- Litigation: the law of intellectual property consisting of copyright law, trademark law, trade secrets, libel and slander (defamation), and the right of privacy and publicity; and
- Transaction: laws pertaining to business organizations and commercial transactions including the body of law relevant to contracts, partnership, tax, corporations, securities, labor and international law.
The principal branches in the entertainment industry are, Music, Publishing, Motion Picture, Television, Sports, and Theater. Each of these sub-industries has its own unique features and characteristics in common with the others. Each branch of the entertainment industry is generally dominated by a small number of larger multi-national organizations being provided entertainment product by large numbers of individuals and smaller companies. All branches of the entertainment business involve commercial exploitation of an entertainment product that began as one or more original creative ideas which became fixed in a tangible form and, thus, became a form of intellectual property. As these products go through the various phases of the entertainment industry - from original creation , production, distribution and marketing - the legal rights granted the original owner by law is protected and passed along by intellectual property laws.
Music law is, thus, a specialized area of entertainment law for one of the main branches of entertainment industry - the "music industry". The music business in turn is composed of many sub-divisions including recording, publishing, concert promotion, talent management, and merchandising. The primary two are the selling of sound recordings and music publishing.
Due to the subjective and creative nature of the products or intellectual properties, and because of the degree of power held in a relatively small number of groups, there is a great emphasis on politics and personal relationships in the Music industry. As with the other entertainment industries, the Music business is dominated at any one time by a few powerful companies and personalties.
In summary, music law consists of a wide variety of legal concepts, rules, statutes, regulations, case law, practices, customs, and legal principles which have a particular application to the creation, production, distribution, and marketing of musical intellectual properties.
Choosing a qualified music lawyer is crucial to one's success. In order to successfully practice music law, one has to have a working knowledge of not just the "black letter law"; the music law practitioner must also know how music industry operates, the customs and practices, and how rights to intellectual properties are obtained, protected, and passed along legally for optimum commercial exploitation for the client. Most importantly, a good music lawyer must have strong contacts and relationships with key people in the music industry, and must have a good reputation.