For the second consecutive year, Mayer Brown Intellectual Property partner Paul Fakler was named a “Top Music Lawyer” byBillboard.The exclusive list, published by the trade publication of record for the music industry, recognizes the preeminent lawyers who are “on the front lines of the music industry’s legal battles and deals.”

A leading copyright lawyer, Paul was honored for handling cutting-edge music industry cases on behalf of SiriusXM, Pandora Media, and other music and technology clients. The publication highlighted Paul’s work defending Pandora Media in a group of novel cases (Yellow Rose Productions et al. v. Pandora), which address the licensing requirements for recordings of stand-up comedy. According to Paul, the cases “sought to impose the music industry’s byzantine licensing practices on the comedy industry” and will make “new law on various topics related to sound-recording licensing and the comedy industry.”

Additionally, Paul is one of the few attorneys with significant first-chair experience handling copyright royalty rate-setting proceedings, including proceedings before the Copyright Royalty Board and the ASCAP and BMI rate courts. He obtained the only two royalty rate reductions ever granted by the Copyright Royalty Board (or its predecessors).