Practice Areas Intellectual Property, Music, Sports

Agency contracts
Athletic-facility agreements
Event-licensing agreements
Facility-use agreements
Investment agreements
Lending contracts
Merchandising agreements
NIL agreements
Sponsorship contracts
Trademark and copyright protection
Venue-sales agreements

Creative work, brand identity, athlete publicity rights, sponsorships, and event relationships often overlap. They may involve both intellectual property and contract law. A dispute may concern ownership, registration, copying, licensing, royalties, or attribution. It may also involve endorsement obligations, unauthorized use of a name or likeness, or the breakdown of a commercial relationship. Gherman Legal advises and represents creators, businesses, athletes, rights holders, and accused parties in Miami and throughout Florida.

The first step is to identify the asset and the chain of rights. A composition and a sound recording are different copyrighted works. A trademark identifies source. A trade secret depends on secrecy and reasonable protective measures. Likewise, an NIL dispute may involve contract, right-of-publicity, agency, platform, or endorsement issues. Contracts and registrations can matter as much as creative comparison. Therefore, collect them before filing a demand, takedown, or lawsuit.

Copyright ownership, registration, and infringement

Copyright protection begins when an original work is fixed, but registration can materially affect enforcement options and timing. Ownership questions may turn on authorship, work-made-for-hire language, assignments, collaborations, licenses, and contributions to a final work. Before alleging infringement, the claimant should identify the protected expression, access or source material, and the challenged use. The claimant should also identify any license or defense.

The firm’s guide to Copyright Laws in Music distinguishes compositions from sound recordings and explains registration and ownership rights. Five Simple Steps to Protecting Your Music offers a practical sequence: fixation, a reliable dated record, registration, performance-rights administration where appropriate, and active protection of the work.

When a client faces an infringement accusation, the analysis should be equally disciplined. Ownership, protectability, access, substantial similarity, license scope, fair use, limitations, registration, damages, and platform records may all matter. Music Copyright Attorney: Protecting Musicians Against Infringement Claims outlines documentation and defense considerations, while Music Copyright Infringement Lawyer addresses copying, sampling, licensing, unauthorized use, and plagiarism allegations.

Music licensing, royalties, and commercial relationships

Many music disputes are contract disputes with an intellectual-property core. Agreements among producers, composers, artists, labels, managers, publishers, venues, and other participants can allocate ownership, approval, accounting, credit, and territory. They can also set the term, revenue split, and rights for synchronization, mechanical use, performance, and merchandising. A useful review traces the chain of title and compares the disputed use to the precise rights granted.

Evidence may include source files, session records, metadata, split sheets, registrations, licenses, royalty statements, platform data, communications, and versions of the work. Preserving those materials early can prevent later disputes about chronology or authorship and can narrow the issues before expensive expert analysis.

NIL, sponsorships, and athlete agreements

Name, image, and likeness arrangements can involve endorsements, appearances, social-media deliverables, exclusivity, morals clauses, and intellectual-property licenses. They may also address payment milestones, agency authority, school or conference rules, and termination rights. Compensation alone does not define a deal’s commercial value. Duration, scope, approvals, reuse, category conflicts, and remedies also matter if either side fails to perform.

The Brave New World of NIL Deals in Florida describes the business opportunities and contract questions athletes should evaluate before signing. When a relationship breaks down, disputes may involve unpaid compensation, unauthorized use of likeness, agent conduct, or contract interpretation. They may also involve newer forms of digital and AI-enabled use. NIL Litigation in Florida reviews those recurring categories.

Sports, events, facilities, and risk allocation

Sports and event businesses rely on agreements that cover facility use, participation, sponsorship, licensing, merchandising, ticket or venue sales, vendors, and insurance. Clear allocation of access, safety responsibilities, cancellation, indemnity, intellectual-property rights, and dispute procedures can reduce uncertainty before an event begins.

Waivers and express assumption-of-risk provisions require careful drafting and context. Florida law may distinguish contact from non-contact activities and may scrutinize the clarity and scope of a release. Express Assumption of Risk in Sports explains why a signed waiver is important but should not be treated as an all-purpose substitute for sound operations and insurance.

Urgent relief and business resolution

Unauthorized online use can spread quickly, but the fastest response is not always the broadest demand. Counsel should preserve the page, post, stream, upload, metadata, account information, and timing. Counsel should also confirm ownership and registration. Next, counsel should identify the platform and user. The available response may include a direct demand, platform process, negotiated license, arbitration, administrative filing, or court action.

Potential remedies may include temporary or permanent injunctions, actual damages, lost profits, and disgorgement of attributable profits. Other options include reasonable-royalty or license measures where supported, statutory damages when legally available, accounting, and declaratory relief. Appropriate cases may also support correction or attribution, impoundment or destruction, costs, and attorney’s fees where authorized. Registration timing, causation, apportionment, contractual limits, and defenses can materially affect the available relief.

Attorney perspective: law, music, and endurance

Sergiu Gherman brings an unusual combination of commercial-litigation experience and formal music scholarship. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Temple University and published “Harmony and Its Functionality: A Gloss on the Substantial Similarity Test in Music Copyrights” in the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal. Moreover, his continuing participation in triathlon and other endurance events gives him firsthand familiarity with endurance-sport culture. That includes preparation, sponsorship, events, and performance.

No clearly corresponding intellectual-property, music, or sports matter is presently identified on the firm’s public Results page. This draft therefore does not imply one.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an intellectual-property, music, or sports dispute cost?

Cost depends on the rights involved, registration status, number of works or uses, need for expert analysis, urgency, forum, discovery, and requested relief. Early ownership and contract review can prevent wasted resources. It can also expose a claim that lacks the required chain of rights or evidence.

How long can the matter take?

A focused demand, platform process, or negotiated license may resolve in weeks or months. Federal litigation, arbitration, ownership disputes, or cases requiring experts can take a year or longer. Emergency relief may move quickly, but the applicant must be prepared with admissible evidence.

Can unauthorized use be stopped quickly?

Potential options include a platform notice, preservation request, cease-and-desist demand, negotiated removal or license, and temporary injunctive relief. The correct route depends on ownership, registration, the challenged use, platform rules, urgency, defenses, and the risk of an inaccurate notice.

Does an NIL agreement transfer all rights to an athlete’s identity?

Not necessarily. The answer depends on the agreement’s defined rights, media, territory, term, exclusivity, approval, sublicensing, reuse, and termination provisions. Those terms should be reviewed in the context of applicable law and governing athletic rules.

Related Florida legal guides

General information only; not legal advice. Reading this page or contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Intellectual Property, Music, Sports