In today’s episode I speak with Regan Smith, who is Senior Vice President and General Counsel at the New/Media Alliance as well as an Adjunct Professor at GW Law where she teaches copyright law. Regan is a trustee of The Copyright Society of the U.S.A and the Chair of the ABA’s Copyright Legislation Committee.

Before joining New/Media Alliance, she worked as the Head of Public Policy in Spotify’s Government Affairs group and spent seven years working at the United States Copyright Office including three years as General Counsel of the Copyright Office and Associate Register of Copyrights. She began her career at two large law firms focused on IP litigation and transactions. Her interest in media goes way back — she even worked as a record store clerk in Ann Arbor Michigan during college.

In this episode, Regan and Jonah discussed:

💼 Regan's transition from entertainment business to law.

👩‍🔬 How an unexpected foray into patent litigation led to valuable experience. [05:23]

⚖️ The difference between litigation and transactional work [06:32]

🇺🇸 Government work v. private practice [15:34]

🎧 Relationship between lawyering and business strategy in her time at Spotify [19:53]

💻 Tensions between copyright and AI [26:29]

✍️ Important skills: writing, multitasking, experience, and patience [32:45]

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