Thursday, 21 May 2026 10:00 AM
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Boschan Corp. Releases Panel Discussion on Black Music Rights, Royalties and Ownership Featuring Leaders in Law, Accounting, Academia and the Record Industry
CULVER CITY, CA / ACCESS Newswire / May 21, 2026 / In recognition of Juneteenth and the continuing conversation on equity, ownership, and economic empowerment in the entertainment industry, the IP accountants at Boschan Corp. have released a candid, expert-driven panel discussion examining the legal and financial realities surrounding Black music rights, royalties, and the path toward accountability.
The hour-long panel features Jeffrey Harleston, General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs for Universal Music Group (UMG) and chair of UMG's $25 million Task Force for Meaningful Change; Professor Kevin Greene of Southwestern Law School, author of the law review paper Thieves in the Temple; and entertainment attorney Bernie Lawrence-Watkins, whose clients include recording artist 21 Savage.
Moderated by representatives of Boschan Corp. - an accounting firm specializing in royalty audits, intellectual property valuation, and expert services in litigation - the conversation contrasts the historical roots and present-day realities of inequities within the music business.
Topics discussed include (with links to clips):
Whether current music industry contracts are fair to Black creators (link to clip)
The gap between expectations and contractual rights (link to clip)
The underprotection of music and dance under copyright law (link to clip)
The financial impact of missing credit and ownership disputes (link to clip)
The importance of advocacy, education, and representation (link to segment)
Resources available through organizations (link to segment)
"Juneteenth is a moment to reflect on history, and also to examine present-day systems that continue to shape ownership, access, and economic outcomes," says Cedar Boschan, co-moderator and founder at Boschan Corp. "This discussion covers ground that remains urgently relevant: copyright registrations filed without artists' knowledge, frozen royalties due to unresolved song split disputes, new technology's failure to deliver meaningful income to most artists, and areas for action."
For example:
New rights to protect creators in the AI age: "We have no mechanism in American jurisprudence and IP that protects people's right to credit," said Professor Greene. "... As we're now talking about a new federal right of publicity, I've been screaming wherever I can, you must include a right to credit with that."
Artist financial education: "The artist is left to try to figure it out on themselves, by themselves. And usually they're surrounded by wolves when they don't start out with representation," said Lawrence-Watkins. "I think it should really be on the record label's behalf to inform the artist about the deals that they're signing, the advance that they're receiving, what they should be expecting, and how they should have an attorney, a business manager, a personal manager."
Greater competence in representation: Jeffrey Harleston said, "The artist's management is really, really challenging sometimes ... Someone told me once, ‘Every artist should hire a manager that would fire the artist.' ... Because you ... need somebody who's going to give you tough love and ... is competent enough that if you don't do things the right way, they'll leave. Instead, you have people who are enablers, in many instances, in a management role. And that's not helping anybody."
The panel also offers practical tips for today's artists, including registering to collect performance royalties that flow regardless of unrecouped advances, and resources available through the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) and the Rhythm and Blues Foundation for artists in financial need.
A playlist sharing the full-length one-hour video as well as shorter segments from the video is available now at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDpb82Ob05MhsPYP0XU--srSZBBkHgvXi&si=L0gBj7QG7NDjyb_Y.
Artists or estates seeking financial assistance are encouraged to reach out to the National Museum of African American Music at https://www.nmaam.org/support/the-rhythm-blues-foundation/.
About Boschan Corp.
Boschan Corp. is a forensic accounting firm specializing in royalty audits and valuation, serving law firms with IP damages expert services. https://www.boschan.com.
CONTACT:
Cedar Boschan
Boschan Corp.
[email protected]
(424) 248-8866
SOURCE: Boschan Corp.