Paul Sanderson

Exclusively serving clients in arts and entertainment for over 25 years.

• Consistently named "Most Frequently Recommended" as an entertainment lawyer in the Canadian legal directory "LEXPERT" (www.lexpert.ca)
• Listed in the 2007 & 2010 Special Report of "The Best Lawyers in Canada" in the Entertainment Law category under Music.
• Listed in the 2011 edition of "The Best Lawyers In Canada" in the practice area of Entertainment Law.
• The leading writer on legal aspects of Canadian music law and visual arts
• Author and editor of "Musicians and the Law in Canada"
• Co-author of "Artists’ Contracts: Agreements for Visual and Media Artists"

Legal Expertise

Paul has counseled clients including major music publishers, large independent record companies and gold and platinum recording artists in all aspects of the music business. He has worked on domestic and international licensing and distribution contracts in such countries as the United States, Japan, Germany, South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Scandinavia, United Kingdom and Taiwan.


He has advised visual artists, art galleries and arts associations on contract and copyright matters, including large public commission contracts for venues such as the Rogers Centre and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Paul has also assisted in the establishment of and provided ongoing legal advice for copyright collectives in the visual art field.


His corporate law expertise includes drafting and advising clients with respect to partnership agreements, incorporation and shareholder agreements.


Paul has been practising in the area of trade-mark law and has been a registered trade-mark agent since 1986. He actively assists the search, registration and protection of the firm’s clients’ trade-marks primarily in Canada, but also in the United States, the EEC, Japan, Hong Kong, Mexico and in the UK, for example. He administers the firm’s substantial international trade-mark portfolio and directs, oversees and co-ordinates our network of international trade-mark agents.

Legal Writing

Paul has two ground breaking legal texts to his credit: "Musicians and the Law in Canada", third edition, (Carswell Legal Publications) and "Artists’ Contracts: Agreements for Visual and Media Artists", (CARFAC Ontario).

The first edition of "Musicians and The Law in Canada" was cited in the Michael Bishop case by the Supreme Court of Canada (1990) 31 C.P.P. 3(d) 394 S.C.C..

Paul also has numerous legal journal and periodical articles to his credit, including articles in the International Journal of Media Law and Practice, the Performing Arts Review, Queen’s Law Journal and the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers Journal.

See I Wrote the Book for more info.

Lectures / Guest Speaking

He is a frequent guest speaker on legal aspects of the music and visual arts and has lectured at:

• Osgoode Hall Law School
• Queen’s Law School
• University of Toronto Law School
• Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD)
• Sheridan College
• Georgian College
• Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)
• The Arts & Letters Club
• Scarborough Arts Council
• Visual Arts Ontario
• Canadian Artists Representation Ontario (CARO)
• CARFAC Ontario
• Trebas Institute (lecturer for 2 years)
• Harris Institute
• Recording Arts Canada
• International Academy of Design and Technology (IADT)
• Metalworks Institute of Sound and Music Production
• Long & McQuade University
• Mohawk College
• Enterprise Toronto - City of Toronto, Economic Development Office
• The International Association of Entertainment Lawyers Annual Conference, Cannes, France
• Phem Phat, Toronto
• Songposium 2002, Halifax, Nova Scotia and St. John’s, Newfoundland
• Osgoode Hall Law School Entertainment and Sports Law Association (ELSA), Toronto
• MIANS - Keynote address, 2000, Halifax
• South By Southwest (SXSW) (Entertainment and Media Law Symposium), Austin, Texas
• Hamilton Music Scene- Keynote address, 2005, Hamilton
• Insight Information Conference, Toronto, 2005

He has participated in the following:

• ASCAP Pop Music Awards, Hollywood, California
• North by Northeast (NXNE), Toronto
• Canadian Music Week, Toronto
• The Juno Awards
• New Music West, Vancouver
• New Music Seminar, New York City
• Kids Music Seminar, New York City
• MIDEM, Cannes, France

Memberships

He is currently a member of:

• The Law Society of Upper Canada
• The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS)
• Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN)
• The Scarborough Arts Council
• The Rails End Gallery in Halliburton
• The League of Canadian Poets
• The Toronto Blues Society
• The Audio Video Licensing Agency (AVLA)
• Access Copyright
• The International Association of Entertainment Lawyers (IAEL) Canadian Executive Committee (Past Member)
  

Volunteer Work

Paul is committed to the practice of law as a profession, not just as a business. He is co-founder of ALAS (Artists’ Legal Advice Services), Canada’s first summary advice legal service which offers free legal advice for artists of all disciplines and currently is a director of ALAC (Artists and Lawyers for the Advancement of Creativity) which oversees the operation of ALAS.

He has appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Taxation of Artists, made submissions to the Macauley Commission concerning arts and public education and prepared a major legal opinion for the Ontario Arts Council on film and video censorship.

He currently on the board of the Toronto Blues Society and has served as an advisory board member for the Music Gallery and the Humber College Music Program. Paul sat on the board of directors for the Scarborough Arts Council when it was known as Arts Scarborough.

He is a member of the Canadian executive committee of the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers and has been a member of and acted as co-ordinator of the legal executive committee for Canadian Music Week.

He has served as a volunteer adjudicator for the Scarborough Arts Council songwriting competition in its inaugural year, the Japanese Dream Audition 2006 and annually for the TTC Subway Musicians Auditions since 2002.

Personal

Paul is also a skilled musician (www.blueroommusic.com), award winning photographer, and a published poet (www.seraphimeditions.com/paul.html) (http://poets.ca/members_data/Paul%20Sanderson). His personal portfolio can be viewed at www.paulsanderson.ca

Contact: Paul Sanderson / Sanderson Entertainment Law
Telephone: (1) 416.971.6616 ext 225
Facsimile: (1) 416.971.4144
Email: paulsanderson@sandersonlaw.ca