ABOUT
With more than 30 years of legal experience, Jeffrey P. Thennisch is an award-winning intellectual property attorney focused on protecting the rights, value, and legacy of music creators and their families. Recognized by Super Lawyers and DBusiness Top Lawyers, he represents legacy songwriters, artists, unsung legends, and other creative professionals (and their heirs) across the music and entertainment industries.
ADVOCATE FOR ORIGINAL CREATORS
Throughout his career, Jeffrey has represented numerous Grammy Award-winning musical artists, as well as members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Jeffrey focuses on the termination provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act and the reversion provisions of the Canadian Copyright Act, helping creators and their families reclaim ownership of their valuable music publishing rights. His work has helped restore copyright interests in some of the most iconic musical compositions of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980’s that continue to shape music history, preserving both the artistic and financial legacies of celebrated creators for THEIR future generations.
VOICE TO HISTORICALLY “UNDERSERVED” LEGACY MUSICIANS
Jeffrey is a published author, presenter, and sought-after speaker on copyright law, music publishing, and intellectual property. He has served as a speaker at conferences throughout the United States, including AmericanaFest in Nashville, Tennessee, where he presented “A Second Bite at the Copyright Apple: Copyright Termination Rights for Authors and Heirs,” focusing on copyright termination rights and the recovery of music rights. He also served as a panelist at the 42nd Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C., where he participated in the forum “Unsung, Unshaken, and Uncompensated: The Plight of African American Musicians.” His ability to translate complex legal issues into practical insights has made him a respected voice within the historically underserved community of elderly musicians and their family members.
COMMITTED TO PROTECTING CREATIVE LEGACIES
Jeffrey believes creators deserve not only recognition for their work, but also lasting ownership of their creative contributions and the opportunity to benefit from their success for generations to come. For more than three decades, he has combined legal expertise with a practical understanding of the music business to help creators, artists, songwriters, and publishers protect their rights and preserve the long-term value of their work.
PANELS
Still in Rotation: How Motown Legends Are Reclaiming Their Catalogs — and Their Legacy
At the center of this conversation is Paul Riser Sr., a legendary Motown arranger, Funk Brother and composer whose work has remained culturally and commercially vital for more than six decades, most recently featured in the trailer for the 2026 studio release Supergirl. He’ll be joined by representatives of other legendary artists and estates whose music is finding renewed life through film, television, advertising and sync — reaching new generations while generating meaningful new revenue.
Together they’ll explore the enduring value of classic catalogs, what it takes for artists and estates to reclaim ownership and control of their work, and how rights management and sync licensing can turn musical legacy into lasting cultural and economic value.
From Motown compositions powering contemporary blockbusters to iconic soul records finding new audiences on screens large and small, this is a conversation about keeping timeless music not simply alive, but in circulation, in culture — and creating value for the people who made it.
Thursday, October 15, 2026, 3:15 PM