhardt School, is a Full Professor of Music and on the music theory and music history faculty. He has taught undergraduate and graduate classes in music theory and analysis, music history, research methods in music, keyboard harmony and improvisation, and music copyright. He is the author and co-author of books and articles, including the critically acclaimed book Philosophy and the Analysis of Music: Bridges to Musical Sound, Form and Reference, and he is a member of the editorial boards of two scholarly journals in music respectively published by Indiana University Press and University of Illionois Press. In addition to his academic and scholarly pursuits, Dr. Ferrara serves as a music copyright consultant for record, music publishing, motion picture companies, and individuals, both in the United States and abroad.