CONTACT:

Phone: (310) 751-0354

E-Mail: christiane@ckinneylaw.com

EDUCATION:

J.D. - Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, magna cum laude (‘98)

B.A. - UC Irvine, Phi Beta Kappa, double major in Music (Piano Performance) (‘95) and Psychology & Social Behavior (‘95)

BAR ADMISSIONS:

• California State Bar

• Texas State Bar

• United States Supreme Court

• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

• United States District Courts for Central, Southern, Eastern, and Northern Districts of California

Legal Experience

Christiane Kinney represents a diverse array of artists, celebrities, intellectual property owners and tech companies in the entertainment space. Clients include Oscar-winning composers, multi-platinum-selling and Grammy award-winning recording artists, songwriters, producers, and their estates, merchandise and live event production companies, published authors, award-winning filmmakers, professional athletes, social media influencers, and tech start-ups.

She has been ranked by Chambers USA as one of the country’s leading transactional lawyers in the entertainment industry, with client feedback to Chambers noting that she is “a fierce ally for the artists.”

She has extensive experience drafting and negotiating complex agreements in the development, production and distribution of intellectual property. She has handled multi-million dollar catalog sales, and has advised and assisted with termination of transfer rights and renegotiations of such rights for legacy artists. She has also handled cutting-edge work in the fields of mixed, augmented, and virtual reality, and the licensing of content related to same.

Ms. Kinney is a musician herself, with awards and distinctions from Billboard, ASCAP, International Songwriting Competition, Global Music Awards, and more. Her personal experience as both a creative artist and an entertainment attorney provides a unique perspective to the deal-making process, and helps artists and companies strike a balance between the often competing interests of art and technology.

On the litigation side, Ms. Kinney has handled high stakes and landmark intellectual property matters, involving copyright, trademark, unfair competition, and contract cases as well as First Amendment and anti-SLAPP matters. She also handles administrative charges filed with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing related to claims filed under the Talent Agencies Act.

Ms. Kinney lectures extensively on copyright and trademark issues, and is the author of numerous articles and publications in the intellectual property field, as well as authoring the Lexis® Practice Advisor on Entertainment Transactions in Music and dealing with Managers, Agents and Attorneys. 

Ms. Kinney has the highest professional rating of AV Preeminent from Martindale-Hubbell, as well as a Client Champion Gold rating, and was recently selected as one of Billboard’s Top Music Attorneys, and one of the Top Women Attorneys in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal. Kinney has also been recognized by Chambers and Super Lawyers Magazine, and was featured in Glamour Magazine’s Woman of the Year issue for her charity work in bringing music and art programs to at-risk youth.