Doug Colton
Sukin Colton Law
Principal
Sukin Colton Law Association is an entertainment and intellectual property law firm representing various parties – buyers, sellers, banks, funds, investor groups – in catalog acquisitions, company sales, and financing. We have closed many transactions involving the world’s most popular music, including ones conducted in Spanish and French languages. Additionally, our firm has done groundbreaking work in statutory and contractual copyright terminations and rights reversions, on a worldwide basis. The firm has long been known for its innovative thinking in developing the now-famous Bowie Bond in asset securitization using music catalogs.
Founded by its two principals Michael Sukin and Doug Colton, the firm has a global practice based in New York, Nashville, and London and has represented top level artists, songwriters, publishers, record companies, estates, trusts, and managers, domestically and internationally.
Sukin Colton led the initiation, promotion, and enhancement of global, music-related copyright legislation in the European Union, the United States, and Japan. As such, our company has met with music publishers and collecting societies in Eastern and Western Europe, the United States and the Far East, having represented many of these societies: ASCAP (representation), BMI (representation), SESAC (representation), Global Music Rights, the Performing Rights Society (UK), PPL-UK, British Music Rights, SACEM (France-representation), GEMA (Germany), SGAE (Spain-representation), STIM (Sweden), National Music Publishers Associations (Japan, UK, Germany), GESAC (Brussels), The International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP, Brussels), IFPI (London-Brussels), JASRAC (Japan), SAMRO (South Africa), ZAIKS (Poland), and SAZAS (Slovenia).
Colton was previously President of Murrah Music Corporation, a highly successful music publishing company in Nashville, TN. Colton’s accolades include authoring the Amicus Brief of the Nashville Songwriters Association International to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the 1998 U.S. copyright extension. Mr. Colton is a graduate of the University of Washington and Vanderbilt University Law School.