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Dina LaPolt
Dina LaPolt is an entertainment lawyer and artist rights advocate based in Los Angeles, California

Career
LaPolt became an attorney in 1997 after being in the music industry since she was 13. LaPolt was formerly a musician and performed in multiple rock bands on the East Coast in the 1980’s and 1990’s opening for such acts as Zebra, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and The Smithereens. LaPolt later became a club promoter and artist manager working for Streetgang Productions which was owned by the late Eric Carr, drummer for KISS. LaPolt eventually obtained a bachelor’s degree in music from the State University of New York, College at New Paltz. In 1991 LaPolt relocated from New York to the San Francisco Bay Area where she started teaching guitar lessons to children and playing in an all-girl band, Irresistible Impulse, which became influential in the gay and lesbian club scene with LaPolt often using the stage to advocate for gay rights. LaPolt went on to promote all ages punk rock nights in various notable clubs in Berkeley and the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1993 LaPolt enrolled in law school at John F. Kennedy School of Law in Walnut Creek, CA and moved to Los Angeles shortly thereafter in June 1997. LaPolt’s early entertainment law clients were various Playboy Playmates including Carrie Stevens and Victoria Silvstedt, IRS Music, Ark 21 Records, Wild Orchid and Andy Vargas. From 1998 to 2010, LaPolt was the entertainment attorney for the Tupac Shakur estate and was influential in the release of many of his posthumous albums on Amaru/Interscope Records including 2Pac’s Greatest Hits, Better Dayz, and Until the End of Time. LaPolt co-produced the Academy Award nominated motion picture documentary entitled, Tupac Resurrection and served on the board of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation and the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts.

Known for being an outspoken New Yorker and a fierce advocate for her clients, LaPolt practices law at LaPolt Law, P.C. on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood and is an activist for artists and celebrities in the areas of privacy, copyright, and fairness in radio which seeks to ensure music artists get fair pay for their music everywhere it’s played. Go to musicfirstcoalition.org. LaPolt is a member of the National Association of Record Industry Professionals, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles Bar Associations, Black Women in Entertainment Law, and she is a member of the National Association of Recording Artists and Sciences which is responsible for putting on the Grammys each year. LaPolt’s law firm is a boutique transactional entertainment law firm that specializes in representing clients in the music, film, television, fashion, radio and book publishing industries. In addition to practicing entertainment law, LaPolt has been teaching "Legal and Practical Aspects of the Music Business” in the Entertainment Studies Department at UCLA Extension since 2002 and is the editor of the book, Building Your Artist’s Brand as a Business, published in 2012 by the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers in Cannes, France (www.IAEL.org). Politics In 2013, LaPolt helped author proposed legislation on the right of privacy for celebrities and other public figures in the state of Hawaii along with Senator Kalani English, D-Maui.   Aptly named after one of her clients, Steven Tyler who owns property in Maui, the “Steven Tyler Act]” passed through the state Senate with only one opposing vote.  The bill is a controversial measure that would give celebrities, politicians and other public figures protection against violation of their privacy from photographers, journalists and members of the public.  Although the measure failed in the House of Representatives two months later, the legislation stays active for two years and is expected to be part of a different measure in 2014 or 2015. LaPolt modeled the bill after California’s Civil Code Section 1708.8 which provides for a constructive notice of privacy. In February 2013 LaPolt, Tyler and another of LaPolt’s clients, [[Mick Fleetwood,  all testified in front of the Hawaii Senate Judiciary committee in support of the measure.  Watch the testimony here video testimony Although opposed by the Motion Picture Association of America and other media outlets, LaPolt used her Hollywood influences and had several high profile music and TV stars submit testimony in support of the measure which included support from Britney Spears, Neil Diamond, Avril Lavigne, Mick Fleetwood, of Fleetwood Mac, Tommy Lee, actresses Margaret Cho and Kat Von D, and several members of the Osborne family including Jack, Sharon, Kelly and Ozzy.   See the full array of testimony online at hawaii.gov Testimony pdf

Media
Musicians' Income Can Still Be Huge -- With the Right Brand, Team July 2012, Huffington Post eMinutes Client Profiles: Dina LaPolt June 2012, eMinutes.com Tunes, Legal Tender and Attorneys: Music Business Legal Update of the California Copyright Conference October 2009, Wired.com SXSW: Music Execs Ponder ISP Licenses, Darknets, Kids Today March 2009, Wired.com Whatever It Takes January 2009, Rockwired.com Beating Bootleggers December 2004, Billboard Magazine Dina LaPolt: Welcome to the New Music Industry June 2002, Tonos.com Articles and Publications Articles: "ASCAP Lesson: Entertainment Attorney Dina LaPolt on Building Your Brand and Career" December, 2011, ASCAP.com "Multiple Rights Deals in the USA: 360 and Beyond" June, 2009 "Taking a Glance at Other Income Streams in the Music Industry" February, 2007 "Taking a Glance at New Media Deals in the New Music Industry" May, 2005 "Getting Noticed by the Music Industry and what to Look Out For Once You Are" "The New Music Industry: Where is It Going and What is It Going to Look Like?" February, 2004 "Public Performance Money and the New Webcasting Royalty… How Do I Get Paid?" March, 2003, Cosmik Debris Magazine "Musician Sign Thyself!" June, 2002, Cosmik Debris Magazine "The 7-year Rule and What Does that Really Mean?" March, 2002, Cosmik Debris Magazine

Publications
Building Your Artist’s Brand as a Business - Edited by Dina LaPolt Published by the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers; Frukt Publications, U.K., January, 2012 Co-author of Chapter One, “Multiple Rights Deals in the US: 360 and Beyond...” as contained in Multiple Rights Deals in the Music Industry Published by Five Eight/FRUKT fiveeight in association with the IAEL, June, 2009 Author and contributor of Matthew Bender Entertainment Industry Contracts; Negotiating and Drafting Guides, Volumes 8 and 9 (the “Music Law Volumes”) containing the following articles and Chapters:
 * Recording Agreements with Independent Labels Volume 8, Chapter 159 Recording Agreements, Article 159.06
 * Music Sampling Chapter 161, Volume 8
 * A Legal Analysis of the Internet’s Effect of Provisions of Recording Agreements
 * Music on the Internet, Chapter 160; Article 160

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