Gary Greenstein is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where his practice focuses on intellectual property, licensing, and commercial transactions, with specialized expertise in the digital exploitation of intellectual property. He regularly represents companies in transactions with record labels, music publishers, and program suppliers. He advises companies on complex intellectual property matters, initial public offerings, M&A transactions, audits, litigation, arbitration, legislative matters, and before federal agencies. He also frequently assists companies in the development of new business models and disruptive technologies and services. In addition, Gary advises investors on due diligence in the digital media area and companies in all stages of their development cycle.
Prior to joining the firm, Gary served as the first general counsel at SoundExchange, Inc., the sole entity designated by the Copyright Royalty Board to collect and distribute statutory performance royalties for sound recordings. Gary previously was the vice president of business and legal affairs at the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In this role, he negotiated and drafted licensing agreements for webcasters and satellite radio services, managed complex arbitrations before Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panels, and prepared proposed legislation, regulations, and congressional testimony.
Before joining the RIAA, Gary was an associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Arnold & Porter, where he represented Major League Baseball on numerous matters before the U.S. Copyright Office, with a particular focus on satellite and cable television statutory licensing matters. He also served as outside counsel to the RIAA and Universal Music Group, specializing in statutory and non-statutory licensing matters for the use of sound recordings through new digital media.
Prior to his legal career, Gary was the director of planned giving at The Wilderness Society and a fiduciary real estate asset manager at The Boston Company.