Sam Lipshie Featured in ALM’s Entertainment Law & Finance Newsletter

Bradley attorney Sam Lipshie was featured in the Entertainment Law & Finance newsletter, a publication of ALM, in a Q&A about his entertainment law practice in Nashville and how it has evolved over the years.

Q: How did you become involved in entertainment law?

Lipshie: I took a small entertainment law seminar at Vanderbilt Law School in 1980 with the “deans” of the Nashville entertainment bar, Mike Milom and Dick Frank, which whetted my interest. There were fewer than a dozen full-time entertainment lawyers in Nashville at the time. I was first a generalist trial lawyer and commercial litigator, and developed some expertise in entertainment law over the ensuing years, initially with country artists, managers and agents. My practice then became more concentrated in entertainment-related litigation involving all genres of music and clients, including dozens of artists, record and management companies, talent agencies, producers, promoters and myriad disputes for other industry clients.

Q: What are some highlights of your entertainment law practice between then and now?

Lipshie:  I represented several legacy music artists, including B.J. Thomas and The Shirelles, where the artists had not received any royalties from their old recording contracts. The case resulted in the establishment of a licensing standard where artists are entitled to 50% of royalties income at the source from third-party licensing. (See, Thomas v. Gusto Records, 939 F.2d 395 (6th Cir. 1991).)

Other notable cases involved a tortious-interference jury verdict against a major talent agency and a large settlement on the eve of trial of a lawsuit by a star artist alleging breach of fiduciary duties by a prominent business manager in a failed record company venture. Most of my industry clients’ disputes involve contract law in the context of IP with some specialized entertainment legal issues, and some industry custom and practice.

Q: What makes practicing entertainment law in Nashville different from practicing in other locales?

Lipshie: All major entertainment companies have an office presence in Nashville now, but there is a residual civility here among the entertainment bar that is lacking in the other major entertainment centers. The group of lawyers who practiced in this area 10 years ago remain a closely knit group, and the newer and relocated ones attend entertainment law functions and mingle to get to know each other.

The judges are good, and usually well-versed about industry entertainment and music issues, making the federal Middle District of Tennessee and state Chancery Courts here popular venues and forum selection choices in industry contracts disputes. Case dispositions remain generally more expeditious in Nashville than in competing court venues.

Q: Describe what’s behind the increase in entertainment attorneys in Nashville in recent years.

Lipshie: There are now over 600 Nashville-area lawyers listed as practicing entertainment law, although the number who practice predominantly in this area is still less than 100, out of about 3,000 lawyers in the Nashville metropolitan area. Nashville’s consistent population growth, lack of personal income tax and its growing prominence in all genres of music, from gospel to hip-hop, fuel this increase, along with the relocation to Nashville of entertainment companies and executives.

In addition, Nashville’s sophisticated sound, video and engineering production, and growing TV and film industry presence and ancillary services all have contributed to the migration of a disproportionate number of entertainment lawyers from California, New York, Atlanta and elsewhere. Nashville has the highest percentage of professional musicians, abundant live performance venues and about 300 music studios.

Q: In what specific ways has the migration of this increased number of entertainment attorneys into Nashville changed the practice of entertainment law in the city?

Lipshie: You know a smaller percentage of Nashville entertainment lawyers, even if you attend industry legal and social events. And fewer lawyers know you. There is more competition for the available client base, although it is larger. And litigation has decreased with industry consolidation and in the wake of the pandemic.

Also, it is unavoidable that there is some dilution of the collegiality of the entertainment bar. There is more “papering” or email confirmation of phone discussions and the like, but communications among entertainment lawyers generally remain cordial. Further, the quality and sophistication of entertainment practice has improved substantially through the influx into Nashville of new lawyers with diverse experience and backgrounds.

The original article, “Nashville Practice Notes: Samuel D. Lipshie,” first appeared in the May 2025 edition of the Entertainment Law & Finance newsletter.