Music catalog transactions, copyright termination, and royalty disputes.
I advise family offices, private equity sponsors, and catalog owners on buying and selling music rights. I also represent artists, songwriters, and estates in copyright termination and royalty matters. Before starting my law practice, I spent six years as Royalty Director at mtheory. That experience informs how I review ownership, royalty records, and the assumptions behind a catalog’s price.
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Music catalog transactions and royalty work
I work with catalog buyers and sellers, artists, songwriters, and estates. My work connects the agreements governing music rights with the registrations, royalty statements, and payments that show how those rights earn income.
Termination and recapture
Authors and their heirs may be able to recover rights granted decades ago under sections 203 and 304 of the Copyright Act. The deadlines are strict. I help clients assess eligibility and plan for the rights’ return.
- Termination analysis and timing under sections 203 and 304
- Preparing and serving notices and recording them with the Copyright Office
- Gap-grant and successor-ownership questions
Royalty audits and recovery
- Statement review across PROs, publishers, SoundExchange, and international CMOs
- Underpayment claims and recoveries
- Correcting registrations that affect royalty payments
After rights return
- Licensing and administration of recaptured copyrights
- Evaluating whether to retain or sell a returned catalog and preparing it for a transaction
Reviewing AI-related rights and liabilities.
For AI companies, catalog owners, and media libraries, I review the permissions for training data, voice, and likeness. I also check who bears responsibility for claims and whether the necessary rights can transfer with the sale.
I’m Ted Hall, a New York attorney. I spent six years as Royalty Director at mtheory, building reporting systems that outgrew Excel’s million-row limit and overseeing hundreds of outbound royalty statements each reporting cycle. The work included catalog valuations, transaction diligence, and audits of catalogs generating more than $10 million in annual revenue. I now bring that operating experience to music catalog transactions, copyright termination, and royalty matters. I also serve on the board of Princeton Summer Theater.
- 2021–presentThe Law Office of Theodore Hall PLLC · Attorney
- 2014–2020mtheory (now Virgin Music Group) · Royalty Director
- 2011–2014Rob Shore & Associates · Business Manager
- 2005–2010The New Group · Mark Morris Dance Group · Business Operations
Earlier business-operations work: Double-entry books, budgets, touring logistics, nonprofit governance.
New matters and inquiries.
Initial conversations are by appointment. Until I have checked for conflicts, please share only the names of the parties and a short description of the issue.
Schedule a Consultation →Please do not send confidential information through this website or by email until an attorney-client relationship has been established in writing.
New York, NY 10025 (by appointment)
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Initial conversations are by appointment. Until I have checked for conflicts, please share only the names of the parties and a short description of the issue.