Michael J. Perlstein

Michael J. Perlstein is a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Fischbach, Perlstein, and Lieberman & Almond LLP. His practice focuses on music publishing, recording industry and related copyright and contractual matters. He represents leading artists, songwriters, publishers, producers and estates of deceased authors and recording artists. A major emphasis of his practice involves representation of buyers and sellers of compositions and master catalogs. He is a member of the California, New York and Illinois bars.

He is the author of the following articles:

The chapter entitled Music Publishing in Entertainment Law, Editions 1, 2 and 3 (1989, 1996 and 2004), published by the New York State Bar Association;

In re Marriage of Worth – Copyright as Community Property: Questions about Worth are More Than Merely Trivial, published in the April 1988 Entertainment Law Reporter;

Contracts with Kids: A Limited Discussion of Entertainment Industry Contracts Involving Minors Under California Law, published in the 1992-93 Entertainment Publishing and the Arts Handbook;

A Cue Sheet Primer, published in the March 2000 edition of The Score, The Journal of the Society of Composers and Lyricists;

Some Aspects of United States Music Publishing Agreements: The Exclusive Term Copublishing Agreement and the Minimum Delivery Commitment, published in the January, 2001 Journal of the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers;

A Primer on Termination Rights, published in the syllabi of the 2007 and 2008 Entertainment and Sports Law Section of the Texas State Bar Association convention;

She Got the Goldmine, I Got the Shaft: When Copyright Collides with Community Property, published in the syllabus of the 2008 Entertainment and Sports Law section of the Texas State Bar Association convention.

He is a former Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles teaching the course on music publishing.

He is a former president of the Los Angeles Copyright Society.

Mr. Perlstein is a frequent speaker, panelist and moderator on copyright issues relating to the music industry, with presentations at UCLA Extension classes, the California Copyright Conference, the Association of Independent Music Publishers, the Copyright Society of the South, the Beverly Hills Bar Association and the Entertainment and Sports Law Section of the Texas State Bar Association.