March 11th, 2026 – Termination Rights After Vetter v. Resnik

The Vetter v. Resnik ruling is already reshaping conversations around U.S. termination rights, with significant implications for independent publishers, songwriters, and rights professionals.

Join our panel of leading legal experts as they break down what the decision actually says, why it matters, and how it could influence everything from catalog valuation and deal structuring to long-term rights strategy.

We’ll unpack the court’s reasoning in clear, practical terms and outline the key considerations every stakeholder should understand as the termination landscape continues to evolve. If you work with songs, rights, or contracts, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

Moderator: 
Consuelo Sayago, Cribnote Entertainment
Speakers:  
Lisa Alter, Alter, Kendrick & Baron, LLP
Frank Scibilia, Pryor Cashman LLP

Since she was in high school Consuleo Sayago knew she wanted to work with songwriters and copyright, and this was the road she undertook.

Consuelo is currently the CEO/Founder at CribNote Entertainment which offers music publishing and rights management consulting services. and music business solutions for artists and songwriters at various stages of their careers and a music publishing model that is tailored to the needs of the client.
Most recently, she was the VP of Global Administration at Spirit Music Group where she oversaw the administration of the Spirit Catalog, which contains such greats as the Pete Townshend, Billy Squier, T-Rex, and Dropkick Murphys catalogs.

Other previously held positions include Head of Society relations at the UAE based collective rights organization, ESMAA, the General Manager at Mojo Music & Media in their start up year, and AVP of International at BMI.

She was elected and is currently a member of the MLC’s Dispute Resolution Committee and she frequently speaks on panels at music conferences and universities.

Consuelo holds a Bachelor of Science in Music from Hofstra University and a certificate from Columbia Graduate School of Business in Emerging Leadership.

Lisa Alter is a founding partner of Alter, Kendrick & Baron, LLP in New York City. Ms. Alter’s practice is focused primarily on transactions relating to the acquisition and sale of significant music assets. As part of her practice, she conducts in-depth due diligence and copyright analyses and negotiates and closes complex stock and asset purchase agreements. Her clients include a number of prominent major and independent music publishing companies and record labels, as well as equity investors, lenders, and financing partners in the music space.

Ms. Alter’s clients also include a large number of bespoke songwriters, recording artists, and producers as well as musical estates comprising the successors to many of the great American songbook composer and lyricists. Among her clients are numerous inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and recipients of Grammy and Ivor Novello Awards.

Ms. Alter lectures frequently on copyright issues at professional and music industry meetings in both the US and the UK. She has served as a Visiting Professor at Yale Law School where she taught a course on the Law and Business of Music, and has written numerous articles addressing music publishing and copyright matters. She is the author of “Protecting Your Musical Copyrights” which is widely relied upon in the music publishing industry.

Ms. Alter is perennially recognized in Billboard’s “Top Music Lawyers” and “Power” lists, as well as Variety’s “Legal Impact Report,” “Dealmakers Impact Report,” “New York Women’s Impact Report,” and “New York Dealmakers Elite.” She has also been named as one of Billboard’s “Women in Music: Executives of the Year,” The Hollywood Reporter’s “New York Power Lawyers,” and U.S. News & World Report’s New York City “Best Lawyer of the Year” in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the practice area of Entertainment Law – Music.


Partner Frank Scibilia is co-chair of Pryor Cashman’s Music Group, and is a member of the Litigation, Intellectual Property, Media + Entertainment, and Digital Media Groups; he is also co-chair of the firm’s Copyright, M+E Litigation, Music Litigation, and Music Transactions Practices. In the fast-moving entertainment field where new technology is constantly reshaping both the business and legal landscapes, Frank stays in front of the key issues affecting his clients.

A highly accomplished intellectual property and entertainment lawyer, Frank represents content owners on all aspects of copyright law – including litigation, licensing, enforcement, rights clearance and due diligence – with a strong focus on digital music issues. His work has a direct financial impact on his major music industry clients, their songwriters and recording artists, and the industry as a whole.

The Vetter v. Resnik ruling is already reshaping conversations around U.S. termination rights, with significant implications for independent publishers, songwriters, and rights professionals.

Join our panel of leading legal experts as they break down what the decision actually says, why it matters, and how it could influence everything from catalog valuation and deal structuring to long-term rights strategy.

We’ll unpack the court’s reasoning in clear, practical terms and outline the key considerations every stakeholder should understand as the termination landscape continues to evolve. If you work with songs, rights, or contracts, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

Moderator: 
Consuelo Sayago, Cribnote Entertainment
Speakers:  
Lisa Alter, Alter, Kendrick & Baron, LLP
Frank Scibilia, Pryor Cashman LLP

Since she was in high school Consuleo Sayago knew she wanted to work with songwriters and copyright, and this was the road she undertook.

Consuelo is currently the CEO/Founder at CribNote Entertainment which offers music publishing and rights management consulting services. and music business solutions for artists and songwriters at various stages of their careers and a music publishing model that is tailored to the needs of the client.
Most recently, she was the VP of Global Administration at Spirit Music Group where she oversaw the administration of the Spirit Catalog, which contains such greats as the Pete Townshend, Billy Squier, T-Rex, and Dropkick Murphys catalogs.

Other previously held positions include Head of Society relations at the UAE based collective rights organization, ESMAA, the General Manager at Mojo Music & Media in their start up year, and AVP of International at BMI.

She was elected and is currently a member of the MLC’s Dispute Resolution Committee and she frequently speaks on panels at music conferences and universities.

Consuelo holds a Bachelor of Science in Music from Hofstra University and a certificate from Columbia Graduate School of Business in Emerging Leadership.

Lisa Alter is a founding partner of Alter, Kendrick & Baron, LLP in New York City. Ms. Alter’s practice is focused primarily on transactions relating to the acquisition and sale of significant music assets. As part of her practice, she conducts in-depth due diligence and copyright analyses and negotiates and closes complex stock and asset purchase agreements. Her clients include a number of prominent major and independent music publishing companies and record labels, as well as equity investors, lenders, and financing partners in the music space.

Ms. Alter’s clients also include a large number of bespoke songwriters, recording artists, and producers as well as musical estates comprising the successors to many of the great American songbook composer and lyricists. Among her clients are numerous inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and recipients of Grammy and Ivor Novello Awards.

Ms. Alter lectures frequently on copyright issues at professional and music industry meetings in both the US and the UK. She has served as a Visiting Professor at Yale Law School where she taught a course on the Law and Business of Music, and has written numerous articles addressing music publishing and copyright matters. She is the author of “Protecting Your Musical Copyrights” which is widely relied upon in the music publishing industry.

Ms. Alter is perennially recognized in Billboard’s “Top Music Lawyers” and “Power” lists, as well as Variety’s “Legal Impact Report,” “Dealmakers Impact Report,” “New York Women’s Impact Report,” and “New York Dealmakers Elite.” She has also been named as one of Billboard’s “Women in Music: Executives of the Year,” The Hollywood Reporter’s “New York Power Lawyers,” and U.S. News & World Report’s New York City “Best Lawyer of the Year” in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the practice area of Entertainment Law – Music.


Partner Frank Scibilia is co-chair of Pryor Cashman’s Music Group, and is a member of the Litigation, Intellectual Property, Media + Entertainment, and Digital Media Groups; he is also co-chair of the firm’s Copyright, M+E Litigation, Music Litigation, and Music Transactions Practices. In the fast-moving entertainment field where new technology is constantly reshaping both the business and legal landscapes, Frank stays in front of the key issues affecting his clients.

A highly accomplished intellectual property and entertainment lawyer, Frank represents content owners on all aspects of copyright law – including litigation, licensing, enforcement, rights clearance and due diligence – with a strong focus on digital music issues. His work has a direct financial impact on his major music industry clients, their songwriters and recording artists, and the industry as a whole.

NMPA President & CEO David Israelite will give his forecast for the major battles ahead including the Copyright Royalty Board proceedings which will determine streaming rates for 2028-2032, the fight to end Spotify’s flawed bundling scheme, and the challenge of ensuring songwriters are fairly compensated in the Age of AI. 

Israelite is the President and CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA). Since taking the helm of the NMPA in 2005, he has overseen groundbreaking victories on behalf of publishers and songwriters, including the largest Copyright Royalty Board rate increase in history, landmark royalty agreements with streaming platforms, and the passage of the Music Modernization Act, which created the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC). Named multiple times to Billboard’s Power 100, Israelite also serves on the boards of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Special Olympics DC, and previously served on the board of the Country Music Association (CMA). In addition, he is President of the NMPA S.O.N.G.S. Foundation, which supports emerging songwriters through scholarships and direct services.

Follow the life of a song from creation to full registration in this practical, step-by-step session. We’ll walk through the real-world process of registering songs for publishing, performance, and mechanical royalties, covering both manual and electronic methods (including CWR). Topics include split sheets, metadata collection, title matching, and the role of key organizations involved in the registration process.

Learn how to avoid common errors (misspellings, missing writers, duplicate registrations), and gain insights into metadata management, song exploitation, and royalty tracking. Whether you are a publisher, administrator, or songwriter, this is your practical guide to getting registrations right and getting paid.

Kick off our Summer School series with a look at the essential types of music publishing deals every songwriter and independent music publisher should understand. This session will break down the key components and distinctions between common deal structures – from co-publishing to administration agreements – including regional variations often seen in Nashville and the UK. We will cover what rights are typically granted, how income is divided, and a few key clauses to watch for. Whether you are negotiating your first deal or reviewing your current catalog setup, this session will provide a clear, practical foundation.

Keynote with Hitmaker Sam Hollander.

From Capitol Hill to industry boardrooms, evolving laws and regulations are transforming the U.S. music landscape. How will these changes impact music publishers, rights holders, and the broader ecosystem?

Join our panel of experts as they break down the latest legislative and regulatory updates—what they mean for music rights, royalties, and industry practices, and how stakeholders can navigate this shifting legal landscape.

Featuring Jeff Pachman, Jeff Waye, Vinny Kumar & Joanne Kelsey. Moderated by Marc Emert-Hutner.

Let’s dive into the important collaboration between a music publisher’s Sync and A&R departments and how these teams collaborate for success.

Independent music publishers play a vital role in shaping the global music industry, fostering creativity, championing songwriters, and ensuring fair compensation for their work. This panel discussion, centered around the IMPF Global Market View Report, offers an exclusive look at the latest trends —from emerging markets to evolving revenue streams.

Following the report presentation, we will explore “The Benefits of Building a Network of Like-Minded Partners Around the World.” In today’s fast-changing landscape, independent publishers thrive when they collaborate across borders, sharing resources, expertise, and opportunities. From strengthening licensing agreements to navigating new digital platforms, strategic partnerships empower independent music publishers to amplify their impact and gain a competitive edge in a globalised market. Our panelists will provide firsthand insights.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the music industry—transforming everything from creation to licensing and revenue streams. But how does this evolution impact music publishers, rights holders, and the broader ecosystem? Join John Phelan of ICMP and Frank Handy of Peermusic for a compelling conversation on AI’s implications for music rights and intellectual property. As AI-generated music becomes more prevalent, what protections, challenges, and opportunities lie ahead for the industry? This session will explore the future of rights management, ethical concerns, and how stakeholders can navigate this rapidly shifting landscape. Following the discussion, John Phelan will deliver a presentation highlighting key regulations and areas of interest shaping AI and music rights globally.

Join us as we delve into the evolving landscape of music publishing royalty tracking, exploring cutting-edge tools, technologies, and best practices. Hear from industry experts as they share valuable insights on optimizing royalty collections and ensuring you’re maximizing revenue.