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MoForum – Technology and the Future of Music

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Morrison Foerster held its inaugural MoForum – Technology and the Future of Music, which brought together executives,...

Morrison Foerster held its inaugural MoForum – Technology and the Future of Music, which brought together executives, technologists, investors, musicians, and advisers to discuss the ever-evolving world of technology and music on May 1, 2025 in New York City.The full-day event served as a platform to enable dialogue and the exchange of ideas among those advancing innovation with respect to AR/VR, closely monitoring developments in AI, and predicting how the music business will be impacted by technologies we use now and in the future.The event kicked off with a keynote address by <a href="https://pophouse.se/person/per-sundin/" target="_blank">Per Sundin</a>, CEO of Pophouse Entertainment. The keynote set the stage for four in-depth panel discussions focused on:<ul><li>Digital Avatars, AR/VR, and Technology-Enabled Immersive Experiences</li><li>The Catalog Renaissance – Digital Trends Boosting Sales</li><li>AI, Data Analytics, and the Business of Music</li><li>The Impact of AI on the Creative Process</li></ul>Throughout the day, we shined a light on emerging companies in the music technology space including <a href="https://sessionmusic.app/" target="_blank">Session</a>, <a href="https://www.breakr.app/" target="_blank">Breakr</a>, <a href="https://www.owlduet.com/" target="_blank">OwlDuet</a>, and <a href="https://www.lucidtherapeutics.com/" target="_self">Lucid</a>.The day closed with a networking hour for startups to exhibit their companies and explain how their technologies can play a role in the evolution of the music industry.Stay tuned for future events, thought leadership, and developments from MoFo in the music and tech spaces. <hr>

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Spencer Klein is a corporate partner and serves as co-chair of the firm's global Mergers & Acquisitions Group.Spencer focuses his practice on M+A transactions and related matters such as proxy contests and takeover defense counseling. He has advised on more than 200 successfully closed mergers, tender and exchange offers, stock and asset acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures. He is also a veteran of numerous contested matters and regularly counsels corporate boards and committees in transactional and high-profile corporate governance matters.Spencer frequently advises leading U.S. and multinational companies across multiple industries. His engagements include multi-billion dollar deals in health care and life sciences, financial services, technology, consumer products, manufacturing, retail, energy, and entertainment and media. In addition to prominent corporate clients and private equity funds, he has represented some of the world's leading bulge bracket and boutique investment banks.Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Spencer was a partner at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, McDermott Will & Emery LLP and Shearman & Sterling LLP. Spencer received his B.A. from The Pennsylvania State University in 1986, and his J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law in 1989, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Hofstra Law Review.Spencer has been recognized regularly as one of the world's leading M+A lawyers by International Financial Law Review, Super Lawyers, Legal 500 United States, and The World's Leading Lawyers for Mergers and Acquisitions: U.S. Expert Guide (Legal Media Group). He has been named a "New York Super Lawyer" by Law & Politics in each of the last fifteen editions. Legal 500 US has referred to Spencer as "one of the best deal lawyers in the country."Spencer serves as a Special Professor of Law at Hofstra University School of Law, a member of the Alumni Board of Visitors of the Department of Political Science at The Pennsylvania State University, and the founding Chair of the Hofstra Law Review Alumni Advisory Board.  In 2022, Spencer was an inaugural inductee into the Hofstra Law School Hall of Fame.

Spencer Klein

Global Co-Chair of M&A Practice

Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster.Anthony advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. He regularly advises companies on the IP aspects of their M&A transactions. His clients include technology, digital media and content for television and music, financial services, and communications companies with diverse intellectual property assets and issues.His practice focuses on the legal aspects of developing, licensing, and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts, including outsourcing transactions, as well as content and data licenses. He regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to licensing and commercialization of digital media and content, digital content that is distributed over the Internet or streamed, mobile applications and social media, as well as the licensing of recorded music for distribution via digital platforms. Anthony is also experienced with issues relating to open-source software, software development, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud-based technology, and protection of proprietary information.Anthony has extensive experience working on matters involving disruptive technologies, such as blockchain. He has helped fintech clients with general intellectual property issues in connection with terms of service for online financial products and services.Anthony is an integral part of the outside pro bono legal team for nonprofit organizations based in New York, including advising clients on legal issues regarding entertainment, social media, privacy rights, and the negotiation of outsourcing and service agreements. Anthony received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2009. He received his B.S. from Cornell University in 2004.

Anthony M. Ramirez

Partner

Jesse Nevarez is a partner in the New York office and is a member of the Emerging Companies + Venture Capital practice group.Jesse advises startups, growth-stage, and later-stage companies primarily in the technology, healthcare, and life sciences industries, including those in the artificial intelligence, fintech, ad-tech, clean energy, digital media, software, consumer, digital health, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics spaces, and related fields. As part of his practice, he counsels companies on a range of matters, such as entity formation, seed and venture capital financings, growth equity investments, mergers and acquisitions, SEC compliance, IPOs, and other capital markets transactions. Additionally, he regularly represents venture capital firms and investment banks on a variety of investor-side deals.Jesse has been named to the Lawyers of Color “Hot List” and named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer “Rising Star.”He has previously served as a member of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association and the Boston College Law School Black Alumni Network, while also serving as a mentor for the MIT $100K Launch Competition.<h4>Selected Venture Financings</h4><ul><li>Scope3, PBC in its Series A and Series B financings</li><li>Firsthand Labs, Inc. in its Series Seed financing</li><li>Cockroach Labs, Inc. in its Series F financing and secondary transactions</li><li>Freshly Inc. in its Series B, Series C, and Series C-1 financings</li><li>CMDTY Inc. in its Series A financing</li><li>Podium Data, Inc. in its Series Seed and Series A financings</li><li>Yumanity Therapeutics in its Series A, Series B, and Series C financings</li><li>Enspire DBS Therapy in its Series A financing</li></ul><h4>Selected Mergers + Acquisitions</h4><ul><li>Open Lending, LLC in its business combination with Nebula Acquisition Corporation, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company</li><li>TripAdvisor in its acquisition of Viator</li><li>TAG Manufacturing in its acquisition by Center Rock Capital Partners</li><li>Neon Therapeutics, Inc. in its acquisition by BioNTech</li><li>Lysosomal Therapeutics, Inc. in its exclusive option agreement with Allergan plc</li></ul><h4>Selected Public Offerings</h4><ul><li>Sage Therapeutics, Inc. in its $103.5 million initial public offering and several follow-on public offerings raising an aggregate of $2.07 billion</li><li>Neon Therapeutics, Inc. in its $100 million initial public offering</li><li>Magenta Therapeutics, Inc. in its $100 million initial public offering</li><li>Ascentage Pharma Group International in its $61 million initial public offering</li><li>TPI Composites, Inc. in its $79 million initial public offering</li><li>Plug Power Inc. in follow-on offerings raising an aggregate of $146.8 million</li></ul>

Jesse Nevarez

Kristina has more than 20 years of experience advising clients across many industries, including the IT, digital media, and mobility and consumer electronics industries, with a particular focus on technology-driven and IP‑heavy transactions. Her legal practice focuses on copyright issues, matters relating to the development, licensing, and use of software, cloud platforms and digital services (such as SaaS, product-embedded software, TV, music, movie, and gaming offerings), and consumer protection law. She also advises clients in the digital transformation of their business structures and processes, including implementing new technologies such as AI, robotics, new mobility/automotive solutions, distributed-ledger technology, and on the use of open-source software and data.Kristina regularly drafts and negotiates a wide variety of complex transactions, including:<ul><li>Software development and licensing agreements</li><li>SaaS B2B and B2C terms of service</li><li>Digital content licensing and acquisition agreements (including music, TV-channels, VOD, and video games)</li><li>Joint development and cooperation agreements</li><li>IT outsourcing agreements</li><li>Contracts along the supply and distribution chain for goods and services</li></ul>Her clients range from startups to large international corporations based in Europe, Japan, and the United States. Clients appreciate her extensive experience in complex cross-border contract negotiations. In addition, she advises clients on questions regarding liability for defects in software and hardware products. Kristina routinely provides intellectual property and commercial law advice in corporate transactions.Kristina is a frequent speaker and writer on legal matters regarding IT, digital services, and intellectual property law topics.Prior to joining MoFo, Kristina worked as in-house counsel at Bertelsmann Music Group, as head of eBay Group’s contract department in Germany, and as a lawyer at the Berlin office of a large international law firm.Kristina is a partner at Morrison Foerster’s LA and Berlin office.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul dir="ltr"><li>DocuSign, Inc. on customer and reseller agreements for its eSignature cloud services in Germany (e.g., with Deutsche Telekom).</li><li>enercity AG on cloud platform as well as software development and licensing agreements, for a digital sales and customer platform.</li><li>QNX, a Blackberry subsidiary, on software licensing and joint development agreements with a Tier 1 automotive supplier.</li><li>SoftBank Vision Fund on its approximately EUR 460m investment in online platform Auto1 Group—one of the largest venture capital transactions in German history.</li><li>TDK and its subsidiary EPCOS on an IT carve-out for all IT infrastructure services and applications required for the establishment of a joint venture with Qualcomm.</li><li>Tele Columbus on agreements for the set-up and maintenance of a technical platform (including hard- and software supply) for advanced TV services (linear TV and Video on Demand).</li><li>United Internet/1&1 on the development of its integrated IPTV and video-on-demand product “1&1 Digital TV” for the provision of TV and VoD contents of third-party providers.</li></ul>

Kristina Ehle berät seit mehr als 20 Jahren Mandanten verschiedener Branchen, darunter Unternehmen aus der Software-, Internet-, Mobility-, Medien- und Unterhaltungselektronikindustrie, zu Technologie getriebenen und IP-lastigen Transaktionen. Ihr Beratungsschwerpunkt liegt hierbei auf rechtlichen Themen rund um die Entwicklung, Bereitstellung und Nutzung von Software, Cloud-Plattformen und digitalen Diensten (wie beispielsweise Software as a Service, integrierte Software, IPTV, Musik und Film Streaming Dienste, Apps und Podcasts), Fragen der Verwertung geistiger Eigentumsrechte (insbesondere Urheberrechte und Geschäftsgeheimnisse), des Verbraucherschutzrechts und allgemeinen Vertragsrechts.Zudem begleitet Kristina Ehle Mandanten bei der digitalen Transformation ihrer Geschäftsstrukturen und -prozesse, einschließlich der Implementierung neuer Technologien wie Cloud-Services oder Machine-Learning-Anwendungen sowie zu neuen Mobilitäts-Lösungen, Distributed-Ledger-Technologie und zur Verwendung von Open-Source-Software.Sie entwirft und verhandelt regelmäßig verschiedenste Verträge für komplexe Transaktionen, darunter:<ul><li>Entwicklungs- und Lizenzverträge für Software, Apps und Skills</li><li>Entwicklungs- und Kooperationsverträge zwischen Unternehmen</li><li>Lizenzverträge für digitale Inhalte</li><li>IT-Outsourcing-Vereinbarungen</li><li>Verträge entlang der Liefer- und Vertriebskette für Waren und Dienstleistungen</li></ul>Zu ihren Mandanten zählen sowohl Start-ups als auch große internationale Konzerne, vor allem mit Sitz in Europa, Japan und den USA. Mandanten schätzen sie vor allem für ihre langjährige Erfahrung bei komplexen und grenzüberschreitenden Vertragsverhandlungen.Ein weiterer Fokus von Kristina Ehle liegt auf der Beratung von Mandanten zu Fragen der IT-Sicherheit sowie der Haftung für fehlerhafte Software- und Hardwareprodukte. Auch bei gesellschaftsrechtlichen Transaktionen berät sie zu IP- und vertragsrechtlichen Themen.Kristina Ehle hält regelmäßig Fachvorträge und publiziert zu Rechtsfragen im Zusammenhang mit IT, digitalen Services und geistigem Eigentum.Vor ihrem Eintritt bei Morrison Foerster war Kristina Ehle als Business Affairs Manager bei der Bertelsmann Music Group, als Leiterin der Vertragsabteilung der eBay-Gruppe in Deutschland sowie als Counsel im Berliner Büro einer großen internationalen Rechtsanwaltskanzlei tätig.Kristina Ehle ist Partnerin des deutschen Büros von Morrison Foerster in Berlin.<h4>Referenzen</h4><ul><li>DocuSign bei der Verhandlung von Kunden- und Vertriebsverträgen für den Cloud-basierten DocuSign eSignature Service (z. B. mit Deutsche Telekom).</li><li>enercity zu einer Cloud-Plattform sowie zu Softwareentwicklungs- und Lizenzverträgen für eine digitale Vertriebs- und Kundenplattform.</li><li>QNX, eine Tochtergesellschaft von Blackberry, zu Softwarelizenz- und gemeinsamen Entwicklungsvereinbarungen mit Tier 1 Automobilzulieferern.</li><li>SoftBank Vision Fund bei Investition von rund 460 Mio. € in die Auto1 Gruppe, eine der bis heute größten Venture Capital Transaktionen der deutschen Geschichte.</li><li>TDK und die Tochtergesellschaft EPCOS zum IT Carve-Out für alle IT-Infrastruktur-Dienste und -Anwendungen im Zusammenhang mit dem Aufbau eines Joint Ventures mit Qualcomm.</li><li>Tele Columbus zur Vertragsgestaltung zum Aufbau und zur Wartung einer technischen Plattform (einschließlich Hard- und Softwareversorgung) für Advanced TV-Dienste (lineares Fernsehen und Video on Demand).</li><li>United Internet/1&1 bei der Entwicklung seines integrierten IPTV und Video-on-Demand-Produkts „1&1 Digital TV“ für die Bereitstellung von TV- und VoD-Inhalten von Drittanbietern.</li></ul>

Kristina Ehle

Aaron is the chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group and co-chair of the Interactive + Digital Media Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals.Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in a variety of data- and technology-intensive sectors, including software, SaaS, cloud-based technology, digital media (social media, AR/VR, gaming, streaming media, AdTech), AI, healthcare, consumer electronics, e-commerce, other online business models, and mobile applications. He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on branding and marketing, trademark licensing, and content-related transactions, as well as the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spin-offs, and private equity investments.He has represented clients such as Autodesk, Meta, OpenAI, Splunk, Konami, Kaiser Permanente, SoftBank, Visa, and Yahoo, among others.Aaron has been recognized by numerous publications for his work on market-defining technology transactions. He is currently ranked by Chambers USA for “Technology Transactions.”Aaron also serves as co-editor of Socially Aware, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics. Aaron is also a sought-after speaker on new and emerging areas of law, and is a frequent presenter and panelist at conferences and legal services programs. In addition to his active practice, Aaron regularly provides pro bono assistance to various nonprofit and charitable organizations such as Common Sense Media and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. He is a member of the board of directors of California Lawyers for the Arts.While in law school at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Aaron served as executive editor of the California Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Following law school, Aaron served as law clerk to the Honorable William H. Orrick and the Honorable Martin J. Jenkins, both United States District Judges for the Northern District of California.

MoForum – Technology and the Future of Music

01 May 2025