Richard Busch

Recognized as one of the nation's premier entertainment and copyright litigators, Richard Busch serves as Special Counsel in the Nashville office, where he is a member of the firm's Global Intellectual Property Practice Group. His practice focuses on all types of intellectual property litigation, entertainment law, and commercial litigation. Known for his practical, results-driven approach, he delivers decisive, strategic representation and has achieved several landmark wins and record settlements for his clients.

Richard has secured multiple appellate victories and multimillion-dollar jury awards on behalf of leading recording artists, music publishers, songwriters, entertainment personalities, and others. His trial and appellate successes include the landmark Ninth Circuit decision in F.B.T. Productions, LLC v. Aftermath Records, which redefined how digital music sales are treated under recording agreements; a jury verdict awarding compensatory and punitive damages for willful copyright infringement against Bad Boy Records; the Blurred Lines case, in which he obtained a $7.4 million jury verdict for the heirs of Marvin Gaye against Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke; and a $5.8 million arbitration award for fitness personality Jillian Michaels against Lionsgate for unauthorized distribution of her content on YouTube. In 2024, Richard won a $23 million federal court jury verdict, including punitive damages, in the Northern District of California, in a business litigation dispute involving allegations of fraud and breach of fiduciary duties, among other claims. He also secured the Sixth Circuit's precedent-setting ruling in Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films, establishing that there is no de minimis defense to the sampling of a sound recording, and a 6^th Circuit affirmance of a jury verdict finding that the use of a few common words if used in the same original way as a preexisting musical composition can constitute copyright infringement, a decision Billboard Magazine identified as one of the five most important judicial decisions of 2009. Richard has also represented several music publishers, including Eminem’s Music Publisher, Eight Mile Style, in numerous copyright infringement cases against Spotify.

Richard's clients have included some of the most recognizable names in music and entertainment, and he is frequently cited in major media outlets, including The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, Billboard, and CNN, as a leading authority on copyright and entertainment law matters. He has been named to Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter’s “Top Music Lawyers" list multiple times and was recognized by Billboard as one of the 100 most powerful people in the music business.