Email:

asolotof@iu.edu

Areas of Interest:

Copyright law

Music law

Ari Solotoff is an entertainment lawyer and the managing attorney at Solotoff Law. He launched the firm in 2020 with a specialized focus on counseling clients at the intersection of copyright, entertainment, literary publishing, and the arts. In addition, Solotoff serves as an adjunct instructor at the Eastman School of Music, at Indiana University, and the University of Michigan, where he teaches courses on Music Law and Legal Issues in the Arts.

Solotoff has shaped his teaching practice around practical and emerging issues facing the next generation of arts leaders. Foundational topics include an introduction to the U.S. legal system and legal issue spotting; subject matter and scope of copyright protection for music, drama, dance, and the visual arts; music licensing; commissioning, contracts, and collective bargaining; and the application of rights of publicity and new technologies to artistic ventures. His courses also include an examination of the tensions between copyright, technology, and the arts; the hidden power dynamics between creators and sources of capital, especially for historically underrepresented populations; and theories of cultural appropriation, source disclosure, and artistic innovation.

Solotoff's law practice uniquely blends representation of a diverse range of clients who are known for defining and defying contemporary culture (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame producers; Billboard-charting catalogs; Pulitzer Prize-winning literary authors; Top 20 podcast producers; and today's leading composers, concert artists, and ensembles), and copyright-driven cases (valuation and sale of music catalogs; digital therapeutic use of prescription music; scripted, unscripted, and documentary television and motion picture development and production; theatrical adaptations; literary rights acquisitions; and cutting-edge issues in comedy recording rights and distribution). Of particular note, Solotoff has been sought out for his work with BIPOC and LGBTQ+ artists and their estates, regularly championing issues of equity, inclusion, and representation on stage, online, and on radio airwaves.

Solotoff has been recognized as Maine's "Artful Lawyer" for his role in helping "composers, songwriters, filmmakers and other creative people avoid the legal pitfalls of the music and entertainment businesses" (Maine Sunday Telegram). He has been consistently identified by his peers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice, including as one of entertainment law's "Rising Stars" (SuperLawyers) and "Ones to Watch" (Best Lawyers in America)—Solotoff is the only entertainment lawyer in New England to hold these distinctions.

Before entering private law practice, Solotoff emerged as "one of the top young administrators in the orchestra world" (Portland Press Herald) after a decade of arts leadership in classical music, including service as executive vice president of The Philadelphia Orchestra, where he played a pivotal role in helping guide the world-renowned ensemble through a complex strategic planning and Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. He also completed highly successful tenures as executive director for the Portland and Pensacola Symphonies.

Prior to founding Solotoff Law, Solotoff was a transactional associate attorney at Bernstein Shur, where he concentrated on copyright, entertainment, and corporate cases. Solotoff is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Maine School of Law; served as managing editor of the Maine Law Review; and completed judicial internships with Justice Jon D. Levy of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and Judge Kermit Lipez of the First Circuit Court of Appeals. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Classical Languages from the University of California, Berkeley. Solotoff is also an alumnus of the AMEX Aspen Institute Fellowship for Emerging Nonprofit Leaders and the Orchestra Management Fellowship Program of the League of American Orchestras.