Daniel is a Toronto-based lawyer with a keen interest in the arts, copyright, and the Internet. He currently works in-house at Rogers Communications Inc., focusing on copyright and content piracy. Previously, Daniel worked as an associate at the law firm Wickwire Holm, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he focused on corporate, intellectual property, and financing and lending work. In addition to ALAS, Daniel is the Chair of the board of directors for the Paprika Theatre Festival, a youth-led professional performing arts organization that runs year round professional training and mentorship programs that culminate in a performing arts festival showcasing new work by young artists.
Madeleine Brown is the founder of MCB Legal Studio, a boutique litigation and entertainment law which focuses on interactive media and the creative industries. Prior to founding MCB, Madeleine practiced law at a leading full-service national firm and a commercial litigation boutique. Madeleine’s family on her father’s side is Sto:lo, whose traditional territory is the Fraser River Valley in British Columbia. She is passionate about supporting Indigenous creatives and communities, with a particular interest in the protection of Indigenous traditional knowledge and cultural expressions under Intellectual Property law.
Tony is an entertainment lawyer practicing in Toronto, and has represented producers, institutional investors, distributors, writers and others in the film and television industry. He has been recognized in both the Who’s Who legal directory and the Lexpert legal directory as one of Canada’s leading entertainment lawyers. Tony is also the originating co-author of Canadian Film & Television Business & Legal Practice, published by Thomson Reuters, and was an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School where he taught the Entertainment and Sports Law course for more than ten years. He began his career articling with the legal department of Telefilm Canada and with Strathy, Archibald and Seagram (now part of the Gowlings firm). Tony was the Vice-President of Business and Legal Affairs of Allegro Films Inc., and served as the founding President of Allegro’s domestic theatrical distribution subsidiary. Tony was also Legal Counsel to The Ontario Film Development Corporation (now called Ontario Creates).
Annesta Duodu is a Toronto-based lawyer and Legal Counsel at the Society of Composers, Authors & Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN). Having studied music from a young age, she is passionate about the arts and the intersection of intellectual property and creative industries. Through her work, she advocates for a healthy and vibrant Canadian music ecosystem, ensuring that creators and publishers worldwide are paid for their work. In addition to serving on the Board of ALAS, Annesta is currently the Programming Chair at ADVANCE, Canada’s black music business collective.
William is an internationally recognized lawyer in entertainment law, advising clients on matters such as licensing, branding, recording agreements, music publishing, and the purchase and sale of sound recordings and compositions. William’s practice includes corporate law and litigation. His skill set is rare because he is both a transactional lawyer and a litigator. He is well-acquainted with the business side of the entertainment industry, co-founding and operating a dance music record label in the 1990s with gold and platinum albums. In 2021 he co-edited the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers’ book entitled “Nationalism vs. Globalism: Regional and Transnational Legal Issues Reshaping the Entertainment Industry.” William is based in Toronto, Canada.
Marian is a co-founder of ALAS, and practises arts, entertainment and copyright law. She received an honours B.A. from the University of Toronto, a M.Sc.(Econ.) from the London School of Economics and, in 1976, her LL.B. from the University of Toronto. Prior to practising law she worked for ten years as a book and magazine editor. Marian has advised authors and artists for more than four decades and has written self-help guides, which include, “Help Yourself to a Better Contract” and “Ghost Writing”. Marian has also represented the Writers’ Union of Canada and other professional creator organizations. She is a past chair of ALAS, a governor of the Canadian Copyright Institute and a member of the Copyright Technical Committee of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada. The Access Copyright Foundation offers the Marian Hebb Research Grant to support inquiry and exploration relevant to Canadian publishing, writing and visual arts.
Jeanette Lee is the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Arterra Wines Canada, Canada’s leading producer and marketer of award-winning Canadian and imported wines (such as Jackson-Triggs, Inniskillin, Le Clos Jordanne, Sandbanks, Ruffino, Kim Crawford, and others). As the company’s chief legal officer she acts as a strategic leader overseeing corporate and governance work, M&A, litigation, trade practices, strategic partnerships, privacy, digital, labour and employment, marketing and regulatory law, and other legal matters for the organization. She is also Chief Privacy Officer, Accessibility Officer and Compliance Officer, and acts as secretary for the company’s Board and Audit Committee.
Jeanette spent much of her legal career practising entertainment, marketing and IP law, at Bereskin & Parr, McCarthy Tetrault LLP, and at Stohn, Hay, Cafazzo, Dembroski, Richmond LLP, and in-house at Canwest Mediaworks/Global TV. Prior to joining Arterra, Jeanette acted as Director, Senior Corporate Counsel at Restaurant Brands International, managing Marketing & IP legal matters for Tim Hortons, Burger King and Popeyes brands in Canada and internationally.
Jeanette holds LL.B. and B.C.L. degrees from McGill University. She is called to the bar of Ontario. An active member of her community and the legal profession, she also serves on the Boards of Wine Growers of Canada, and National GC Network.
Catherine is a partner with Marks & Clerk Canada. She is head of the firm’s Copyright and Digital groups, and a senior member of the Trademarks group. Her practice focuses on copyright, trademarks, personality and publicity rights, as well as marketing and advertising law, consumer protection and privacy law. Catherine advises on legal issues related to the Internet and digital media, including social media and apps. She is Chair of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada’s (IPIC) Copyright Policy Committee, and a member of IPIC’s Internet Committee. Catherine is also a Trustee of the Copyright Society of the USA (CSUSA). In 2018 she was named a Lexpert Rising Star. She is also the general editor of Startup Law 101: A Practical Guide, a comprehensive legal guide for Canada’s startup community published by Lexis Nexis.
Vel Omazic has been CMI’s CEO since co-founding the not-for-profit organization in 2011. He has worked in the Canadian music industry for three decades, having served as Vice-President, National Promotion and Media Relations at Sony Music Canada for 10 of those years. He got his start in the National Promotion/Publicity department at PolyGram Records. Prior to launching CMI, Vel was VP Marketing & Communications at Green Living Enterprises, an environmental consulting, marketing and events agency. Vel is also on the Advisory Board for Toronto Metropolitan University’s Professional Music program, and the Amplify Music Incubator in India, which is modelled after CMI.
Max Rothschild, Vice Chair
Paul is a co-founder of ALAS, and has exclusively served clients in arts and entertainment for over 35 years. He has counseled music clients including major music publishers, large independent record companies and gold and platinum recording artists in all aspects of the music business, and has worked on domestic and international licensing and distribution contracts. Paul has also advised visual artists, art galleries and arts associations on contract and copyright matters, and has assisted in the establishment of and provided ongoing legal advice for copyright collectives in the visual art field. Additionally, Paul has two ground breaking legal texts to his credit: Musicians and the Law in Canada (published by Carswell Legal Publications), and Artists’ Contracts: Agreements for Visual and Media Artists (published by CARFAC Ontario).
