Christine Lepera Named to Variety's 2026 "Music Legal Elite" List
MSK Partner Christine Lepera was named to Variety's "Music Legal Elite" list, published on July 24, 2026.
From the article...
Lepera has long been a major attorney in copyright and IP, but her successful defense of Katy Perry in the heated “Dark Horse” litigation — which the singer won on appeal in 2022 — was one of the most consequential music copyright cases of the past decade. She and the firm have built on that success: In the past year, she secured victories in two separate copyright lawsuits targeting Dua Lipa’s “Levitating,” while also filing suit against Samsung over the alleged unauthorized use of the singer’s image, name and likeness. Lepera also represented FKA Twigs in a trademark dispute, J. Cole in a copyright ownership case and Eminem, Aftermath, Interscope and Universal Music Group in litigation surrounding Eminem and Rihanna’s hit “The Monster.”
What is your proudest accomplishment of the past year?
“Following on our win for Dua Lipa on the ‘Levitating’ music copyright infringement claim against her and others, we continue to advocate for her – this time to redress an infringing use of her NIL rights against Samsung. And continuing the fight for music creators wrongly accused of infringement – including Marshall Mathers [Eminem].”
What is the greatest threat to the music industry at the moment?
“With AI – the challenge philosophically and psychologically of maintaining and growing a financial business while keeping sane with so much uncertainty and unprecedented technical acceleration taking place.”
What can music attorneys do to make the industry, as well as the world, a better place?
“Doing the above with care and concern for humans!”
