Derek Dessler
Derek Dessler is a New York City-based attorney focusing on entertainment and media, new technology, the arts, and related corporate and intellectual property matters. Clients turn to him to get their deals done, and done right. He has over 20 years of legal and business experience in these areas, and during this time he has successfully closed hundreds of deals, big and small, involving parties from around the world, including the United States, China, and Europe.
Before founding Dessler, P.C., Derek served for 14 years as an in-house legal and business affairs executive with the Universal Music Group, including serving as Vice President, Legal and Business Affairs, for UMG’s Universal Motown Records Group (now the East Coast Label Group) and as Vice President, Legal and Business Affairs, for Universal’s global corporate unit.
In addition to counseling numerous new businesses, including indie labels, music publishers, and technology start-ups, his experience includes functioning as general counsel in launching two video programming networks: (i) the Universal Music Group’s global pop-music video network branded IMF: International Music Feed; and (ii) the Revolt TV video network, co-founded by Sean Combs and Andy Schuon.
Derek also is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law, where he teaches a course on Entertainment Law. (His Entertainment Law course was referenced in Billboard’s Top-10 list of law schools that teach real-life music issues).
Practices
Representative Clients
- Recorded Music Companies and Music Publishers
- Recording Artists, Songwriters, Producers, Personal Managers
- Internet and Other IP-Based Content Distributors
- Film, Television, and Other Video Content Producers
- Developers of Video Games and Other Interactive Entertainment
- Private Equity & VC Firms, Investors, and New Technology Start-Ups
- Visual Artists, Art Dealers, Galleries
- Find out more
To request a free consultation, or if you have any questions, please complete and send the form below or call 212.729.8233.