Jazzed for the Junos

The Cox & Palmer entertainment lawyer has a whole weekend planned around the Canadian music awards, held this year in his hometown of Halifax. Activities include a sold-out masterclass on music law basics (there's still a waitlist you can sign up for!) followed by a Music Manager's Forum Canada event, both hosted at his firm's office. He's also hosting a private party on the Sunday evening before the awards and celebrating his mentor and friend Chip Sutherland, another Halifax lawyer who is receiving a special achievement award at the Junos.

"I think we're going to put on a really great show here in Halifax," he says.

The music scene in the city is more than traditional Maritime folk-type music, he says. "We also have a lot of great rappers and hip-hop artists and producers and session musicians that are really world class here on the East Coast."

Gorman describes himself "first and foremost" as a huge music fan who loves going to live music and he'll take every chance he can to support the local music scene or his clients like Juno-nominated TALK, Jhyve, Aaron Paris, LOSTBOYJAY, Morgen Toney, etc.

Gorman is based in Halifax but has clients all over the country, which means he often works in the office until 5 pm and then goes home and works some more to serve clients in all the time zones. It's certainly not all parties and nightclubs, he noted.

"It is a very demanding job, but I do really enjoy it," he says.

What started off as his entertainment law firm, Ocean Town Music, is now the business through which he manages Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based producer and songwriter Mike Sonier, who has worked with artists like Flume, Ruth B, The Weeknd, Noah Cyrus, and Maggie Rogers.

Gorman says he's drawn to both the legal and management aspects of the music business. As a lawyer, he reviews and drafts contracts and gives advice on litigation and disputes, corporate structures, and stakeholder agreements. "Obviously, I'm doing all the legal work for my clients," he says. "On the management side, it's not so much legal as it is directional, creative, and broad strategy."

With Sonier, he says, he's involved in everything from the sessions he does to organizing his calendar, giving creative advice on social media, and identifying artists with whom he would like to work. "So, it's a very different, very different role."

While he enjoys the management side, Gorman, who still plays the drums and other instruments, says he loves the legal work and isn't looking bring on more management clients. "My legal practice seems to be only growing. Cox and Palmer is an incredible firm and has been hugely supportive of what I'm doing and the growth of my practice. So, as of right now, I love the balance that I have, which is largely entertainment law and the practice of law."

The most significant legal issue facing the music industry today is the rise of artificial intelligence and its ability to now "create a really great sound recording," says Gorman. Questions arise, for example, about obtaining copyright status for a composition or recording if AI is used to create them.

In his view, Canada's copyright laws are already equipped to deal with AI issues, such as it being clear that "a human element is required to obtain copyright status."

On the other hand, the use of pre-existing copyright protect works for the purpose of machine learning is "a major issue," he says. "The main legal issue being that if you use copyright-protected works to assist an AI platform and it's machine learning, is that copyright infringement from inception?" he says.

In the U.S., there are already lawsuits by authors and artists against companies like OpenAI, which they say are stealing their work by using them to train their AI systems like image generators. Gorman says from his Canadian perspective, it likely is copyright infringement to use artists' works without permission for the purpose of machine learning.

Gorman says it's a "live issue" for him, so he is now adding new language and protections for creators and artists regarding the use of their voice, likeness, and music for AI purposes.

Gorman works with musicians in a wide range of genres and says the best part of his job is helping a creative person who is overwhelmed to navigate the industry or a particular deal. Clients will often come to him with a record or publishing contract or even earlier in their careers and they just don't know where to start.

A major mistake new musicians and creators make is giving up or assigning away their copyrights leaving them with little control of their work and their careers, he says. Another is when developing artists sign exclusive contracts with a party for too long a time period or with onerous delivery expectations - like five albums within a few years.

It's exciting to help those artists navigate those contracts and their careers more generally, he says. "And when we get through a successful deal, or when they're feeling great about where they are in their career, and they feel like I've been a part of that, that's hugely satisfying for me."