Three Nixon Peabody music and entertainment lawyers have jumped to Barnes & Thornburg in its Los Angeles and Nashville offices. Christina S. Chang and Carron Joan Mitchell join in Los Angeles, while Farrah Usmani joins in Nashville.
The three are known for representing a roster of high-profile talent and entertainment companies, including Tim Burton, Childish Gambino, Vince Staples, Brent Faiyaz, Camila Coelho, Pussy Riot, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Cuco, Freedom Forum, Gen.G Esports and ReelShort.
With about 50 lawyers across its entertainment practice, Barnes's clients include Paramount, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, Illenium and the Grateful Dead catalogue.
“This expansion brings a level of sophistication and industry trust that is difficult to replicate,” said Jason Karlov, chair of Barnes & Thornburg’s entertainment, media and sports practice. “They enhance our ability to serve clients today, while helping us thoughtfully grow the practice for tomorrow.”
Chang, Mitchell and Usmani are widely known for their experience advising cross-platform creators, talent and emerging businesses working in the content marketplace.
Chang began her career as a lawyer at intellectual property management firm CMG Worldwide, joining Nixon as an associate in 2018. She became a partner in 2024.
Mitchell worked at several firms before joining Nixon as an attorney in 2016. She returned to Nixon as a partner in 2024 after nearly four years at Hertz, Lichtenstein, Young & Polk in Los Angeles.
Usmani began her career in Nashville at Creative Artists Agency in music and business affairs, joining Loeb & Loeb as an associate in 2018. She joined Nixon in 2021 and became a partner in 2024.
Music industry lawyers continue to be in demand as issues proliferate, particularly those related to the rise of artificial intelligence. For example, last year Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony and Warner continued to litigate major copyright infringement lawsuits against AI firms Suno and Udio.
In October, UMG struck a deal with Udio to settle its portion of the litigation and Warner quickly inked its own settlement with Udio, then struck another one with Suno that will allow that company to keep most of its current form, according to Neon Music.
The deals will see the platforms pay licensing fees for the millions of songs they use to train their models, and will crucially require artists to opt in before they’re included.
Song theft is another ongoing issue in the industry, with major copyright lawsuits brought against artists over allegedly unlicensed samples and interpolations in their songs.
Among the artists who have faced these cases are Lizzo, who was sued over a sample in a track poking fun at the Sydney Sweeney ad controversy; Rauw Alejandro, accused of using material from reggaeton legend DJ Playero; and Bad Bunny, who faced a case over a track from his chart-topping Un Verano Sin Ti.
Last year Ye, who has battled more than a dozen sampling claims over his career, was hit with two lawsuits. Travis Scott was also sued twice, including once alongside SZA and Future.
Barnes has been on a lateral hiring spree in recent months, adding a 12-lawyer insurance recovery group from Lowenstein Sandler in April and a 39-lawyer public finance and infrastructure group from Ballard Spahr in February.
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