Written by Sonam Jhalani
The 2026 JSEL Entertainment Law Symposium kicked off on Monday, March 31, with a conversation featuring Don Passman, author of the acclaimed book All You Need to Know About the Music Business.
Bert Li (’27) and Rachel Sih (’27) asked Passman to provide his insight into some of the most pressing issues in music law today. He began his discussion with the streaming revolution, framing it as a double-edged sword. On the upside, streaming has democratized music in meaningful ways: new artists no longer need significant capital to launch a career, just “cleverness” and “perseverance.” On the downside, there is an overwhelming amount of “noise”: roughly 120,000 songs are uploaded to platforms every day, making it harder than ever for artists to break through.
Passman then turned to copyright, noting that artists have grown increasingly sophisticated about owning their intellectual property. A shift he sees as a positive development in the industry.
On AI, Passman acknowledged the field’s deep unpredictability. He noted that most current legal battles are focused on the input side of AI development, specifically, whether using copyrighted works to train AI models constitutes infringement, or whether courts will ultimately find shelter in the fair use doctrine.
Passman closed with a candid reflection on his own career. He described himself as “a tortoise in the race,” watching peers surge ahead while he invested in the work of relationship building—even treating the art of conversation as a formal study, turning to books to sharpen his instincts. His parting advice to aspiring entertainment lawyers was straightforward: “you have to be who you are.”
